Wittenberg University

Wittenberg University Career Center
Establishes Advisory Council

Career Center Advisory Council meets for the first time in November 2004.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In an effort to incorporate fresh ideas and implement practices that will better support students and recent graduates, Wittenberg University’s Career Center has created an advisory council of alumni, faculty, campus staff members and area business leaders in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. Wittenberg students will also be invited to serve on the council.

Stephanie Ford, director of the Career Center, and Judith D. O’Connor, assistant provost for off-campus programs, spent a year in planning and adapted several “best practices” of advisory groups from other universities.

The advisory council, which met for the first time in November 2004, is broken into four committees. They include:

• Program Advisement and Evaluation with Wittenberg alumnus Horton Hobbs, class of 1997, executive director for Center City Association, Daniel Fleisch, associate professor of physics at Wittenberg, and Heather C. Martin, class of 1991, publisher of the Dayton Business Journal;
  
  
• Facilities and Equipment with Patrick Braham, Specials Group at Rittal Corp. and Sean M. Smith, class of 1994, director of news media, Mills James Productions;
  
  
• Campus External Relations with Rajean C. Blomquist, director of media relations at Wittenberg, Robert C. James, class of 1965, president of The Kingsley Group, Johnny D. Pryor, class of 1999, assistant prosecutor for Clark County, and Chris Wells, class of 1989, associate financial planner at Baker Financial Planning;
  
  
• Student Placement, including all members along with Michael J. Pickarski, class of 2002, Security National Bank, and Virginia Weygandt, class of 1988, senior curator of collections, Clark County Historical Society, as group coordinators.

O’Connor wrote the master plan and shared it with each potential member as she recruited the initial volunteers.

“Bringing together a balanced representation of both professional and regional areas was a priority,” O’Connor said. “It is a long-term building process.”

Members will advise ways to assess and shape a dynamic office to keep the Career Center informed of new developments in the business and non-profit sectors and to remain abreast of career development practices and issues.

In addition to the continued development of campus resources, the council will be involved in activities to develop community awareness of the Wittenberg Career Center and to suggest ways to promote the program through speaking engagements, partnerships and media supporters, such as alumni, employers and local community members.

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