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Campus News

VOCA Leads Networking Trip

Thirteen  Houghton students traveled to Buffalo for a networking event hosted by the Vocational Opportunities and Career Advising Center (VOCA) and the Alumni Engagement Office. Buffalo has a very high concentration of Houghton Alumni that are intentional with maintaining strong relationships with Houghton College.

According to a campus wide email, the event took place on Monday, March 20, and gave students “an opportunity to meet with alumni in one of five career areas: communication, non-profit and human services, ministry, business/finance, or law.”

The day started off with a panel discussion. The panel was made up of four alumni from the Buffalo area that offered advice on transferring from Houghton to the real world and tips on what to do now to prepare for the future. Some recommendations included finding mentors, investing in relationships with current professors, and asking God for guidance. After the discussion, students were given a tour of the Houghton Buffalo site, where the event was held. Longtime history  professor and director of Houghton College Buffalo, Cameron Airhart, shared how Houghton Buffalo offers education to refugees in Buffalo and the way God is at work in their program. Following the tour was a luncheon where students could engage with alumni in smaller groups to ask specific questions about their area of interest.

After lunch, the students departed for their first site visits of the day. A few students went to Jericho Road, which provides medical care to refugees and low-income families. Students interested in the areas of healthcare and human services had an opportunity to engage with people in their desired field.

The rest of the group went to New Era. A panel of employees including alumna, Becky Juroe, told students about the business, their specific positions, and offered advice on how to find a career worth waking up for. Students then had an opportunity to ask questions and talk with the panelists one-on-one. Erik Sorensen ‘20 found this part of the trip particularly beneficial. He said,“I gained a greater understanding what companies are looking for in a Data Science. They are looking for someone who can communicate with others and who have a great personality. ‘Attitude over aptitude’ as Fil Szabluk, the Senior IT Manager for New Era, put it.” The students then embarked on a tour of their headquarters. Ashley Hughes ‘17 said this was her favorite part of the trip because it is such a unique work environment. There was music playing, bright colored walls, turf in place of typical flooring, and ping-pong tables in a few rooms.

The group met back together at the Upstate New York Transplant Services office (UNYTS). A representative from UNYTS gave a presentation on what the organization does, including common misconceptions regarding organ and tissue donations. Employees from the company then met with students in small groups, which were organized by area of interest.

The students that attended the trip said they found the event to be a huge success. Aaron Esienhardt ‘17 said, “I enjoyed meeting with recent Houghton graduates and hearing their perspectives on how they handled transitioning from the Houghton bubble into the real world. Seeing how employees perceive working for nonprofit organizations versus working for regular companies was eye opening. If you ever are presented with the opportunity to network, I recommend taking full advantage of it.”

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Campus News

VOCA Office to Travel to D.C.

Houghton College’s Vocational Opportunities and Career Advising (VOCA) center will be traveling with a group of students to Washington D.C. over October break.

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Photo Courtesy of: Bjorn Webb

There, the students will meet with Houghton alumni who have established careers in the area. They will also have the opportunity to sight-see and tour the monuments in the Capitol. Director of VOCA, Kim Pool, and VOCA Intern, Jennifer Zacchigna ‘17, will be accompanying the students. “The purpose of the trip is for students to gain a better understanding about careers of interest. By visiting professionals at their place of work, they will see first-hand what a day-in-the life of that alum is like,” Pool said.  

The idea originated from director of alumni engagement Phyllis Gaerte’s trip to Washington D.C. during fall break last year, where she met with Houghton alumni in the area. “This year, we thought it would be beneficial to include students so they could meet with the alumni,” Pool said. She noted, “The purpose of the trip is for students to gain a better understanding about careers of interest.”

Students will have the opportunity to meet with alumni as a whole group, and in smaller groups with various alumni. Pool noted they will all meet with Houghton alumni David Long ’90, who previously worked for the Department of Defense and now works in management consulting for CGH Technologies. In the small groups, students will have the opportunity to meet with alumni who align with their specific interests. Zacchigna noted the importance of seeing alumni in their career place, in that students can “learn more about their specific career interests by experiencing first-hand what a certain job might look like.” She explained “This might look like shadowing them at work or just meeting for lunch to see and hear about their work experiences.” The students will also have the opportunity to meet with alumni in a casual group setting.

The trip has generated interested in students such as Chandler Jones ’17, who is interested in working in D.C. in the future. “I’m interested in International Development and Law, and the trip will allow me to meet with people from organizations I can see myself working at in the future,” she said. Pool echoed this, noting the specific ways in which the trip can help students think about their future careers, such as being able to “discern if living and working in a large metro city is right for them.” Regardless of whether or not students see themselves settling in Washington D.C. or a metro city, Pool said, “I’m most excited for our students to network with alumni and establish professional connections.”

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New VOCA Office Opens in Campus Center

A noticeable new edition to the Van Dyke Lounge, is the Fleming-Farver Vocational Opportunities and Career Advising (VOCA office). The office was made possible by a generous donation by Thomas, Ph.D. ’64 and Phyllis (Fleming ‘65) Farver. The VOCA office, lead by Director Kim Pool and Coordinator Brian Reitnour, including other staff such as Administrative Assistant, Cindy Hannigan, Vocational Specialist Rebecca Rowley, Dean Jordan, along with multiple VOCA counselors, offers services that were previously offered in the Career Services Office.

VOCAVOCA will support academic departments and advisors, as well as help students find internship opportunities and connect with Houghton alumni for potential career opportunities through the use of a service called Houghton Connects. According to Pool, the VOCA office hopes to streamline career resources for Houghton students as well as “significantly increase the number of internships and jobs in our online database, specifically in Buffalo and New York City. We also hope to launch an online system that will house internships and streamline the process for registering and receiving approval for an academic internship.” Although, she said, “academic content and approval of academic credit are under the jurisdiction of the Academic Records Office, academic departments, and faculty.

Reitnour stated, “We also hope to talk with students about the broader concept of vocation and God’s calling, which spans beyond one’s occupation to include civic responsibility, relationships with friends and family, church participation and extra curricular activities.” Reitnour also said, “Discovering one’s vocation is more than just searching within to identify unique interests and attributes. It also involves taking a deep look at the world’s needs. We hope to connect students with opportunities to use their skills to serve the needs of the world.”

“The previous location [of Career Services] was tucked away and too small to effectively reach out to 1,000 students. The new location is highly visible and accessible, not only to current students but also prospective students and parents,” Hannigan said. “Its visibility during campus tours communicates Houghton’s commitment and institutional priority to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to be prepared for life after college.” She said that the rest of the Van Dyk lounge will be receiving new furniture in the next few weeks to compliment the VOCA décor.

VOCA offers services to all Houghton students, not just upperclassman. Pool said, “First years and sophomores will definitely benefit from talking with a VOCA counselor early about choosing a major and career options.” In addition to this, students can take advantage of the career assessment tests available at VOCA, as well as Houghton Connects and workshops. Upcoming workshop topics include subjects such as networking, resumes and cover letters, and interviewing skills. A student can even request to do a mock interview with a VOCA counselor.

The new location has already seen in increase in student activity. Students can make appointments in person as well as online, at http://www.houghton.edu/students/voca/. Pool said, “Whatever your class year, we encourage you to make an appointment today to talk with a VOCA counselor who can assess where you are in the four year plan and make sure you are headed in the right direction.”

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News

College Receives NetVUE Grant

Houghton recently received a $50,000 grant for networking for vocation in undergraduate education. This grant was given to Houghton by the Council of Independent Colleges, a group of which Houghton has been a part for many years. This grant is intended to help colleges who wish to expand on their vocational programs and services. “The overall goal of this grant is to help transform our authentic but often informal mentoring for vocation,” said associate dean for academic affairs Mark Hijleh.

Luckey_2Along with Mark Hijleh, the grant team which will be providing leadership to this initiative includes Robert Pool, vice president for student life; Professor Rich Eckley; Dan Noyes, executive director of alumni relations; Brian Reitnour, career services coordinator; Michael Jordan, dean of the chapel; and Mark Hunter, CASA director.

“Consistency” was one of Robert Pool’s choice words when describing the hopes he had for the vocational program. “I hope there is more consistency in the questions professors ask students as well as the answers they give them.” Pool hopes that when students meet with their advisors, discussions will be more along the lines of what the student’s strengths and weaknesses are as well as what they plan to do in the future. Through that the professor could connect them with alumni, as well as set up interviews and internships for that student. “We already have these things available to the students but we hope to make it more intentional.”

Currently, Houghton’s vocational programs include Transitions, sophomore retreat, HELP Day, guest executive dinners, Imitators of Christ, academic capstone projects, and alumni connections. “Houghton has supported students in vocational aspiration all along, but this project will help us bring together many elements of this exploration into a more coherent and effective whole,” said Hijleh.

“What we want students to be able to ask themselves is, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Who am I in Christ?’, ‘What’s my purpose?’ and ‘How can I use my services?’ We are trying to prepare students for lives of significance,” said Pool.

Current students as well as future students will benefit from this program. “We will be able to communicate the program’s coherence and benefits to prospective students and their families, which we believe will make the value of a Houghton education much clearer,” said Hijleh. Hannah Zgrablich, junior, said, “I’m interested to see how this program will develop. It would be extremely useful to focus more on our future careers while we’re in school so as not to be in complete shock when it’s time to face the real world.”

Hijleh, along with the rest of the grant team have high hopes for this program. “All of this will come together over the next two years in the form of ‘VOCA’ a new center for exploration of vocation. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members will have access to and be encouraged to make use of materials and programs that assist them with making connections between spiritual formation, Christian calling, academic advising, coursework and co-curricular activities, career development and professional networking in the context of Houghton’s mission to ‘to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world.’”