Student Affairs Receives Four Awards for Outstanding Programs
Binghamton University’s Division of Student Affairs was recently recognized for its quality of programs by the State University of New York’s Chief Student Affairs Officers and Office of University Life. In total, the division received four awards and one honorable mention during the Outstanding Student Affairs Programs Awards, presented at the College Student Personnel Association of New York State Conference on Oct. 24, in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development was recognized for two of its signature programs. In the category of Careers, Academic Advising and Support, Service Learning, Community Service, and related it received an award for its collaborative program Binghamton in the City: A Week of Connections – NYC Employer Visits. NYC Employer Site Visits has made a positive impact on students’ professional development through their ability to meet one-on-one with potential employers within their worksite in order to expand their networks and gain a better understanding of the organization's culture and industry. Last January, 439 unique students visited a total of 60 employer sites. In addition to this SUNY award, the NYC Employer Site Visit program was also recognized in June 2015 by the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) for winning the Innovation in Program Development Award for serving as a model program for students. The visits program is led by the Fleishman Center in terms of the coordinating committee, promotion and logistics, but the key to its success and growth can also be attributed to the partnership and collaboration with leaders from all four campus career offices, Alumni Relations and University Communications.
Binghamton in the City: A Week of Connections will be held again this year from Jan. 9-13, 2017. Students have the opportunity to participate in more than 55 employer site visits as well as network with more than 130 alumni at Metro Connections Night.
The Fleishman Center also won in the category of Housing, Residence Life, Contracted Services, Judicial and related for its program titled Career Consultant in Residence in collaboration with Residential Life. The program is designed to bring expert career services to students in their residential communities, work with them to explore majors and careers, search for jobs, internships and graduate schools, and develop their application materials such as resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles. The concept was an outgrowth of the Fleishman Center’s goal of “going to the students where they are” in order to connect with a greater number of students and is one of the only such models in the United States.
The Career Consultant in Residence Program began in fall 2015 when career consultant Laura O’Neill ’07, MA ’08, volunteered to pilot the innovative model by being placed in Binghamton’s Hillside, Susquehanna, Mountainview and College in the Woods residential communities. The success of the program allowed for expansion this fall to include Lexie Avery, MS ’15, bringing the same services to Hinman College, Newing College and Dickinson Community.
New Student Programs was awarded in the Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, Orientation, Parents, First-year, Other-year, and related category for its Pre-Orientation program. The initiative, in collaboration with the Center for Learning and Teaching, was designed to enhance the pre-orientation experience for incoming students through a series of videos and digital documents relating to exploring components to their prospective degree, learning about previous academic credit, exploring major guides and developing an understanding on how to build their schedules. Incoming students also received a welcome message from the dean and “top ten tips” from the school to which they were admitted.
The Student Affairs Staff Recognition Committee, a team comprised of staff from within the division, won in the Administrative, Assessment, Information Technology, Fundraising, Professional Development, and related category for its Student Affairs Staff Recognition Program. This program was designed to increase the culture of gratitude within the Division of Student Affairs by offering staff creative ways to recognize the work of their colleagues on an ongoing basis.
The University Counseling Center received an honorable mention in the category of Student Health, Wellness, Counseling, and related for its Mental Health Outreach Peer Educators (M-HOPE) program which aims to make our campus a healthier and safer living and learning environment. M-HOPE is powered by a group of student ambassadors who strive to engage and educate the campus community in topics of mental health and wellness. The M-HOPE team provides campus-wide programs, street outreach and tabling, facilitates first year seminar lectures and RA events, and serves on campus committees, among other outreach activities.
Laura O’Neill ’07, MA ’08, Career Consultant in Residence, Fleishman Center
Denise Lorenzetti, Associate Director, Fleishman Center
Kelli Smith, Director, University Career Services
Brian Rose, Vice President, Division of Student Affairs
Peter Nardone '05, MSW '07, Associate Director, New Student Programs
Steve Rebello, Assistant Director/Academic Counselor, Student Support Services and Chair of The Student Affairs Staff Recognition Committee
-Written by Stacey Schimmel '18, BA in English rhetoric and political science
