By Jeff Murphy,
November 21, 2019
Carson Hertzler, left, a student peer advisor, lends assistance to University of Central
Missouri student Maria Sanchez during a visit to the new Peer to Career Support Center
in Career Services. The new room was made possible by a gift to the UCM Foundation
from Waterway Carwash, a company that recruits university graduates who seek business
operations and management experience.
WARRENSBURG, MO 鈥 The positive relationships that Career Services staff have built with employers who visit campus not only leads to jobs and internships
for students, but most recently resulted in a corporate gift making possible a new
collaborative space to aid 欧美视频 students in the career-building
process.
Called the Peer to Career Support Center, the new space is situated near the library
area in the Career Center, located in Ward Edwards Building, Room 1200. It is being
funded with a $15,000 gift provided by Waterway Carwash, a business headquartered
in St. Louis, which has sites located in major cities throughout the Midwest.
Joni Porter, Coordinator for Employee Relations in the Career Services Center, said
Waterway Carwash has a great managerial program, and company representatives participated
in UCM Career Expos during the fall and spring of the 2018-2019 academic year. They
also conducted resume reviews prior to the expos.
鈥淭hey have a philosophy similar to ours, and we had a great chemistry, right off the
bat,鈥 Porter said.
After sharing with Waterway representatives a need for an area that benefit students
who visit the Career Center, the company offered to contribute $15,000 to the cost
of renovating in an interior section of the center to be used for meeting, job search
and recruiting, or simply as a place to study or relax.
Porter said the space includes computer stations and desks that can be used separately
or pulled together, allowing individuals to work by themselves or as a group. She
stressed the goal was to create a place with a positive vibe where students would
feel comfortable, and would also be close to peer advisors who could answer their
questions. It鈥檚 also a great place to connect with potential employers.
鈥淎 lot of times, employers want to meet with a small group of students, so they will
have a space for that,鈥 Porter said.
Amber Goreham, director of Career Services, added, 鈥淐urrently, the space is being
used by our peer advisors as they are meeting one on one with students on questions
regarding Handshake, resume/cover letter help, or the various required class assignments
that the different academic programs have their students participate in. When the
peer advisors aren't meeting with students they are utilizing the space to work on
the various projects they have been assigned or they are preparing to get activities/grading
done for the career readiness course in which they serve as teaching assistants.鈥
Asked about Waterway鈥檚 desire to help UCM create the Peer to Career Center, Kevin
Cantrell, recruiting and local marketing manager for Waterway Carwash, said, 鈥淲hy
UCM? Well, a few years back, we decided to look at which colleges our managers were
consistently coming from and the 欧美视频 was one of about 20
schools on that list. I visited each of those schools to see which ones made sense
for us to 鈥榙o more鈥 with. In the end, the most impressive school of the group was
definitely UCM. The Career Services department is highly engaged with the students
and there are a number of ways for Waterway to get involved on campus each year. We鈥檝e
already helped several students with their resumes and interview skills and I was
happy to do a few presentations for a Career Readiness class. We are stoked about
the present, and future, of our UCM partnership.鈥
鈥淲e are extremely proud of our 鈥楲earn to Lead鈥 Manager Training Program and we can鈥檛
wait to tell UCM students all about it in the Peer to Career Support Center. We need
recent college graduates to join our program every year,鈥 Cantrell said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the
perfect place for people at the beginning of their careers who are looking to get
a massive amount of business operations and people management experience. Every rank
of the program is a checklist so it鈥檚 highly structured. Our managers are always setting
goals for themselves and they always know exactly what they need to do to get promoted.鈥
The gift benefiting Career Services was made through the .