USS Surveys Students On Career Services

As part of President David Van Zandt’s initiative to reboot The New School’s office of career development, the University Student Senate has taken on the task of surveying the student body to find out how students use and benefit from the office. The survey is meant to collect student input that will guide the administration as it attempts to improve Career Services.

According to Anna-Karin Loureiro, co-chair and spokesperson for the USS, the student senate’s involvement with the issue came about after an informal meeting with Van Zandt. Loureiro said she brought the matter up because of her own personal frustrations with the Career Services office.

“I needed to make an appointment, and the first available time was for May 21,” she said, “which was just ridiculous.”

Loureiro isn’t the only person to find fault with the office — its poor customer service has long been a grievance among students and alumni alike. But Van Zandt is determined to change that. Since taking office in January, he has frequently cited the improvement of Career Services as one of his most important initiatives. The USS, he said, seemed a good way to go about collecting student input about the current state of the office.

“They’re the elected body of the students,” Van Zandt told the Free Press. “Obviously, I’m not going to just talk to them. But I think that’s the appropriate place to go when you’re looking for student input, student cooperation, student participation.”

In the past, the USS has struggled to maintain student interest, often hosting events that attract very few people. To gather input from the student body about Career Services, however, they will be sending out an electronic survey to students in all divisions of The New School. The survey, made at the website SurveyMonkey.com, includes questions like, “Have you ever utilized your division’s career services office?” and “How would you rate the service received?”

The USS’s effort is just one of a number of focus groups being conducted with students regarding Career Services, said Rosanne Sonatore, director of career development. Sonatore is a member on the task force that has been formed to look into the overhaul and renovation of the office. The task force is made up of Career Services employees from each division, as well as members of the university community.

Sonatore said she is “delighted” with the efforts being made to revamp the New School’s Career Services.

“I think that we will see many positive outcomes for students and alumni as a result,” she said.