WHAT HE DOES: Stratford is the University’s first director of experiential education, a position which was created as part of the University’s 2016 Strategic Plan.
“I am responsible for the career counseling, career education, and career awareness for the University undergraduate schools and two graduate schools. Our office prepares the students for their job interviews and, in a larger sense, for the world of work. I am also responsible for the undergraduate internship program.”
HOW LONG AT FORDHAM: Stratford has been at Fordham since 1981 and is the longest tenured member of the student affairs division. He has served as dean of students at both campuses for 14 years, and was also the dean of students at Marymount, where he helped oversee the transition to becoming part of Fordham.
HOW CAREER SERVICES CHANGED: “Career Services had a successful track record when the economy was good, but we had gotten away from the counseling model of services. In 2008, when the economy faltered, it was a good time to start counseling the students and preparing them for the world of work. Now, the focus is student-centric. Our main goal is to engage students in the conversation about the value of their liberal arts education and how it serves the work world. We have a Fordham Futures model, an eight-semester approach to career planning and professional development. We identify 10 liberal arts skills, among them being listening, thinking speaking, writing, reading, reflecting, measuring, calculating, estimating, and dreaming. These become our students’ ‘tools of inquiry’ through their core curriculum and beyond.”
WHAT IT IS LIKE OUT THERE: “Students no longer have the luxury of going to a university and not paying attention to what is going outside the gates. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) surveyed employees and asked what mindsets they were looking for in new employees. At the top of the list was young people who had a ‘big picture’ mindset, and following that was ‘analytical thinkers,’ ‘strategic thinkers,’ and ‘good problem solvers.’”
“So we work with the students to get them to realize that the things they are learning in the core curriculum have great importance—how you think, how you listen, how you write. Match that with the NACE list; it is a perfect fit.”
IT’S THE ECONOMY: “In today’s economy, young people are being asked to engage in jobs that do not have products, but are ideas-based. In the history of the human experience, there have been a few different economies –hunting and trading. agrarian, industrial. Today we have the knowledge economy. It has involved into ideas and concepts fueled by technology and great ideas. And it is young people who are prepared to lead an economy like this.
“They are also the most tolerant generation to walk the planet. That is invaluable because they are participating in an economy where collaboration is the currency of the day. And having a liberal arts education couldn’t happen at a better time. I say, unashamedly but certainly.”
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS – Stratford’s family is a Fordham family. His wife is an alumna of the Graduate School of Education; his son graduated from Fordham in 1999 and from Fordham Law in 2002, and his daughter graduated from Fordham in 2010. He is a lifelong resident of the great state of New Jersey, and he is a Yankees fan.
“My work consumes me in the nicest of ways. I have a cherished career.”
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The Jesuit Career Center Consortium provides access to job postings and other resources for Fordham students interested in searching for jobs outside the metropolitan area.
This connection to the broader Jesuit community helped Chris Rittenhouse, GSB ’14, secure his job as an associate in account management at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
As he approached graduation, Rittenhouse decided to focus his job search in Boston or elsewhere in New England. Through the reciprocity program, Fordham’s Career Services office helped him connect with Boston College, another Jesuit institution.Within a month, Rittenhouse secured a job in a field about which he cares deeply. The Jesuit consortium, he said, gave him an edge.
“There was the additional benefit of being a part of a recruitment pool several states away in a city I am particularly keen to live in. That kind of flexibility and, more importantly, mobility, was awesome,” he said.
Kate Dunham, a sophomore in the Gabelli School of Business, is taking advantage of the reciprocity program as she works with the career services office of Loyola University Chicago to find a summer internship in Chicago.
Dunham said she has been deeply impressed by the program and the ease with which the Loyola career services office has answered her questions. She said the experience has helped her realize the value of the broader Jesuit community.
“I think it is such a perfect example of the Jesuit way of being men and women for others. It really doesn’t matter where you are in the country, you have people to help you out,” she said.
Cassie Sklarz and the Fordham Career Services team are constantly working to increase student awareness about the reciprocity program and all of the services Fordham offers. She said she’s pleased to keep supporting students through every step of their search—no matter where it might take them.
“For students applying elsewhere, this program gives a little bit of comfort and makes them feel a little more confident navigating the waters of their job search,” she said.
Students interested in accessing the resources of another Jesuit school should send their resume to Cassie Sklarz, associate director of Fordham Career Services. All requests for reciprocity must be handled through the student’s home school so that the partner school can verify the student’s enrollment or status as a recent graduate.
For more information about the Jesuit Career Center Consortium, contact Cassie Sklarz at 718-817-4358 or [email protected].
—Jennifer Spencer
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Getting recent graduates to update career profile surveys has always proved a challenge for any university.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers recommends shooting for a 65 percent response rate for such data, which is also used in determining college rankings.
In 2013, Fordham had a 55 percent response rate. So when Fordham’s Office of Career Services recently reported a response rate of more than 90 percent from the Class of 2014, it was enough to make other universities take note and ask what the folks at Fordham were doing right.
Most universities gather job placement information at graduation, but follow-up is often weak, with data rarely being updated.
All that changed at Fordham when an anonymous donor took a serious interest in career services, and wanted to spur real change.
And while some of the changes are obvious, like career services’ new facilities at Rose Hill, other powerful changes are behind the scenes, like the implementation of a new technology platform called CareerInsights, which organizes the data.
“We had to have a system that gave us real-time data, and students having access was just a dream,” said Stefany Fattor, director of career services. “We bought the platform and worked with the institutional research department to formulate the questions, many of which were mission-driven, like how many people go into service upon graduating.”
Nationwide, reporting job placement based on less than a 100 percent response rate is common practice. But the incomplete data does not necessarily reflect what’s actually going on with graduates, said Bernie Stratford, director of experiential education. Some students may have found part-time jobs but are continuing to look for permanent positions. They’re actually still looking for work, but the data says they’ve found a job.
“If we are able to collect 100 percent of the tuition from our students, we certainly need to provide career services for 100 percent of our students,” said Stratford.
The career services office has responded by aggressively pursuing students during and after graduation to find out where they are and what they need. This past spring the staff used pencil-and-paper surveys to gather information from seniors as they arrived to pick up their caps and gowns for graduation. The process provided detailed information on nearly 1,200 of the 1,938 graduates. The survey responses were then entered into CareerInsights.
Questions were also tailored to focus on the core curriculum experience for all undergraduates, business and liberal arts students alike—the Gabelli School of Business students participate in one of the most liberal arts-enriched business curriculums in the country. With the ultimate goal of a 100 percent response rate, current students will be able to refer to CareerInsights when picking a major and ultimately a career.
“The Class of 2018 will have an enhanced and robust database where everyone has a file,” said Stratford. “This will be a viable tool where students can go in and show to their parents the career history of, say, all the philosophy majors at Fordham. It will assist us in transforming the perception and the power of the liberal arts in today’s marketplace.”
For student data not collected at graduation, career services divvied up the unanswered surveys among 20 counselors. The counselors spent the summer months tracking down the owners of the unanswered surveys, and, more important, offering services to those still looking for jobs.
“This is where the real value of the new system comes in,” said Fattor. “We had real-time data on those students still seeking jobs and we were able to reach out directly to them.”
This year’s freshmen were introduced to CareerInsights after beginning their first installment of Fordham Futures, an “introspective, nonlinear, career planning and professional program” that spans all eight semesters that students attend Fordham.
“In the end this is really all about school spirit, because when students open and update their CareerInsights accounts, they help themselves, their classmates, and their school,” said Stratford. “So if a junior has an internship or two, I tell them to put it in the system, share the information.
“As an institution, what we’re doing will change the culture of career services. At 100 percent response, we will get honest data,” he said. “It may not be as flattering [as a 65 percent response from job holders], but instead of looking the other way, we’ll be able to help graduates who haven’t found work. And while we’re moving on with our current students, we’re not abandoning alumni.”
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