After several delays, University Career Services on Monday began relocating to 620 Lincoln St., a move that eventually will transform a former fraternity house into a career center.
Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis said that although the renovations needed for the move were completed in May, UCS decided to move after commencement.
Renovations were funded by budget surpluses left from job fairs and UCS special programs, Banis said. UCS did not have to ask the university for additional funding.
The three-quarter mile move from Scott Hall to the edge of North Campus merges three previously distinct services – the Career Development Center, the NU Student Employment Program and the Placement Center – into one advising center. These offices were previously scattered between two floors at Scott Hall, which also contains the political science department and Residential Life.
“People would always wander around Scott Hall trying to find the right place,” said Dianne Siekmann, acting director of UCS. “Now the burden is on the staff to figure out what this person needs and connect them with the right person.”
Siekmann said students living on North Campus were not well served by the old location.
“We’re already losing half the population just being at one end of the campus,” she said. “When we move up, we’ll pick up those people, but we could very well lose the south people.”
Still, UCS faces another problem – getting noticed.
“Nobody has any reason to be walking down Lincoln to come see us,” Siekmann said. “We’re going to be very intentional this year. We want (students) to notice us.”
But she said that incoming freshmen are one fewer class the UCS will have to worry about, because they won’t know that it used to be located at South Campus.
UCS also has formed a marketing team to gather student interest.
“Once they use us once, we can prove our value,” Siekmann said. “It’s a two-pronged attack: You want to get people up there, but if your customers are not coming, you’ve got to go where they are.”
Some administrators anticipate resistance from students who live on South Campus. This summer UCS will overhaul its Web site to improve its accessibility.
“I do wonder if our phone and e-mail traffic will pick up more, particularly in cold months,” said Karin Susens, an assistant placement director.
Nearly 4,200 students and alumni are registered members of UCS. The new facility will integrate all of the libraries and provide more space for the 6,200 counseling sessions that take place each year, said Thy Nguyen, an internship adviser.
“This is the most space that I’ve seen for career services,” Nguyen said. “It fits our career development model.”
Banis, the former director of UCS, said career services will occupy the first floor and the basement of 620 Lincoln. Another administrative office will operate on the second floor.
The computers and phones were reconnected Wednesday, and Siekmann said that the center should be open to students by Thursday.
“I think we’re going to function so much better,” she said. “It’s like a battle field battalion, so everybody has their assignment and location.”
