Office of Career Services Receives Grant for Innovative Programming
Fayetteville State University Office of Career Services was recently awarded a grant from the North Carolina Career Development Association (NCCDA), a subgroup of the North Carolina Counseling Association (NCCA), for their proposal to develop career and professional development programming for students who may identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ).
The proposal, entitled “Project Synthesis,” was reviewed by NCCDA’s 2012-13 Best Practices Grant Committee and was one of six Grants awarded in the state of North Carolina. The Office of Career Services received bronze-level certification as a Career Center servicing LGBTQ students from OUT for Work, a non-profit organization existing to help facilitate the transition of LGBTQ students from academia to the work place. Grant writers Ms. Devyn Sturdavant and Ms. Latosha Williams, both Career Counselors in the Office of Career Services, developed the program with the goal of improving certification level to silver or gold and enhancing the level of inclusiveness the office provides in terms of services and resources that will help facilitate the career and professional development of Fayetteville State students that may identify as LGBTQ.
The purpose of the programming and grant is to:
· Equip students with pertinent knowledge necessary in leveraging skills, experiences, and
identity in their own career development
· Prepare and support students seeking to synthesize dual identities as a racial minority and
as one who may identify as LGBTQ
· Enhance cultural sensitivity and awareness of Career Services staff through Safe Zone or
Diversity & Social Justice training
· Add LGBTQ-specific career development resources to the Career Services Resource
Library
· Support the 2012 NCCDA focus of exploring unique paths and populations
· Increase the Career Center’s bronze-level certification by OUT for Work LGBTQ Career
Center Certification Program to silver or gold
Moving forward the Office of Career Service will be reaching out to the campus community members to join a Diversity Task Force to discuss and develop strategies on effective programming to more inclusively engage all populations of students in career and professional development.
If you are a faculty or staff member that is interested in contributing on the Diversity Task Force for this initiative or if you are a student interested in participating in Project Synthesis Professional Development series, please contact Career Counselors Devyn Sturdavant or Latosha Williams.
Contact Information:
Devyn Sturdavant, dsturda1@uncfsu.edu, Career Counselor for Freshmen, Job Location & Development Program
Latosha Williams, lwilli57@uncfsu.edu, Career Counselor for Juniors, Assessment Coordinator
910-672-1205
www.uncfsu.edu/careerserv
Office of Career Services | Fayetteville State University
The mission of the Fayetteville State University Office of Career Services is to guide students and alumni in achieving career satisfaction. We endeavor to meet our mission by assisting our students and alumni to make optimal use of their knowledge, skills and abilities.