The Career Development Office (CDO) will join the Office of the Provost in the Academic Division in 2015 in a move to enhance faculty participation in student career development.
The shift from the Student Affairs Division drives the CDO in the direction being developed in the Kenyon 2020 strategic plan, better integrating curricular and co-curricular aspects of student life and helping students better prepare for life after Kenyon.
“My aspiration is to build on the successes of the CDO through more intensive connection with the faculty in their roles as teachers as well as advisors and mentors,” Provost Joseph Klesner said. “Because the mission of the CDO is educational and explicitly identifies helping students align their academic and personal interests with professional opportunities, close collaboration between the CDO and the faculty should be our goal.”
The close working relationship between the CDO and Student Affairs staffs will continue and further collaborations will be developed “in support of student growth,” Dean of Students Henry “Hank” Toutain said. “The hope and expectation is that an increasingly more robust CDO will integrate even more closely with academic departments and programs,” he said, “to help students begin their career explorations early.”
Parents place a high priority on student career development and the Kenyon alumni community is an engaged resource, Director of Career Development Scott Layson said. The College is being aggressive in developing opportunities for students. “We’re about to be a little more close in our dealings with our faculty partners, to learn from them, and that’s a strong benefit to the students,” Layson said. Increasing emphasis is being placed on the first- and second-year student experience with an eye “toward a successful launch.”