Programs prepare students for future
Career, money, education – three goals of countless university students. The trouble for many students is how to work toward all three at the same time. The Technology Training program and the Rhetoric Associates program provide solutions to this conundrum.
The Technology Training program is new to Utah State University this semester. It is a student-developed and student-managed program. It offers students the opportunity to investigate a number of technology-based careers while earning financial compensation and receiving a first-hand knowledge of how things work.
Each day, students observe a different aspect of one of three technical services: Technical Support Services, Network and Computing Services or Telecommunication Services. After six weeks of rotation, students choose where they would like to work for the remainder of the semester.
“It gives students the opportunity to shadow full-time employees on campus,” said TSS co-manager Dan Neeley.
Because the program is new, only five students currently participate. Neeley said the program will “target incoming freshmen and give them exposure to jobs that are out there.” In addition to helping students, Neeley said the program also serves as a recruiting tool for USU.
“I think that the biggest help has been learning about the kind of employee I want to be,” Neeley said. “I saw a lot of traits in the staff that I really admired … I think the main trait that I want to develop is a genuine concern for others.”
Another program designed to helped students progress toward their goals is the Rhetoric Associates program. Students in this program are usually nominated by a professor, another associate, or are self-nominated via the Internet. Selected students enroll in a three-credit seminar to teach them how to peer-edit. Associates are assigned to read papers for 10 to 15 students in a class and are available to classes in all colleges on the request of professors. Currently 13 professors use this service in their class.
Julie Foust, director of the Rhetoric Associate program, said she feels the biggest problem is that professors are simply unaware of the program or because they think their department will have to pay extra, but this is not the case.
Associates receive a $525 stipend for their services. This money does not come from individual departments but rather from student fees.
Associate Kelli Nielsen is a senior majoring in English and secondary education. She said she is learning “how to improve writers instead of writing.”
Along with this, she said the experience is helping her “enjoy reading students’ papers” – something she plans on doing often as a teacher.
Associate Ashlee Swenson also has a dual major in English and secondary education. She said she is “amazed how well students have responded.” She said her favorite part about the program is learning about different majors by reading students’ papers.
“I would love it if more classes would get involved,” she said.
-tamber_m@yahoo.com