Director, Career And Educational Planning 

Describe the type of organization you work for.
Student success is the number one priority of Mesa Community College. For over forty years, MCC has provided outstanding transfer, career, and service programs to the East Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona. Our nationally recognized student outcomes assessment program testifies to the faculty’s commitment to more than 27,000 students who attend annually. MCC’s Center for Teaching and Learning further energizes residential and adjunct faculty to excel in the classroom and in professional development.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Plans, organizes, directs and evaluates career planning and placement and adult re-entry services; supervises, trains and evaluates staff; maintains liaison with internal/external committees and organizations for student recruitment and retention purposes and to link supervised services; prepares and controls budget; formulates and evaluates goals and objectives of the program; oversees the selection of occupational and educational materials used in the center; coordinates the collection and dissemination of information on job requirements, labor market conditions, forecasts and economic development in the community; develops and implements programming to address the special needs of re-entry students; supervises a student job placement program including computerized job listings, job referrals and on-campus recruitment by employees; organizes and implements assessment policies and procedures; prepares reports and presentations.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
2 weeks vacation, accrued sick leave, medical, dental, vision insurance, Arizona State Retirement System

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Well compensated; However, with the current state of budgets at the community college level, there have been no raises in the 3 years I’ve been here. Both our insurance and ARS costs are scheduled to increase next year, with again not even a cost of living salary increase.

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
The Career and Re-Entry Services office is open to staff as well as the community at large, so our daily jobs entail working with students, community members, staff, etc. In addition, as a manager in the Division of Student Affairs, my job also requires an ability to work collaboratively with other departments, administration, community agencies, our District office, etc. I’m an an extrovert and a people person, and I recharge my energy by being with people. It’s not always easy, but I love the fact that I work with people as part of (most of) my job. Otherwise, I would not be doing it.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
My office is one of 8 in the Career and Re-Entry Services Center. This space is also shared with the American Indian Center staff. I like being close to the action and being close by in case my staff needs assistance. It has been challenging to make sharing the space with another department, but we are all continuing to find new ways to work and share resources collaboratively. It’s a warm, friendly, busy environment, which I enjoy. However, living in Arizona, sometimes it’s a bummer to be stuck working inside when we are having such nice weather!

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 5
Benefits: 3
Hours: 4
Co-Workers: 6
Supervisors: 7
Job Title: 1
Level of Responsibility: 2
The Actual Work: 8