career development

College Awarded $800,000 Grant to Strengthen Experiential Learning

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Continuing a record of generous support for Kalamazoo College, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded $800,000 to fund a project aimed at updating and strengthening the College’s experiential learning program, a cornerstone of the K-Plan.

Experiential Learning
Putting experiential learning into action, second-year student Madison Butler addresses the Kalamazoo County Commission about a report her class assembled on the county’s local identification card initiative. An $800,000 grant will help the College explore ways to weave such opportunities more tightly into the Kalamazoo College experience.

The grant is the largest yet to K from the foundation, one of the nation’s prime philanthropic supporters of liberal arts education. It brings to more than $4 million the total in grants the New York-based foundation has given the College since the mid-1970s.

The grant recognizes the value of K’s unique approach to liberal arts education, as embodied in the K-Plan: rigorous academics, study abroad, individual scholarship and, of course, experiential education — which provides students opportunities for hands-on, immersive learning in real-life situations.

The four-year award will cover the cost of bringing together students, faculty and staff in various settings and through a variety of means to explore and experiment with:

  • reducing barriers to participation in experiential learning;
  • strengthening faculty engagement with experiential learning; and
  • evolving the K-Plan and expanding its utility and educational impact.

Assistant Professor of English Marin Heinritz ’99, a former chair of the College’s Experiential Education Committee, along with a steering committee for the project, will work with a “design thinking” consultant to facilitate a collaboration between faculty, staff and students around these goals.

Heinritz recalled that as the College altered the K-Plan in the late 1990s, her graduating class was the last to have the second-year spring quarter dedicated to off-campus career development activities such as internships followed by summer classes before the junior year abroad. That revision of the College’s schedule along with factors both economic and societal, she said, may have contributed to decreased participation in some experiential learning programs among K students.

She said the design thinking process focuses on the needs and expectations of those being served—in this case, students—and is intended to inspire innovative strategies for making experiential learning a more organic part of the curriculum.

“The idea is to help elicit thinking from us so we can begin to problem-solve,” Heinritz said. “We’ve gotten this amazing grant so we have these great resources and time to see how it’s going to evolve. There are all kinds of possibilities.”

She said one proposal might be to devise classes that take advantage of K’s long winter break by using part of it for a capstone experience directly related to the material covered in the classroom.

“So for example, I teach a food and travel writing sophomore seminar, and it would be really fun to take the students somewhere connected with that and give them lots of writing and reflection assignments,” she said. “That would change the way I teach that class fundamentally to give them a direct experience.”

College Provost Mickey McDonald also pointed to existing models, such as a project led by Anthropology and Sociology Assistant Professor Francisco Villegas that involved students in Kalamazoo County’s initiative to establish a local ID card for those unable to obtain other forms of government identification. He said that through the process led by Heinritz, students, faculty and staff will seek to make the connections between experiential learning and other parts of the K-Plan “much more explicit for our students.”

“I think there’s a really different landscape now than there was even 10 years ago, before the Great Recession, and so students and their families are thinking about how to hit the ground running as soon as they graduate,” McDonald said. Amid concerns about finishing a degree in the minimum possible time, they can see experiential learning as a luxury or disconnected from their long-term goals.

“One of the ideal outcomes would be that almost no student would see any kind of barrier to experiential learning,” McDonald said. “If we think this kind of education is the best way to prepare them to be great citizens of the world, then we need to take as many of these barriers away as possible.”

McDonald said the focus on such issues, while certain to be greatly enhanced by the grant, is not new, and that students could begin benefiting from the innovative programs it produces as early as the 2018-19 academic year – in line with the launch of the College’s new strategic plan this spring.

“The commitment to the K-Plan, to experiential education, is going to be a central priority of the strategic plan,” he said. “I think this grant and the work that we’ve been doing are going to resonate very well with it.”

Biology Alumnae Present at Reflections and Connections

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Kalamazoo College’s Biology Department welcomed alumnae Melba Sales-Griffin ’12 and Emily Cornwell ’07 to campus today for the department’s annual Reflections and Connections event as a part of Homecoming 2017. The event, established in honor of Professor Emeritus Paul Sotherland, shares the career highlights and happenings of K alumni as they reflect on their K experiences and beyond.

Kalamazoo College alumna Emily Cornwell Presents at Reflections and Connections
Kalamazoo College alumna Emily Cornwell ’07 told students Friday, Oct. 20, at Reflections and Connections that a series of seemingly inconsequential events in their education might someday create their career paths.
Biology Professor Binney Girdler introduces Melba Sales-Griffin
Biology Professor Binney Girdler introduces Melba Sales-Griffin ’12 Friday, Oct. 20, at Reflections and Connections.

Sales-Griffin, a Chicago native, majored in biology and minored in art. She studied abroad in Ecuador for six months as a junior. She also held a leadership role on the Student Activities Committee and was a senior resident assistant. After college, she learned HTML, CSS and UX/UI at the Starter League in Chicago before becoming its office manager. She also worked at the University of Chicago Survey Lab administering phone surveys in English and Spanish. Now, Sales-Griffin is a service delivery coordinator at MATTER, a health care technology incubator that supports startups in the health care space.

Cornwell spent a year in Australia as a Fulbright Scholar researching the physiology of osmotolerance in a native mollusk and earning an honors degree from Deakin University. After returning from Australia, she started a dual Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Ph.D. program at Cornell University, where she focused on the infection dynamics of an invasive fish virus in the Great Lakes. She later completed additional training to become a certified aquatic veterinarian.

After serving as an emergency small animal and exotic species veterinarian in Virginia, she became a general practice small animal and aquatic veterinarian in Maryland. At work, she enjoys educating pet owners, solving issues in internal medicine and training veterinary technicians.

K Student Among First AmeriFirst Interns

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Kalamazoo College student Peter Rossi ’18 is among the first students to take advantage of a new internship program that teaches students about the mortgage industry.

Rossi, a computer science major and music minor from Kalamazoo, is one of nine college juniors and seniors learning career skills this summer through AmeriFirst, a mortgage banker in Kalamazoo. The students, who were chosen from more than 50 applicants, work in marketing, information technology, appraisals, human resources and legal/compliance. The program began in May and continues through August.

Peter Rossi Pictured at AmeriFirst
Peter Rossi, a computer science major and music minor from Kalamazoo, is one of nine college juniors and seniors learning career skills this summer through AmeriFirst, a mortgage banker in Kalamazoo.

“The work environment at AmeriFirst is extremely unique because my work is directly applicable to the company,” Rossi said. “They’re willing to value my opinions even at the highest level, which pushes me to work hard.”

Rossi’s job in information technology includes communicating with various departments around AmeriFirst to help the company build an intranet platform that suits employees’ needs. He also has duties involving business process modeling, which is a method of mapping processes to help make an organization’s workflow more effective and efficient.

Rossi said there are three divisions within IT at AmeriFirst including:

  • a technical-support division;
  • a network administration division, ensuring that servers are protected and company information is properly encrypted; and
  • Rossi’s division, which offers a mix of continuous improvement and project management.

“There are a lot of departments that have interns, but the IT department has a way of making every day interesting and fun,” Rossi said. “We really go out of our way to interact and have a good time.”

A weekly lunch-and-learn program encourages community and builds cohesiveness among the interns across departments. During these 60-minute sessions, members of senior management provide industry and life-skills education along with overviews of their respective areas of expertise. A recent highlight included a session with Chief Executive Officer Mark Jones, who shared his passion and business philosophy with the students, who appreciated his time.

“AmeriFirst is going out of its way to see that young talent stays here, which I think is amazing,” said Rossi, a Loy Norrix High School graduate, Heyl Scholar and a member of K’s swimming and diving team. He added he hopes he can take the experiences he has gained so far and continue to be successful moving forward.

Before launching the internship program, AmeriFirst Staff Recruiter Kelly McConnell and coworker Nicole Waterbury connected with local college career departments, including K’s Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD), and reached out to other corporations running successful internship programs. Although Rossi first heard of the internship opportunity through a friend’s dad, he said CCPD was integral in helping him prepare his résumé and learn how to network.

Rossi said he would encourage other students thinking about the AmeriFirst program in the future to “absolutely apply. If you can get in, they really take care of you. It’s a diverse workforce, and a majority of employees are women at the home office, even among the senior leadership team. For me that creates an amazing community atmosphere that also has a young, energetic vibe.”

For more information on internships at AmeriFirst, contact McConnell at 269-324-4240, ext. 12020, or recruiter@amerifirst.com.

 

College’s CCPD Dinner Connects Students to Fortune 500 Company

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CCPD Dinner Connects Students to StrykerIn early May, 28 Kalamazoo College students had the opportunity to share a meal on campus with eight professionals who have at least two things in common—the K-Plan and careers at the Stryker Corporation, a Kalamazoo-based Fortune 500 medical technologies firm.

The alumni returned to campus at the invitation of the Center for Career and Professional Development to meet with students who could learn about career paths at Stryker and the relevance of the K-Plan to those paths. At least 15 current Stryker employees got their undergraduate degrees at K, and both institutions are interested in strengthening the talent pipeline between the two.

The event began with a welcome by S. Si Johnson ’78, the retired group president of Stryker MedSurg Group and a current member of the College’s board of trustees. Johnson shared the four core values of Stryker—integrity, accountability, people, and performance—and reflected on how the critical thinking and problem solving skills inherent in a K education are great preparation for a career at Stryker.

After students and alumni enjoyed informal networking conversations over dinner, James N. Heath ’78, the retired president of Stryker Instruments and a member of K’s board of trustees, moderated an alumni panel that included Randy Rzeznik ’08, director of customer excellence, Neuro, Spine, ENT and Navigation; Bryce Pearson ’15, finance representative; Kevin Packard ’05, clinical marketing manager, Neuro, Spine, ENT and Navigation; and Michael Weslosky ’02, staff scientist.

Panelists reflected on their trajectories from K to Stryker and talked about the qualities of the company they find most attractive. The panelists’ K majors were varied—chemistry, economics, biology, and business—and each panelist cited the value of the work ethic instilled by the K-Plan and the 10-week term. They also stressed the importance of persistence in the pursuit of employment. Pearson, for example, shared the effort and time that was required before he secured a position at Stryker.

Heath also invited one of the students in attendance, junior Alex White, to describe the extensive process he’d gone through to secure an internship with Stryker for the upcoming summer.

Other alumni attending the event included Legal Counsel Christopher DiVirgilio ’04 and Senior IS Business Analyst Russ Hankey ’96.

Students and alumni agreed that the evening was a success and excellent preparation for the next step in the K/Stryker relationship: a half-day immersion K-Trek for selected students to the company’s headquarters in the fall.

Text and photo by Joan Hawxhurst

K’s Latest K-Trek Passes all Tests

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K to the Windy City students on K-Trek
Roundtable meeting in Chicago during K to the Windy City, the newest K-Trek.

Kalamazoo College’s latest K-Trek, K to the Windy City, tested two expansions — in numbers and event type. The results are in: success above expectations!

“We wanted a K-Trek that would accommodate more students and provide more types of student-alumni and student-thought leader interaction,” said Valerie Miller, assistant director for external relations in K’s Center for Career and Professional Development. K to the Windy City is the largest K-Trek to date. Twenty-five students and 57 alumni participated in the three-day event, which featured round-table meetings (standard for K-Treks) and also offered panels, a networking event, a customized itinerary for nearly every student, and some fun and relaxation at a Second City performance.

Coordinated by the CCPD, K-Treks are multi-day immersive discussions with leaders in various industries. Previous treks (inspired by the thinking of alumnus Brad O’Neill ’93) have visited San Francisco (where the focus was on entrepreneurship) and New York City (finance and business). The Windy City trek focused on the law and nonprofit administration, with social justice as the bridge between those areas of interest.

“Our 25 students divided themselves roughly into three tracks,” says Miller. “About a third was certain they wanted to pursue a career in law. Another third were equally sure about nonprofit administration. The final group was on the fence. All were interested in social justice.”

Valerie Miller Prepares for K-Trek
Valerie Miller during the extensive K-trek prep phase.

K to the Windy City “started” the day after winter term finals, but prep work commenced long before that. Wade Thomson ’98, an attorney at Jenner & Block who also does pro bono work with persons seeking political asylum in the United States, provided the unique framework for this K-Trek that focused on the intersection between Chicago and justice.

For their part, student participants researched the alumni whom they would meet (and the organizations they worked for) and then prepared a list of questions for the interaction.

For her part, Miller relied on the cover letters and résumés of each student to customize individual itineraries that would provide the most educational impact.

The meetings provided some excellent outcomes and revelations for the students, according to Miller. “Some very practical advice,” she explained, “such as the need for solid business skills in nonprofit administration; timing for law school and how to optimize a gap year, should one choose that option; and the surprising number of law-related work opportunities that do not require a J.D.

“For those students certain about their choice (law or nonprofit administration),” she continued, “the experience may have confirmed or focused their vision. Those less certain found value in the additional information they could use to eventually decide.”

Students on a bus heading to the latest K-Trek, K to the Windy City
K to the Windy City departs Kalamazoo College, headed for the newest K-Trek experience.

Student participants represented a cross section of classes, majors and geography. Twelve seniors, six juniors and seven sophomores composed this first Windy City trek. Fourteen academic majors were represented; 11 students call Michigan home; 11 come from a variety of states; three were international students.

“I learned more in two days about what a legal career entails than I had learned in my entire life up to that point,” said Benjamin Toledo, a senior anthropology/sociology and business double major.  “Given the chance to speak with successful lawyers from K provided us with the opportunity to clarify any uncertainty that we had in regard to a career in law, all while receiving advice from individuals who were once in our shoes.  It was a truly phenomenal opportunity to meet and connect with such talented people.”

“I was surprised by how many alumni didn’t always know exactly what they wanted to do or have a clear vision of where they’d end up,” said sophomore Lauren Arquette (political science). She was grateful for the insight. “It takes away a lot of the pressure we put on ourselves of feeling like we always have to have a plan, because often times, things don’t exactly go according to plan. I realized that life doesn’t have to be stressful and meticulously planned out for you to be successful.”

After the event, students were provided a survey to prompt reflections on the value of the experience. The participants also are writing biographies of the alumni with whom they met to post on the CCPD website for future Windy City trekkers.

K-Trek on public transportation
K students riding public transportation in Chicago.

“That’s a future for which we all hope,” says Miller. “This K-Trek was so successful that we’ll continue to work hand in hand with our colleagues in the Office of Development to encourage participation from alumni and to raise the funds for this and other treks.”

2017 Student Participants included: Abby Lu ’17, Ailih Weeldreyer ’19, Andrea Beitel ’17, Anja Xheka ’17, Anne Waugh ’19, Ben Toledo ’17, Blanca Moreno ’17, Carmen Nogueron ’18, Cat Cook ’17, Cody Howrigon ’18, Emily Levy ’17, Gunyeop Lee ’17, Hannah Lehker ’17, Heather Brown ’18, Honora Stagner ’17, Jasmine Khin ’18, Lauren Arquette ’19, Lauren Perlaki ’17, Madison Triplett ’19, Matthew Ryder ’18, Monet Foster ’18, Regina Shaw ’19, Ren Ballew ’17, Sirui Chen ’19 and Sydney Brown ’18.

The following alumni participated in a panel event, met with a group of students and/or hosted students at their place of work. Many of these alumni also provided additional support through funding, space, food and/or ideas for the planning of K to the Windy City, and many attended networking events — Kelly Bauer ’10, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago Department of Law; Marietta Bowman ’02, Senior Survey Director, NORC at the University of Chicago; Jane Burchfield ’85, Manager of Talent Acquisition, NORC at the University of Chicago; Michael Cansfield ’87, Director of Development, Lookingglass Theatre; Megan Carney ’92, Director, Gender & Sexuality Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; Jeremy Cole ’96, Partner, Jones Day; Andrea Dakin ’98, Director of Program Development, AIDS Foundation; Kant Desai ’99, Principal, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund; Mike Doornweerd ’92, Partner, Jenner & Block; Kim Drew ’00, Senior Project Manager, Economic Security Policy, Heartland Alliance; Caitlin Finan ’11, Research Analyst, NORC at the University of Chicago; Mark Furlong ’83, Chief Operating Officer, Thresholds; Marie Halverson ’93, Associate Director, Education and Child Development Studies, NORC at the University of Chicago; Cole Hardy ’06, Staff Counsel, FTD; John Hayes ’96, Assistant Unit Supervisor, Illinois Attorney General; Kathleen Hirsman ’76, Faculty, Loyola School of Law; Will Hobart ’06, Program Officer, Youth Guidance; Peter Knight ’95, Partner, Latham & Watkins; Carla Kupe-Arion ’02, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago Law Department; Matt Lango ’97, Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Commission on Human Relations; Hope Lassen ’02,

K-Trek to the Windy City
Some fun at Second City

Restorative Justice Specialist, Alternatives, Inc.; Jodie Lawton ’99, Major Gifts Officer, McCormick Foundation; Stephanie Leite ’01, Lead Trainer and Curriculum Designer, Global Learning Modules; Matt Longjohn ’93, Evidence-Based Health Interventions and Community Integrated Health/National Health Officer, Y-USA; Carlton Marcyan ’76, Senior Partner, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP; Elizabeth Okey ’07, Senior Associate, Corporate Responsibility, Burson-Marsteller; Jeff Owen ’76, Partner, DLA Piper; Anne Renaud ’10, Community Support Specialist, Thresholds; Sam Sedaei ’06, Associate Attorney, Foran Glennon; Wade Thomson ’98, Partner, Jenner & Block; Carla Varner ’97, Chief Legal Officer, Franklin Monroe; Mary Woolever ’70, Former Architectural Archivist and Reference Librarian, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Art Institute of Chicago; Mike Woolever ’71, Partner, Foley and Lardner.

The following alumni provided support for K to the Windy City through donations or through support/guidance around the development of trek events. Many also attended networking events — Alexandra Altman ’97, Doug Doetsch ’79, Jay Goodwin ’85, Andrea Johnson ’15, Alex Morgan ’11, Aaron Ries ‘06, Sonya Olds Som ’94, Juli Scalf ’09 and Elizabeth Schweitzer ’09.

And the alumni listed below participated in networking opportunities with students — Margy Brill ’11, Mathew Duggan ’09, Justin Evans ’09, Christine Grodecki ’06, Kelly Koss ’04, Haley Madel ’13, Kristen Nuyen ’12, Kathleen O’Donovan ’11, Sara Reschly ’95, Christopher Rollyson ’82, Christie Schuessler ’11, Jeannette Srivastava ’00, Erin Stockall ’11, Ajka Suljevic ’10 and Rachel Zarit ’02.

Video: Career Summit Brings Execs, Thought Leaders to K

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Twelve top executives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders from high-tech, venture capitalism, and health care related fields came to Kalamazoo College on April 7 and 8 for the College’s inaugural Career Summit. They interacted with about 120 students, while challenging the students to find their calling.

The event included receptions, a dinner, breakout sessions and panel experiences. Some presenters were alumni and others were friends and business connections of alumni. They were:

  • Jeanne Blondia ’87: Vice president of finance and treasurer, Stryker Corp.;
  • Val Cole ’83: Retired senior executive, Apple Inc.; consultant and philanthropist;
  • Amy Courter ’83: National president, Women in Defense; chief operating officer, inerTRAIN;
  • Lindsey Haswell: Director of litigation, Uber Technologies;
  • Ed Hortelano ’83: Global vice president for research and development, Loparex;
  • Terri Kline ’80: President and chief executive officer, Health Alliance Plan of Michigan; executive vice president, Henry Ford Health System;
  • Om Malik: Partner, True Ventures; founder, Gigaom;
  • Michael McFall ’93: Co-president and chief executive officer, BIGGBY COFFEE;
  • Brad O’Neill ’93: Senior vice president of global sales and success, SurveyMonkey Inc.; creator, K to the Bay; serial entrepreneur and investor;
  • Hilmon Sorey: Co-founder and chief revenue officer, CareerSofia;
  • Elena Verna: Senior vice president of growth, SurveyMonkey Inc.; and
  • Jeff Wycoff: Co-founder and managing partner, Fort Point Capital Partners.

O’Neill was the visionary behind the two-day event. It served as yet another Kalamazoo College offering, building on an array of experiences targeting employment outcomes.

O’Neill also established K-Treks when, in 2014, he invited four students to San Francisco to learn first-hand about technology careers. Since then, K-Trek programs have grown and expanded to New York City and Chicago, providing students with hands-on, outside-the-classroom opportunities. As a result, the students learn to network and discover their prospective careers. The Career Summit was designed to provide similar experiences, except this time, the professionals came to the students.

K Plans Career Summit for April 7 and 8

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A select group of K alumni who are leaders in their fields will join Silicon Valley executives and venture capitalists for Kalamazoo College’s Career Summit 2017 — two days of practical preparation for Life after K.

K Career Summit
Kalamazoo College alumnus Brad O’Neill (center), a serial entrepreneur and investor, will lead K’s Career Summit on April 7 and 8.

Through interactive break-out sessions, themed panel discussions, and networking opportunities, students of all majors will gain priceless information about what to do (and what not to do) to position themselves for success in a fast-changing and unpredictable global job market.

Led by Brad O’Neill, creator of K to the Bay and a serial entrepreneur and investor, this exclusive opportunity to connect with industry leaders takes place on the Kalamazoo College campus so as many students as possible may participate.

The scheduled speakers are:

  • Jeanne Blondia ’87: Vice president of finance and treasurer, Stryker Corp.;
  • Jonathan Carr: Director of finance, SurveyMonkey Inc.
  • Priyanka Carr: Vice president of strategy and operations, SurveyMonkey Inc.
  • Val Cole ’83: Retired senior executive, Apple Inc.; consultant and philanthropist;
  • Amy Courter ’83: National president, Women in Defense; chief operating officer, inerTRAIN;
  • Lindsey Haswell: Director of litigation, Uber Technologies;
  • Ed Hortelano ’83: Global vice president for research and development, Loparex;
  • Terri Kline ’80: President and chief executive officer, Health Alliance Plan of Michigan; executive vice president, Henry Ford Health System;
  • Om Malik: Partner, True Ventures; founder, Gigaom;
  • Michael McFall ’93: Co-president and chief executive officer, Biggby Coffee;
  • Brad O’Neill ’93: Senior vice president of global sales and success, SurveyMonkey Inc.; creator, K to the Bay; serial entrepreneur and investor;
  • Hilmon Sorey: Co-founder and chief revenue officer, CareerSofia;
  • Elena Verna: Senior vice president of growth, SurveyMonkey Inc.; and
  • Jeff Wycoff: Co-founder and managing partner, Fort Point Capital Partners.

For more information, visit the Career Summit schedule of events.

First-Year Student Wins Entrepreneurship Grant

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Kalamazoo College Student Mansi DahalMansi Dahal ’20 has a vision so impressive that the Michigan Colleges Alliance (MCA) has awarded her one of its Independent Innovators Network Scholarships. The scholarships recognize entrepreneurial concepts submitted by students from the 15 MCA schools. Mansi will receive a $5,000 scholarship in spring. The overall top entrepreneurial concept will be selected by MCA in the coming weeks.

Her goal after graduation in 2020 is to open a small clothing manufacturing business that employs women who have been physically, verbally and sexually abused. She envisions an operation–small at first–that incorporates design, production, marketing and advertising and sales. She plans to begin her business in Nepal, the home from which she matriculated to Kalamazoo College.

In addition to training and employment, her operation would provide housing and food for those employees who need it. The growth of her business will help ameliorate an important social issue. “Women who have undergone such trauma are often left jobless and without support,” wrote Mansi. With training, new skills and employment opportunities the women can regain power in their lives. Improvement in the lives of women has been a cause important to Mansi since her adolescence. At that time her first careers yearnings leaned toward medicine. And undergraduate study in the United States was not part of her plan. “Nothing happens according to my plans,” she says, “and I’ve been delighted by that.” When she first arrived at K, she was considering a major in economics. However, her first-year creative writing class has her thinking about a possible major in English.

She has a year before declaring a major (which happens in the sophomore winter term), plenty of time and opportunity to exercise her liberal arts spirit. Whatever her major ends up being, it will apply to the business idea she’s determined to bring to fruition–a business she hopes to expand to countries outside of Nepal. And the profits from that business Mansi plans to invest in its growth and to donate to organizations that promote sustainable hygiene and health for girls worldwide.