Matt Schumacher, Senior Director
Whitlock Building 468
(859) 622-1296

The Office assists students in achieving their academic and career-related goals, from navigating their first year of college and choosing an inspiring major/career to pursuing experiential learning and preparing to target a variety of job opportunities. Services include academic advising, career counseling, co-op/internship search and assistance, job search preparation, employer events and a Part-Time Job Program.

Major and Career Exploration

Academic and Career Advisors at the Office help students identify and explore their major and career of choice. A variety of assessments allow students to articulate their interests, skills, personality characteristics and work related values, generating a list of major/career options to be explored in terms of reliable and factual information with the guidance of office staff. Through extensive one-on-one counseling sessions, the advisors help students make sense of the information gathered, to reach a meaningful decision and pursue it with a realistic action plan.

Academic Advising

Academic advising is a dialogue between student and advisor to promote responsible and appropriate choices and facilitate a successful academic experience. All undergraduate students are assigned an academic advisor through the Office of Advising and Career Services. Designated departmental faculty and college staff serve as advisors to students with declared majors. Academic and Career Advisors in the Office of Advising and Career Services serve as advisors for Exploratory, visiting, non-degree seeking, and those students not meeting KY academic readiness standards and assigned to the Associate of General Studies (AGS) program.

The Office of Advising and Career Services collaborates with students, faculty, and staff across campus to develop a meaningful academic plan tailored to a student’s needs and goals. The Office serves students, faculty, and staff by:

• Providing year-round academic advising and student support to each EKU student.
• Providing advising tools and referring students to appropriate departments and campus resources.
• Providing customized academic planning and advising to Associate of General Studies (AGS) and Exploratory students.
• Assisting with probation recovery for students.
• Coordinating probation recovery workshops with representative college advisors.
• Conducting mid-term recovery workshops for new, first-time students.
• Assisting students with the declaration and/or change of major process.
• Assisting student in clarifying educational, career, and life goals.
• Coordinating advising resources for the Summer Orientation Program in conjunction with the Office of Admissions and the Office of the University Registrar.

​Co-op and Applied Learning (Internships)

Internships and Co-op provide students with an opportunity to connect what they learn in the classroom to career-related practice. Students gain on-the-job training in business, industry, and/or government. Acceptance of a co-op/internship position for academic credit is contingent upon a suitable learning objective approved by both the employer and the appropriate university official.

Eligibility:

• Faculty Coordinator approval
• Completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours prior to enrolling (specific departments may require more credit hours); transfer students required to complete at least one semester at EKU.
• Minimum of 2.0 grade point average (GPA); some departments require a higher GPA.
• Salary (when applicable) must be within State and Federal wage guidelines.
• Compliance with the Experiential Learning Guidelines defined by the Office of Advising & Career Services and applied by the departments.

Academic Credit:

• Determined by the academic college or department
• May earn .5 to 8 hours credit per semester
• Minimum of 80 hours of employment for each semester hour of academic credit, including .5 half credit (students must work to the end of the semester). Co-op is 16 weeks for spring and fall semesters and 12 weeks for summer term. For internships, students must work a minimum of 8 weeks over the summer semester/terms and 12 during the academic semester. Experiences lasting less than a full semester should be discussed with the Office of Advising & Career Services and the Faculty Coordinator and only when extenuating circumstances apply.
• Maximum of eight Summer semester hours and twelve Fall/Spring semester hours toward meeting requirements for the associate degree and sixteen hours toward the bachelor’s degree.
• Credit is awarded for co-op/internship only when the student is enrolled in the University and in compliance with the Experiential Learning Guidelines from the Office of Advising & Career Services.
• Students who are not able to complete their experience in one semester will receive a grade of IP and be allowed one calendar year to successfully complete all requirements. Students who do not successfully complete a co-op/intern experience within the one calendar year maximum timeframe will receive a grade of “F” or “U” depending upon the grade mode.
• Students cannot use past experiences for credit. Only work completed during the semester that the student is registered can be counted for credit. Please consult the Timesheet for the semester you intend to co-op/intern for clarification of weeks accepted for counted hours.

Work Requirements:

• Students must be in an environment where they are completing worthwhile, hands-on, industry related tasks while being supervised and mentored by an industry professional who can aid in their professional development.
• A supervisor assigned by the employer to provide direction and coordination on the job; also responsible for submitting a final evaluation report on the student
• Grades assigned by the Faculty Coordinator in accordance with criteria established by the Office of Advising & Career Services and the student’s academic college/department.

Program Options:

Internship

A paid or un-paid experience that meets all of the eligibility requirements of a for-credit experience that can be completed over one or multiple semesters.

Co-op

A paid, multi-term (semester) experience that meets all eligibility requirements of a for-credit experience that follows one of the following plans:

• Parallel plan: students work part-time for multiple semesters (three or more semesters) while maintaining a full-time course load.
• Alternating plan: students employed full-time, alternating classroom training with work-based training for a period of two or more semesters, following the employer’s schedule. Students may also work full-time during the summer semester (twelve weeks) but must also work in their co-op position during the fall and/or spring semesters.
• Special plans: developed to meet the needs of the student and employer.
• Students participating in the Internship Program must meet the eligibility requirements of the Co-op Program, but may choose to work only one semester in either a paid or non-paid assignment or in any assignment that does not meet the Co-op multiple term or length requirements.

Part-Time Job Program

The Part-Time Job Program supports students in finding and obtaining part-time, temporary, and summer employment with local and regional businesses. Students who participate in the program gain experience in the workforce while networking in the community. The Part-time Job Program is open to all currently enrolled EKU students.

Job Search Preparation

The Office helps students target job opportunities by offering workshops, face-to-face and online appointments on resume writing, cover letter critiques, job search strategies, networking and social media. Through the mock interview program, students can practice and improve their interviewing skills with personalized assistance and feedback. The Dress for Success Closet provides business attire at no cost to EKU students seeking internships or employment in a workplace that requires professional clothing.

Connecting with Employers

The Office staff assists students in identifying and connecting with potential employers through job/career fairs, on-campus interviews, individual appointments, online tools, and other resources. The Office’s database, Handshake, is an easy to use system that gives students and alumni access to jobs postings and employers targeting EKU students. It is easily accessible through the Office’s homepage at oacs.eku.edu.

Students on Learning Contracts

In addition to advising bachelor-degree-seeking Exploratory students, the Office of Advising and Career Services advises all students admitted as undeclared, associate-level (AGS) students under the Success First standard. Students admitted in this category are required by state statute to sign a Student Learning Agreement (Contract) before registering for their first classes. (See admission standards in this catalog).

The statute defines the contract as a student success document signed by the student and a school representative after a personal consultation. This contract sets forth the following:

1. Advising, mentoring, tutoring and support services expectations for both the student and the institution,
2. Student learning goals and expectations,
3. Student participation requirements in a financial literacy program,
4. The process by which student progress will be monitored, and
5. The specified length of the learning contract.

Once a student has completed the requirements specified in the Student Learning Agreement he/she may petition to declare a major, at which time the student will return to bachelor degree seeking status and be assigned an academic advisor in the chosen college. While in the Student Learning Agreement students may not change their class selections without permission of the Office. The advisor may lock a student’s ability to change their individual class schedules if necessary, in order to keep the student on track and moving toward degree completion.

For more information visit the Office of Advising and Career Services website at oacs.eku.edu or call 622-1296.