Student Development
Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development
The Fleishman Center hosted a record number of employers once again for the Job and Internship Fair held at the Events Center in September. More than 125 organizations attended. Employers indicated they were extremely pleased overall by the event and quality of the students attending. A reception held following the fair, intended to provide a “wind down” for the employers as well as an opportunity to connect with faculty/administrators, was well received.
In addition, this past academic year the Fleishman Center supported a 358 percent increase in the use of interview rooms requested by students who were interviewing with employers via Skype or other remote means. The center also experienced a 70 percent increase this past year in the number of job and internship postings and added more than 1,100 new employers in to its online job and internship search portal, hireBING. This summer the department was honored with both a SUNY “Award for Excellence in Programming” and the Eastern Association of Colleges and Universities (EACE) “Innovation in Program Development” award.
EOP
The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at Binghamton University continues to produce high quality student outcomes. As a result, the Office of Opportunity Program (OOP) in Albany granted EOP permission to admit an additional 40 students for fall 2015. This increases the overall enrollment for EOP from 588 to 628.
The Binghamton Enrichment Program (BEP) – EOP’s summer program for incoming freshman – had a total of 145 students participate. In addition to its normal offerings of WRTG 100 and MATH 100, student were also assigned to take either Human Geography (125) or Introduction to Chemistry (20). This was the first year BEP offered chemistry and the students performed admirably, earning a cumulative GPA of 3.35. As a whole, BEP summer participants earned a cumulative GPA of 3.25, which is the third-highest GPA for BEP since students began to earn credit in 2011. There were also five students who earned a perfect 4.0.
The EOP department is launching its first-ever fundraising campaign titled, “EOP Binghamton and Beyond.” Under the new leadership of Calvin J. Gantt, EOP has the ambitious goal of raising $1 million by 2018 – culminating in an EOP Alumni Reunion to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of EOP at Binghamton University. And, to highlight the commitment of EOP alumni, a call to serve on the EOP Council went out to 30 EOP alumni; 24 have agreed to serve a three-year term to assist with this fundraising initiative. The fundraising initiative has two primary goals: 1) to endow and EOP Book Fund, and 2) to establish a fund to assist students with all aspect of professional development (e.g. assistance with travel for interviews, purchasing appropriate attire, etc.).
The EOP department was asked to partner with the Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) program to allow eight EOP incoming freshmen the opportunity to participate in research. This is the first year of this collaboration and the hope is that the number of EOP students will be increase in the future.
EOP Spring 2015 Data (N = 565):
Students w/Cumulative GPA of 4.0 = 13
Students w/Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher = 240 (42%)
Student on Academic Probation = 38 (6%, which is down from 8% in fall ’14)
Graduate Rate remains at 76% based upon 6-year graduation rates (2008 cohort)
Health and wellness
New University Counseling Center (UCC) in Old O’Connor-264
In early July, the University Counseling Center moved to newly renovated space in Old O’Connor. Having outgrown its former space in Library North due to the increase in student enrollment and service demand, the new location provides more space and space that is better suited to the UCC’s mission. The new space has a fresh and updated appearance providing comfort and privacy. Counseling spaces are roomy, newly furnished and were designed with student comfort in mind. With a second-floor location, students will be able to enter the space more discreetly than in the former location. Based upon previous student feedback, this should be perceived as very positive. The UCC has also moved to Medicat, the same electronic health record system that the Decker Student Health Services Center uses. This will create an integrated health record for our students, adding to the quality of service provided.