The Career Institute at Ferris State University began as a research-intensive national effort to examine what factors influence how young people choose careers and career paths. It has since grown into a center toward which educators turn for assistance with career education and counseling through on-campus "externships" for education professionals, outreach programs to Michigan high schools, and campus visits for high-school students.

Alliance for the Improvement of Career Success Externship Program

The Career Institute's AICS Externship Program provides secondary educational counselors, teachers, and administrators with greater awareness of:

• how specific subject matter taught at the secondary level is applied at the college level;
• how specific subject matter is applied in the actual world of work;
• the requisite knowledge and skills required for their graduates to succeed in college;
• how graduates from the district's schools are acclimating to, and succeeding in, their collegiate experience at Ferris;
• the career paths offered through the university's academic programs; and
• Ferris' support services for assisting career undecided students.

The goal of the program is to enable secondary counselors and teachers to provide better career guidance to students; provide both secondary and postsecondary providers a forum in which to identify opportunities to enhance career decision-making and educational and career planning among young adults; and ultimately, allow both secondary and postsecondary institutions to increase the chances of career success among their graduates.

Please contact William Potter for more information.

High School Choices Program

The Career Choices Program is a unique collaboration based upon community needs, university resources, and the emergence of the Michigan Career Pathways vehicle for career decision-making. This program assists secondary students interested in either postsecondary education or work and is a win-win opportunity for secondary and university partners. Collaboration between university counselors and secondary school staff demonstrates the power of addressing this issue on a regional basis. The continuation of the 2000-2001 pilot program, expansion of the program to include more and different types of schools, and the emergence of additional university-school career development collaborations have shown that this approach is adaptable, sustainable, and needed serves as a model for others who work in the career decision-making field.

Please contact Debra Cox for more information.

Career Pathways Educators' Academy

Constantly changing technologies and labor needs make it a difficult task for educators to keep pace with the employability skills required by employers. In response, a Career Pathways Educators' Academy program has been created for local educators to experience today's work environment. Participants gain first-hand knowledge of what students will face in current and future job markets by spending several days on campus and one day in a work setting. The primary goal is to offer participating educators the opportunity to take back to their schools the tools to translate job market needs into effective and rewarding curriculum. Please contact FSU's University Center for Extended Learning for more information.