ESTABLISHING A CAREER CENTER FACILITY FOR THE 21ST CENTRUY
Harvey B. Schmelter-Davis
Career Centers have long been an important service component of educational institutions at all levels for decades. It wasn’t until the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 that the government established a pubic policy that every citizen has a right to have access to a Career Center to help them make informed career decisions and conduct and effective job search. The One-Stop Career Center System has now been established throughout the United States so that every citizen either can go to a physical center or access Career Center services through the Internet. This reading provides information to create a career center facility for the 21st Century. The services you provide will largely influence how you design your career center. Because center sizes, locations, and activities vary, you must decide what is relevant to you and how the facility design will support the services provided. With the advent of the Internet and expanded communication capabilities, we need to keep in mind how the facility will support activities and services in the center’s physical location as well as support the use of the Internet and other communications modes.
Location
Many career centers start out small and then expand at their original or new locations. A center may have one site or several, may be in a permanent structure or mobile unit, or may be a combination of all of these. Before considering a site, it is important that you first determine your customers and know the kinds of services to be offered. For example, will the center support the universal access priority that is part of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998? Do you have a center that is easily accessible to students in schools and colleges that meets your state or institution career education standards? If this is the case, then one needs to determine the core services that will be made available to all customers – at the physical location and/or through communications networks.
Working by yourself or in a small group list the possible services you want to provide in your center and the population(s) you want to serve:
Service Population(s) to be served
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In most cases, locating the physical space strategically for easy access to those who may not be able to access center services through the Internet should be a major consideration. However, as with many decisions, compromises may have to be made by settling for a site that is available. Some career centers are located in areas that at first seem very unlikely, but become ideal. For example, the quick action of one enterprising center director enabled her to obtain a very large space - the entire floor of a dormitory on a campus. Another center director negotiated for an abandoned house and, with tender loving care, was able to open an attractive center.
Walk around the area in which you would like to have a center located, noting the traffic, transportation, shopping, and available space and access to existing facilities. The best locations are within easy access of the people you are trying to reach.
Working by yourself or with a group, determine the possible locations where you might want to have a career center:
Potential Locations
Advantages Disadvantages
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Once you have found a possible location, it may be necessary to negotiate with the party who owns that space. Both you and “potential landlord” may have to work out a compromise whereby you offer other space or certain services in exchange for use of the facility. It is also suggested that you invite those who you believe are important decision-makers – responsible for budget decisions – to see the potential site to obtain support.
Space Available Within the Community
If the career center is to have one or more branches, it is essential that you visit several potential locations within the community. You should try to get suggestions from community groups. Before you start contacting community groups ask yourself the following questions:
§ Who, among the people you’ve already spoken with, might be willing to provide space for the center?
§ What target populations are you going to serve?
§ What locale in the community would be most convenient for them? (consider all transportation systems in the area.)
§ Can you afford to pay rent, or are you relying on the goodwill of others?
§ Will you have to establish a contractual arrangement for the space?
§ When will the space be available?
§ Is renovating (carpentry, electric work, painting and so forth) necessary? If so, who is responsible for paying the bills - the property owner, your budget or your organization?
§ What supervision and management is needed for multi-sites?
Once you are prepared to answer the above questions, set up appointments with the local officials who administer the community locations. These meetings can serve the dual purpose of deciding on an acceptable location and communicating the objectives of the center. They also provide an opportunity for giving the project credibility and forming a network of valuable contacts within the community.
Mobile Centers
The greatest single advantage of a mobile adult career center is that it provides access to many community locations. However, there are several disadvantages: many mobile vans are costly, especially if you purchase a new one; the maintenance costs may be applied directly to your budget; and expansion and renovation are severely limited.
Equipping the Center and Obtaining Software
Regardless of whether the career center is established at a stationary site or in a mobile unit, there are certain basic requirements as to inventory of equipment and furniture. Review the Equipment and Furniture Checklist and determine its adequacy for your needs. Then take the items and quantities that are most relevant to you and be prepared to purchase or rent them on the basis of the number of customers you estimate will be using the center. Your budget, of course, must also be taken into consideration.
In addition to the equipment that you will need, consideration has to be given as to what software needs to be purchased as well as licenses or leases to connect to career information and/or assessment delivery systems. Some states provide career information delivery system CD-ROMs or Internet access free of charge, while in others you need to pay for that service.
Once you have set up your acquisitions list, look around the sponsoring/partner organizations to see where some items may be acquired through contribution.
Before making any purchases, ask the purchasing director at the sponsoring/partner organization to show you supplier catalogs and advise you on costs, alternative sources, and length of time for deliveries of equipment and furniture. You may want to see if there are existing consortia or state/federal resources that would allow you to obtain software and career information delivery system access free or at a low fee. For example one can download software and/or paper and pencil versions for ability, values and interest assessment from the O*NET Center web site, www.onetcenter.org.
The Planning Task Checklist found at the end of this Reading will help you in setting priorities and in developing a schedule.
Interior Designer
To get an idea of how other career centers are designed, look at various existing career centers if possible. See if you can get copies of the floor layout and show the samples to an interior designer and ask if he/she could prepare a rough layout of a design for the center site. One might think this is frivolous, but an interior designer can help save money and create efficient and customer friendly spaces. The designer has to understand how you plan to use technology as an important part of your service delivery. This may be the most important money to allocate.
Take into account the following design considerations and facility options when designing your adult career center:
1. Will the atmosphere be formal or informal?
2. What kinds of furniture and equipment will be needed?
3. To what degree will the center offer self-service facilities, or an opportunity for customers to acquire career information on their own?
4. How much will the center use telecommunications and Internet resources?
5. Which areas should be fully and partially enclosed (such as counseling areas)?
6. What will be the traffic patterns for the flow of people within the center?
7. Will the noise levels of computers/printers, research areas, facilitation offices, and so forth require acoustical insulation?
8. Partitioning up the space should include room for the following:
· Reference section for career materials collection.
· Work stations with computer LAN and Internet connectivity
· Equipment and machines section.
· Storage and inventory section.
9. Costs should be determined for the following:
· Renovation.
· Construction.
· Purchase of equipment and furniture.
· Security measures.
10. Positioning of Staff in the Center.
Should the center’s secretary be seated in a reception area to be of assistance to customers, or be stationed out of the mainstream and nearer to the director? Where will additional staff (if any) be situated? (For example, a paraprofessional staff member hired to take care of the career materials collection should be stationed in that area.) Is it feasible for facilitators to have their own offices, or may hours be structured so that they share the space? These are only a few of the questions that you will have to resolve in developing a basic plan for the space.
11. Self-service facilities.
A number of customers will want to access career information on their own. Therefore, clearly marked areas and a system that facilitates their research will be of use to them. These self-service reference areas should include a career information collection, tables, and chairs; if space permits, there may be room for some comfortable lounge chairs also. You may also want to include small rooms for customers to take assessments using a computer. In some cases these assessments will be taken using the Internet so you may want to be sure these computers will not only be connected to your local area network (LAN) but to the Internet as well.
12. Individual facilitation, group/workshop, and career assessment areas and training areas.
Individual and group career facilitation, formal assessment and job search training workshop areas require a certain degree of privacy. Therefore, some accommodation should be made to provide enclosed, private areas. A comfortable lounge chair will help put a customer at ease in an individual facilitation area, and a classroom with furniture that can be arranged in different combinations should be considered. Many assessments are given using the computer connected to a LAN or the Internet and this also would require an area with a certain degree of privacy.
13. Other Facilities.
A local storage area should be set aside for supplies and materials. A coffee dispensing area also helps to create an informal and friendly atmosphere. Since people need assistance when initially using audiovisual equipment, cameras and such should be placed conveniently near a staff person who can guide novices. A customer service aide ideally should be in the location where customers are using computers as well.
Noise levels
Another important consideration is the level of distraction within the center. Although you may have decided to place the secretary near the career resource area, the noise of a photocopy machine will be distracting to customers trying to read. Consideration must also be given to noise levels when locating conversation areas for groups to meet. How will you resolve these problems?
Flexibility is an important aspect of designing a center, and a flexible director will consider the following questions when planning the layout:
§ Will the design lend itself to expansion or rearrangement?
§ What would happen if new staff members are added or if additional computers were installed?
§ Does the layout make it possible for furniture and equipment to be rearranged to adjust for new programs and/or the phasing out of existing ones?
Cost
In most cases, cost will determine the extent of renovation and the quantity of furniture and equipment that you can order. You will probably have to make some hard decisions about the priority of purchases since the money will not stretch to pay for everything you want.
Graphics Designer
Once the design of the career center has been approved, a contract with a graphics designer to make the signs needed to identify the center itself and the various locations within must be considered. Signs that are skillfully lettered and strategically placed will give the career center a professional image that will be impressive to customers.
Completion of the Center
In your meetings with the director, obtain and write down definite scheduling commitments and anticipated completion dates. While it is the director’s responsibility to have the center completed as of a specific date, there will inevitably be delays and adjustments will have to be made in the schedule.
Be there at the start of the renovation process when the equipment and furniture are delivered. There may be some mix-up that you hadn’t counted on, and it might be necessary to make adjustments on the spot.