1. Rusty Coulter- Kern Andrew Kurtz Adam Hohman Derek Jones Elizabeth Bushnell CAREER EXPLORATION FOR UNDECIDED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A COLLABORATION OF ADMISSIONS, CAREER SERVICES, AND THE PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

2.  Students with undecided major  Numbers are increasing  Manchester has not attracted undecided students very well  Campus Visit Programs  Spartan Days, Academic Days, Scholarship Days  To fill the need: Exploration Day ADMISSIONS

3.  John Holland’s RIASEC model  Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional  Values Inventory  Increasing student self-efficacy in career decision- making  Current ways of offering career guidance  How colleges incorporate career support into curriculum  Advantages of involving college students as career advisors  Training of Students CAREER SERVICES

4. High School students who participated in the Exploration Day would gain increased confidence in their ability to make major and career decisions. HYPOTHESIS

5.  Planning and Preparation  Recruitment for Exploration day  Emailed high school guidance counselors from surrounding schools in a 50 mile radius  Mass email sent out by admissions to high school seniors about our day  Preparing college students  Trained in career counseling, learned SDS and RIASEC theory ADVANCE PLANNING

6.  Registration and Welcome  Career Testing for Students  Pretest/Posttest of Career Decision Self-Efficacy – Short Form  Parent Session – Helping your Student Decide on a Major/Career SCHEDULE

7.  Admissions/Financial Aid Presentation  Campus Tour  Career Testing Feedback  One trained college student per high school student  Guidance from Career Services  Handouts (SDS, Values, RIASEC, Majors & Clubs, O*Net) SCHEDULE

8.  Parent Question and Answer session  Panel of students, coaches, and faculty  Department Fair  Every major represented ENDING THE DAY

9.  Did undecided high school students increase their confidence in career decision making which should lead to more engagement in educational activities?  To test this we used the Career Decision Self- Efficacy Scale (CDSE) Short Form. This scale has 25 questions and asks students to rate their confidence in their ability to make numerous career and major decisions. RESULTS

10. HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU COULD:  Use the internet to find information about occupations that interest you.  Select one major from a list of potential majors you are considering.  Determine the steps to take if you are having academic trouble with an aspect of your chosen major.  Accurately assess your abilities.  Determine the steps you need to take to successfully complete your chosen major. NO CONFIDENCE COMPLETE AT ALL CONFIDENCE 12345 RESULTS

11.  Scores on the CDSE can range from 25 to 125.  Students who participated in the Exploration Day had an average pre-test score of 80.9 (sd = 13.9) and a average post- test score of 100.3 (sd = 14.3).  We conducted a t-test to determine if their was a significant increase in high school students CDSE scores after the day and obtained a t-score of 3.2 which was significant (p =.0125). This suggests a significant gain in Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy.  However, one challenge was the small sample size. RESULTS

12.  Collaborative efforts between academic departments can be successful.  The Career Center, College Admissions, and the Psychology Department each brought important expertise and knowledge to the Experience.  This was our third collaboration and each time we have had similar results.  It was not only positive for high school students but was also a good experience for college students as well. DISCUSSION

13. Primary Challenge...The day is time consuming to plan  Faculty have to give up some class time for the project  Admissions must put resources toward the day which may take away resources elsewhere  Career Center staff must devote time and resources to the project  Everyone must meet to coordinate activities  Without student interns the day might not have happened DISCUSSION