1. Innovative Strategies: Career Center & Faculty Collaboration
Presented by Rochester Institute of Technology’s
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
March, 2009

2. League of Innovations Conference 2009 Reno-Tahoe, Nevada
John Macko, Director
NTID Center on Employment
Ronald J. Till, Associate Professor
NTID Department of Engineering Studies

3. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) & National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) Background
NTID is one of the 8 colleges of RIT
Approximately 1,400 deaf and hard-of-hearing at NTID/RIT, 17,000 total at RIT
Academic programs: NTID - Associate; RIT – Bachelor and Graduate degrees
Almost half of the deaf and hard-of-hearing students are enrolled in other RIT colleges, supported by NTID
RIT has one of the oldest and largest cooperative education programs in the world, almost all academic programs require one or more co-ops

4. What are some challenges students face in finding employment?
Connecting to local companies
Marketing programs
Many programs do not have Co-op
Students don’t know nor use the Career Center
Students are not required to take a Job Search course

5. Career Center & Faculty Collaboration
Job Search course – Team taught
NTID Job Fair
Employment Advisors (EA) in academic classrooms
EA & faculty working together
Visiting Business & Industry
Reviewing Resumes
Faculty making Coop visits

6. Successful Outcomes
Faculty involvement with Coop & permanent employment
Progressively increasing employer attendance at NTID Annual Job Fair
Repeat on-campus recruitment visits and hiring by employers annually
Invitations from employers for on site workshops
Regular visits to NCE website by employers
Employer referrals to new hiring opportunities