The Griffon News

Most students of Missouri Western have at least one thing in common; the need to work while getting their education.

According to Linda Garlinger, the director of the MWSU career development office, about 95 percent of the students here work in the area.

“The perception is, that students and graduates can’t get jobs in the local community,” Garlinger said. “We are going to dispel that myth because it’s just not true. Last year alone we advertised over 1400 job opportunities for our students and graduates.”

There are many new programs on campus to help students land that most needed job. There is a new policy concerning the work study program on campus that is designed to increase the number of positions on campus and therefore increase on campus student employment.

Unlike the previous semesters, when 25 percent of the student’s paycheck came from the operating budget of the department, the paychecks now come, 100 percent, from the federal work study program’s monies.
Departments don’t get a complete free ride however.  They are responsible for the paychecks after the federal money runs out. Details are still being worked out on just how the departments may get advance warning when the funds begin to get low.

With the new “Hire a Griffon” campaign, the career development office is informing local employers of ways that their office can advertise a job opening for free on the MWSU web site and that hiring a griffon makes sense for their business.

Matthew Gregg, the new coordinator of career development, explained the purpose of this.

“This part of our office’s campaign is to benefit employers by educating them about the benefits of hiring our students and the benefits of using our campus,” Gregg said. “It was also developed to assist our graduates in finding careers locally.”

Garlinger elaborated on  what this will do for potential employers.

“We can accommodate the needs of potential employers such as resume books and space to facilitate on campus interviews,” Garlinger said.

One of the things that compound the perception that our students are not being employed locally is the notion that all of our students come from the immediate area.

After graduation it seems that most leave for jobs outside the local area.

“This is not the University of St. Joseph, it is a regional state university,” Garlinger said.

Her office holds statistics showing about 25 percent of incoming freshmen come from the St. Joseph, Missouri School District. Garlinger says that even if a percentage of incoming freshmen from outside the local school district wish to stay here after graduation, most graduates would rather return to their home area to start their careers.

So, if they come from St. Louis, Chicago, Springfield or wherever they are most likely to return.
This gives a false perception that our graduates cannot find a career here.

“In actuality,” Garlinger said, “we are just spreading the wealth.”

Seventy-eight percent of Western graduates stay in the state of Missouri according to Garlinger’s data.

“That shows how well we serve the community and state. When you use state money from the community and give back well trained and educated people, that says a lot about what this university has to offer,” Garlinger said.

All in all, about one third of the graduates of MWSU find careers in the local five county area around St. Joseph.  That is a higher percentage than the percentage of freshmen coming from St. Joseph each year. The top two areas of success are nursing and education.

Gregg started a new series of three workshops called “Hire Learning,” which started Monday, Sept. 16, in the student union.

The workshops are designed to help those students who are still looking for employment in the area get the jobs they seek.

The workshop activities include a guest speaker during the second week and a panel discussion of local employers on the third week.

For more information about the workshop, students can contact the office of career development (816) 271-4205 or e-mail Matthew Gregg at matthewgregg@missouriwestern.edu.

Gregg has been networking lately with his contacts of potential employers to locate job openings in the area that students can fill.

“I have been working with the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce for years,” Gregg said. “They are a great source for businesses and employees to get together.”