Sarah Kersey Otto is tickled pink.
The acting director for Career Services said new offices in the recently renovated McKenny Hall will allow the office to provide services it never could before. Chiefly, employer recruitment.
"We're excited to have a really professional-looking environment. For the first time in 10 years, we will have on-campus recruiters work out of our office as well as the College of Business," said Kersey Otto. "We will be able to operate full-scale, campus recruiting for students who are not business majors."
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START YOUR CAREER: This reception area will be the
first thing persons will see when they enter the new
Career Services' offices in the newly renovated
McKenny Hall, which opens today. Career Services
occupies space that was the former bookstore when
the building served as a student union. |
In the past, on-campus recruiting only took place at the College of Business downtown, where it was easier for recruiters to find parking. In addition, there just wasn't any proper space in Career Services' King Hall offices for recruiters to meet with students there, she said.
McKenny Hall officially reopened Aug. 14. Career Services just opened there and occupies renovated space that was formerly used as the bookstore. Human Resources will move in Aug. 17 and occupy the floor formerly occupied by Campus Life and the Eagle Card Office. The HR office is expected to be open for business in McKenny Hall Aug. 21.
The $4.7 million renovation, which commenced in November 2006, includes more than just new offices for Career Services and HR. All new energy-efficient lighting was installed in common areas; refurbishment and cleaning of some HVAC units took place; and renovated areas received new finishes, said Sean Braden, coordinator of construction projects and project manager overseeing the McKenny Hall renovation.
Structurally, a number of improvements were made to the outside of the building. This work included repair to an outside sanitary main line; full replacement of the flat roofing; flash work on the pitched roof was done to prevent water infiltration; and outside masonry work was done around the dormers and the mortar points were tuck-pointed to make the structure sound, he said.
In each case, Career Services and HR has or will move its existing furniture and office equipment to McKenny Hall.
"Sean Braden has done an amazing job at making what could have been a really bad move for us into a good move," Kersey Otto said. "He did everything he could with the contractors to get us the needed recruiter rooms."
Those recruiter rooms will be key to increasing foot traffic, workshops, tours and videotaped interviews to help students learn the do's and don't's of professional interviewing, she said.
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NEW RESOURCES: This hallway, that
passes offices and a kitchenette, is part of
the refurbished layout in McKenny Hall
that will be occupied by Human Resources
beginning Aug. 21. Human Resources will
occupy the floor previously used by
Campus Life and the Eagle Card Office. |
In addition to five rooms for recruiters to work and interview EMU students for potential employment, the layout includes a large reception and waiting area; a workshop/seminar room; a recruiter lounge, a small conference room, a small kitchenette, a copy room; numerous offices with window views for 15 full-time employees in Career Services; and six student assistant work stations or cubicles, Kersey Otto said.
The upcoming HR move consists of 16 staff and four student employees.
"We are looking forward to the move," said Pat Harris, a human resources consultant II who is coordinating HR's move to McKenny Hall. "Once relocated, we will enjoy having a new office suite where all of us will be housed together. Having the two separate suites in Bowen and Warner was not the best situation for staff or our customers. Our new location will enable us to provide better customer service, such as on-site training and professional development, and better facilities for clerical testing."
HR and Benefits have not been housed in one suite since they moved out of King Hall a decade ago, she said.
In addition to more convenient proximity to colleagues, Harris said HR will have more and better meeting space as well as ample storage space, which was lacking in Bowen and Warner. Better lighting and heating and cooling systems should make the new offices more accessible to potential employees and guests, and be more centrally located for faculty and staff, Harris said.
" We will be closer to the other departments — payroll, budget, Academic HR — we work closely with on a daily basis, as well as with the administration, including our vice president, Janice Stroh," Harris said.
