Referring Students
The CCD provides comprehensive career development support that can help students in all stages of the career planning and decision-making process, from choosing a major to negotiating a salary. The more familiar you are with our services, the easier it will be to refer a student to the CCD.
Our team of career counselors can assists students in exploring a variety of educational and occupational options, as well as providing them with the tools needed for making an informed decision. These tools can include personality & career assessments, career research tools, and other resources that are useful in the career decision-making process. Students can schedule an individual career counseling appointment to discuss a variety of topics, ranging from choosing a major/career path to conducting a mock interview.
Feel free to contact ccd@rice.edu for resources or any questions/ concerns you may have regarding a student.
CCD Contacts
To support the needs of students, the CCD has designated staff members that serve as liaisons to schools, residential colleges, and cross-campus departments to facilitate campus-wide collaborations and information sharing.
Partner with your liaison to identify CCD programs and services to support your student’s career exploration, job/internship search, and graduate success.
If you are unsure who your CCD liaison is, feel free to email us at ccd@rice.edu and we will gladly put you in contact with them.
Course Assignments
The CCD encourages you to include career-related activities as part of your course material. In order to preserve the high level of customer service that students expect and prepare for time periods of increased traffic, we ask that you partner with us on your assignments or activities that require students to visit the CCD. Please consider reaching out to us well in advance of your request in order to give us time to respond and to ensure that a staff member is available.
Request a Presentation
The CCD can present on a wide range of career-development related topics designed to assist your students in their career journey.
We also have Peer Career Advisors (PCAs) available who can present “Overview of Services” presentations or facilitate in-class presentations.
Due to the limited number of CCD staff and the high student demand for individual career counseling appointments, we cannot guarantee that we will be able facilitate every request.
Click here to request a presentation.
Student Hiring
If you are planning to hire students, please familiarize yourself with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) standards.
Students are not the only ones interested in their success; their accomplishments are also very important to the university. Staff members in career services, academic advising, admissions, development, alumni relations, and you, the faculty, have a direct investment in their achievement. The role you play in the employment process complements the role played by career services. Occasionally, however, helping students in their job searches can result in unanticipated illegal or unethical actions.
NACE is the leading source of information on the employment of the college educated and an organization to which a great number of academic and hiring organizations belong. The organization provides a set of ethical standards for guiding the job-search process, titled Principles for Ethical Professional Practice, these standards are based on notions of fairness, equal opportunity, truthfulness, non-injury, confidentiality, and lawfulness. - A Faculty Guide to Ethical and Legal Standards in Student Hiring, NACE, 2012.
Sample Faculty Letter
Dear [Name of Employer]:
This reference letter is provided at the written request of [name of student], who has asked me to serve as a reference on [his/her] behalf. It is my understanding that [name of student] is being considered by your organization for the position of [job title]. Please be advised that the information contained in this letter is confidential and should be treated as such. The information should not be disclosed to [name of student, if student has waived access] or anyone in your organization who would not be involved in the hiring decision regarding this individual. Additionally, the information should not be disclosed to anyone outside of your organization without the consent of the student.
I have known [name of student] for the past [number of months, semesters, years] as [he/she] has taken the following courses which I teach: [list courses, give brief description of content of course]. As [his/her] professor, I have had an opportunity to observe the student's participation and interaction in class and to evaluate the student's knowledge of the subject matter. I would rate the student's overall performance in these subjects as [below average, average, above average]. This is evidenced by [his/her] grades—[state the grades].
[One or two specific examples of the student's performance may be appropriate.] As part of [his/her] grade in [name of course], the student was required to prepare a paper. The paper was designed to measure the student's ability to research, to analyze the results of the research, and to communicate findings. [Discuss how the paper submitted by the student indicated to you the student's skills in these areas.] Based upon this, I rate the student's skills [indicate rating].
[It may be appropriate to give specific examples about the student's area of expertise.]
Given the student's academic performance and my understanding of the position for which the student is applying, I believe the student would perform [place overall evaluation here].
If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
See more samples at: http://naceweb.org/knowledge/samples/faculty-reference-letter.aspx#sthash.ggyLWMf9.dpuf.