Change in curriculum needed for success
The New Student Leadership Seminar and Professional Development Program are problems for Franklin.
Both fail to accomplish their goal of preparing young minds for the future.
While PDP aims to help students prepare for the working world, questions like “What shape are you: A square, circle or squiggly?” are far from professional.
It’s also nonsense to prepare seniors and juniors for employment when most students begin seeking internships sophomore year.
New STeP and PDP should combine and be taken freshman year. A new PDP should emerge from the ashes and exist only as an in-house class for all departments
to be taken junior year.
As a freshman, students would be introduced to a class covering basics: resumes, cover letters, preparing for interviews and making a four-year plan.
In addition, the class would help with the adjustment to social and academic aspects of college. This is the time to introduce students to the entire campus, includes making sure they can access the Write Place and other academic help sites. Places like the Write Place help students improve writing for all classes and for resumes and cover letters.
At midterm, a mandatory workshop would be held with all freshman and led by Kirk Bixler, director of career services. The goal would be to get all students on the same page about professional development.
Juniors should take an in-house class that’s far more in-depth. What prepares education majors will not work for business majors. This split is essential.
Department-directed classes will help students become familiar with how things work in their prospective field. The current system does less than what needs to be done to help students prepare for success out of Franklin.
