I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the decision to eliminate the position of Jean Jones, secretary of engineering college career services.

The new engineering services system, ECMSOnline, which has been put into place, is not going to fill Jean’s shoes. I realize that this system has a lot of potential, but you cannot have a system like ECMS without customer service. When Jean’s position was eliminated, the customer service of this system was also eliminated.

I have firsthand knowledge that there are several companies not coming back to Iowa State because of ECMS. Companies have always had the opportunity to enter the information themselves for their interview schedule or work with Jean and have her enter in the criteria that they set.

The impact Jean has had at Iowa State does not lie solely within her job. The past success of Engineers’ Week also could not have happened without the guidance of Jean. She has served as an adviser to E-Week since I’ve been at school. The behind the scenes planning with the engineering career fair at Hilton and all of the contacts that have been made by Jean over the years have made our career fair what it is today. In 2002, Iowa State won the national award for best E-Week in the nation. This fall E-Week will be without her as an adviser.

I realize there is not much that can be done now in regards to Jean’s position, but I do think that things are going to get worse before they get better in the Engineering Career Services department. Students and employers alike are frustrated with the new system and without proper training and communication with current and future employers, the job placement ratings are going to decline.

Josh Miltenberger

President

Engineering Student Council, 2002-03