Iowa State Student Government began a series of town halls for students to meet campus decision-makers to ask questions and share their opinions on important topics.
The “Know Your Leaders” Town Hall Series allows Iowa State students to voice their honest thoughts and have face-to-face conversations about topics that matter to the student body.
This week, the Student Government hosted Director of Business Career Services Bobbi Sullivan and ISU resources staff discussing topics on Iowa State Students success resources.
The People
The panel included the following four people:
- Bobbi Sullivan, director of Iowa State Business Career Services
- Kipp Van Dyke, associate dean of Students for Student Assistance and Academic Success for the Dean of Students Office
- Michael Levine, attorney and co-director for Iowa State Student Legal Services
- Chad Olson, MBA and FAAC director for the Office of Student Financial Aid
Post Graduation
Business Career Services helps students during college as they prepare for their postgraduate careers.
“We help students in the post-graduation world with job searches, cover letters, resumes, creating LinkedIn profiles, evaluating job offers and more,” Sullivan said.
Student success resources are built for students to reach out for help and want them to strive for excellence.
“Many students may think it is a waste of our time or asking a dumb question,” Van Dyke said. “That is our job and why we are here, and there are no dumb questions.”
Trends at Iowa State
Technology throughout time has updated and innovatively progressed into students’ everyday lives as time goes on.
“After COVID, we learned to connect virtually with students and families,” Olson said. “It has helped us connect with you over time and allowed families not to have to drive just to fill out a FAFSA form, for example.”
Artificial intelligence has been another example of how Iowa State has changed throughout the years, as it is a part of classroom learning and a new helpful resource.
“We have learned to embrace AI over fighting it,” Sullivan said. “We want students to learn how to get inspiration from their favorite AI chat bot, so we as a resource help have to learn how to use it appropriately to teach kids to use it as well.”
Lastly, the career fairs and professional development have transitioned significantly.
“We notice in student feedback they want to incorporate less formal events to engage with future employers,” Sullivan said. “We did an event called InternChips and Queso where students can meet employers in fun ways.”
Student Feedback
Many departments for ISU student success send emails regarding student feedback, whether for financial aid, career fairs or an overall review of student and campus life.
“Every year, we send a student survey to regulate our costs for next year,” Olson said. “It helps us determine things like off-campus cost and transportation.”
The career fairs gain lots of attention and feedback from students to review for upcoming career fairs.
“Students had suggested that it was intimidating to go up to employers and their booth to start a conversation and try to figure out if their career field was aligning with the company mission,” Sullivan said. “This year at the business career fair, we hung large banners above the booth for students to see what the company was recruiting and the type of position, internship, post-grad job and job function they were looking for.”
The next Know Your Leaders discussion will take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in Carver 101, featuring Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard conversing on student athletics.
