RG-CD: Career Development Office Records

Historical Note:
As early as the 1860's when Professor Leonard Parker, in his capacity as county superintendent of schools, assisted students in finding teaching positions, faculty and administrators were involved in guiding students in finding employment, until the mid 1920's primarily teacher placement. The Appointments Bureau is first listed in the 1921 College Catalog and offered assistance to undergraduates as well as alumni in securing employment and promotions. For more on the pre-1930 period see Shelton Beatty, History of Grinnell College and its Curriculum to 1930, pgs. 497-504 (College Archives 06.01/B38h).

From the mid 1920s the office gradually added services, including guidance testing, advising on employment opportunities, assistance with securing employment in business and industry, in securing summer employment. In large part the expanded responsibilities were made possible by grants from J. C. Penney Foundation, which donated to the college $3000-$5000 per year, 1926-31, to establish a formal vocation guidance program with a director, secretary, and office equipment. The grant allowed the college to hire Mitchell Dreese as the first professionally trained, full-time, vocational guidance director, a position he held 1929-31. See RG-A/Main/Box 3/ J.C.Penney for more details.

Over the years the office has had a variety of names: Appointments Bureau, Department of Personnel, Placement Office, Career Services Office (ca. 1971), Career Development Office.

Prior to 1970 placement was combined with other administrative or faculty functions. In the period 1970-74 the Dean of Student Affairs directed the office, Resident Advisers staffed it on a part-time basis, student usage grew. In 1974 John Adams was appointed as full-time Director of Career Services; Resident Advisers continued part-time staffing. The office established regular hours and expanded its services; student use continued to grow.

Directors:
John Adams 1974-78
Debra Stuart 1978-81
Linda Johnsrud 1981-85
Marilyn Kurtz 1985-93
Steven Langerud 1993- .

Provenance: Papers in the Archives were transferred from career Development Office over a period 1985-94, and include primarily records 1970-89, plus student employment dossiers ca. 1925-50.

Contents:
Series 1.1: Office files
Series 2.1: Career Development Bulletins
Series 3.1: Personnel records (CONFIDENTIAL)
Series 4.1: Internships
Series 5.1: Student placement forms, 1920s.

Series 1.1: Office files
Box 1
Admissions Office presentations, 1976-80. Career Development presentations to prospective students and guidance counselors.
Advisory Board. 1972, 1980
Annual reports. 1972-
Alumni, black. 1982-83
Alumni Educational Advisors Directories. 1974-75
Alumni meetings. 1974-82
Alumni: misc. correspondence. 1973-74

Box 2
Brochures. 1938-
Calendars. 1981-84
Career Preview Program. 1974-89. Reports, lists of participants.
Career Preview Program. Correspondence 1978-80
Career Preview Program. Participants. 1988-91. Student application forms and evaluations, sponsor evaluations (discarded from files: form letters arranging meetings, requesting evaluations; thank you letters).
Career Services Office: goals, reports, evaluations, history. 1971-81. Includes Johnsrud, "Administrative unit analysis for strategic planning", report to W. Walker 1983.

Box 3
Chemistry Department. 1976-86.
City Programs: Chicago 1984; San Francisco 1987; New York 1984-87; Twin Cities 1984, 1989; Washington, DC 1983-88

Box 4
Community Service Program. 1981-91. Reports, grant applications, correspondence, handbooks.
Computer Services. 1977-80
Conferences: ACM--Career counseling. 1980
Business. 1972. Phil Brown, Des Moines, correspondence, transcript of presentation.
Law Symposia. 1973, 1974
Miscellaneous conferences 1973-85
Social work. 1973, 1974
Credential files, federal laws regarding. 1974-80

Box 5
Drug testing and the workplace, 1986
Grinnell graduates one year out. 1977- . Statistics.
High school program. 1984
Internship Program. 1978-88. Includes 1988 "Guidelines for consideration of internship applications;" "Urban studies program internships, fall 1985;" information memos to students and faculty; reports; lists of participants.
Manuals and guides for students. 1975-91. Includes John Adams and Carol Arner, "Career planning workbook" 1977; resumes, health professions; applicationd to graduate schools; summer jobs; sample senior packets; sample freshmen packets;interviewing; etc.
Mathematics Department project. 1982-83. Survey and alumni responses; handbook "Careers for Grinnell Math Majors" 1980.

Box 6
Minority students. 1951-85. Lists of black students enrolled at Grinnell 1951-74 and 1984-85
Mock interview day. 1984.
New Student Days. 1974-75. Texts of remarks.
NCA Self Study. 1988
Personnel. ca 1980-85. Primarily Career Development Office and Resident Advisor job descriptions, some correspondence.
Pioneer Referral Network. 1981-84
Recruiters. 1970-83. Primarily lists, some correspondence.
Recruiters, military. 1971-73
Relationships month. 1982
Sloan grant. 1982-88
Staff manuals. 1973-78

Box 7
Staff manuals. 1978-
Surveys: ACM graduate survey. 1980
Surveys: Alumni. 1986-87
Surveys: Miscellaneous. 1979-88
Surveys: Economics alumnni questionnaires, 1977-80. Includes completed questionnaires returned by alumni.
"Testimonials"--Commission VI. 1983-84
Women in technology. 1984. Ann Bowers

Series 2.1 Career Services Bulletins. 1966-94
Visions. 1994- (Career Development newsletter)

Series 3.1: Personnel Records
Staffing records: procedures and job descriptions. 1978-80
Staffing records: job descriptions, hiring, memos
Staffing records: Personnel evaluations. CONFIDENTIAL
Heather Kenvin Hietala personnel folder. CONFIDENTIAL

Series 4.1 Internships

Series 5.1 Student Placement Forms

Processing notes:
Received small boxes of papers at various times 1985-94. Largest set came Aug. 1994, 7 oversize cartons, primarily 1970-89. Included office files. 4 of the 7 boxes contained Internship papers: applications, evaluations, some course papers; arranged chronologically then alphabetically by student name.

Consulted McKee, Kent McClelland, Al Jones about what to retain and what to discard (Nov. 1994). Agreed to keep internship files but discard most individual student folders for Career Preview Program, since they mostly contained nitty-gritty details of arranging contacts, not the content of the visits. Also keep (at least as long as we have space) student placement dossiers from 1920s-1950s, since they contain quite a bit of biographical information about students.

Discarded:
Career hour files (did not contain significant information)
Mailing lists
Pioneer Referral Network routine papers, but kept papers with information about the program
Career Preview Program: discarded student participant files (details arranging meeting, not contents of visits); kept summary sheets.
Duplicates
Conferences files: discarded travel vouchers, participants' travel plans.
Vouchers, much non-college related publications.
From internship series discarded routine correspondence (such as arranging appointments with prospective sponsors, driving arrangements, etc).
Internship information from other colleges (early 1980s).