A College Degree and a Dollar Will Get You Four Quarters (continued)

Lessons for the workforce are best learned when people are forced to make decisions that directly affects them. One of the most powerful activities a college student can undertake, for example, is to become a Resident Adviser. These sophomores and juniors have survived the twin challenges of unruly freshman and a university bureaucracy. College provides the opportunity to build the skills employers want and a job-winning resume. What counts most is careful planning early in one's college career leading to part-time or summer jobs, internships and leadership positions on campus during the last two years of college.

Many colleges increasingly give college credit for these kinds of experiences through project-based, internship and field-work courses. Semesters away from campus, especially overseas and with an internship requirement, are valuable because students must sink or swim in an unfamiliar setting.

However, the majority of college faculties are not on board. They remain reluctant to give credit for skill developing experiences. They see their role as transmitting knowledge and assume applied activities are an unnecessary distraction. But distraction is in the eye of the learner. Students who use college to develop their professional skills and character should focus on reality and not appearances.

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For More Information

For more information, click the links below:
http://www.genuinedogooder.com
http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/paf101/
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/paf/
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/paf/CommunityLinks/main.htm
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About the Writer

Bill Coplin is a professor of public policy at the Maxwell School and The College of Arts and Sciences of Syracuse University, and author of "Ten Things Employers Want You to Learn in College" (Ten Speed Press, 2003). Readers may wrote to him at Public Affairs Program, 102 Maxwell Hall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y. 13244-1090, or via e-mail at wdcoplin@syr.edu.