Where CCE and CCSC will take you.

Ever wonder what goes on in the weekly mysterious CCSC meetings? Wonder no more, because we sent Maren Killackey on a magical mission to find out for you. Here’s a report:

Because it’s not adult life if your parents still pay for your Blackberry…

Dean of CCE Kavita Sharma along with Niamh O’Brien, CCE Undergraduate Director, dropped by to discuss the many events and programs the center holds each year as well as to solicit the Council’s feedback on what other career services students are looking for. After detailing the myriad of opportunities CCE offers, each named with varying levels of acronymic success (CCASIP, CEE, CEO, CCA, STEP, CAE… the list goes on), the two fielded questions from council and audience members.

One of the first and perhaps most obvious questions regarded CCE’s efforts to diversify industry networking events and listings on LionSHARE. Sharma answered that that’s one of the Center’s most pressing goals, however a big part of it means finding organizations that understand how to present the position they’re offering in a way that is (or at least appears to be) fulfilling for students. She added if the listing’s not up to snuff, the CCE team will often press employers to pay students.

Another question was about helping international students get permanent residence status so they can work longer than the year after graduation before their student visas expire. The short answer is, unfortunately, there’s not much CCE and can do since devoting resources to an international candidate’s permanent visa is a decision made by the company. CCE does have a resource on their website called Going Global, which lists the names of firms that have sponsored international students in the past.

The last question was why science, technology, and engineering are all lumped together into one program (STEP). Again, it wasn’t so much CCE’s decision since it was co-created with the Engineering school, but it was in part an effort to get employers to consider non-engineering school students who still fit their ideal candidate profile.

The Center offers over 450 workshops and events a year and, if you plan to spend your summer in DC or Chicago, can hook you up with a sweet alumni connection. So if you’re slowly realizing that “super hero” is not as viable a career choice as it was when you were eight (or doctor was before you took bio with Mowshowitz), you’d best check out CCE’s website or find them on LinkedIn.

So you can stop squatting in Hamilton…

Maybe the third time will be the charm as the council moves forward with yet another space initiative geared towards revamping six relatively underused spaces identified last semester: John Jay, Wien, Wallach, McBain, and EC second floor lounges and the Claremont basement. Most people were in favor of keeping John Jay lounge the way it is now, namely, as a good group space that isn’t overly bookable, while Wien was a bit more hotly contested. As any Wien-er knows, life sucks. Since the sink bugs weren’t enough, Columbia just had to throw in a lounge, that no one can freaking lounge in. On the other hand, performance groups love it because there are no big, dumb architectural flourishes, one of the few on campus.

Not much was said by way of what to do with Wallach except for it makes sense as a group space and… oh yeah, we should turn it into an arcade. EC second floor lounge: revelation #1, it exists, revelation #2, there’s a pool table in there but you have to get the cues from Hartley. Wtf. McBain is just wrong; “the whole space,” said one council member shaking his head in disbelief, “it’s just so wrong.” By this point the council had been talking about res halls for an hour so they decided to just leave the Claremont basement to the ghosties.

A really weird road via Shutterstock