By Mark Nickel
Sheila Curran, currently director of organizational planning and development at Brown, has been named director of the Office of Career Planning Services, according to an announcement by Kenneth Sacks, dean of the College.
"The world in which Brown graduates will pursue their careers is changing at an astonishing rate and in ways that all but defy prediction," Sacks said. "One of my highest priorities is to create an Office of Career Planning Services that will foster a broad-based appreciation of that new career environment and will serve a wider range of constituents, from first-year students to alumni. I am certain that Sheila Curran will develop that kind of a career planning service, and I am delighted to have her as a permanent, full-time colleague."
Curran has been serving as interim director of the career services office since last October.
Renovations to the office - physical and conceptual - are underway, Sacks said, in direct response to observations of focus groups Curran convened during the year. The office space in Pembroke Hall is being refurbished and reorganized to make it more attractive and less daunting to students and to put greater emphasis on certain areas, including student employment and internships. Many resources are now available on-line.
"I see the office expanding conceptually in two directions," Sacks said. "In what I call the vertical dimension, the office will serve students from the time they matriculate and will continue be helpful to them as they pursue their careers after graduation. Alumni will become more prominent in the office, both as users of career planning services and as mentors who will help with undergraduate internships and career information."
In the horizontal dimension, Sacks said, the office will expand its horizons to place career perspectives in the context of liberal arts study - though not in the sense of emphasizing a pre-professional perspective. "The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is beautiful and must be defended vigorously - no question," Sacks said. "But that pursuit is not diminished in any way by examining the skills that students are developing along the way."
Curran came to Brown in 1982 and has held a number of positions in the human resources area. She is widely known on campus for originating and supporting programs that enhance the personal and professional development of University staff, including the Management Development Program and Brown's annual Staff Development Day. In her employee relations capacity, she counseled more than 300 employees a year. She has also served as a management consultant to administrative and academic departments and to individual administrators who faced a variety of problems. Curran's successful approach to staff and career development, Sacks said, will give the Office of Career Planning Services a broader perspective on work-life issues facing students as well as alumni.
Beyond completing much-needed renovations to the office, Curran intends to increase and number and availability of internships, which are often the key to establishing a career. It will be especially important, Curran said, to provide access to internships for students who rely on summer employment for meeting the self-help portion of their financial aid packages. Curran will begin as full-time director July 1, reporting directly to Sacks.