Without Director, OPD’s Future Uncertain
by Tina Chong, Editor-in-Chief on December 6, 2007 in HKS News, News
When Susanne Beck was named as the new Director of KSG’s Office of Professional Development (OPD) last spring, hopes were high that she would lead a much-needed re-form of the school’s career services. But Beck’s decision to step down from the position in September - leaving a vacancy that has yet to be filled - has raised doubts about the future of the office, and may undermine the reforms she had started to implement.
Beck’s departure was announced in an email to the KSG community on September 13, only days after the beginning of the fall term, sent by Senior Associate Dean Joseph McCarthy.
“Our disappointment notwithstanding,” McCarthy wrote, Beck had decided to resign to fulfill commitments to her family and children. McCarthy has been leading the search for Beck’s replacement, a process that he says is nearing its completion, while Beck stays on as a part-time advisor.
“When you don’t have leadership in the office, no decisions can be made,” said the Executive Director of Career Services at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Meg Heehenan. “Everything remains in status quo.”
Beck’s unexpected departure and the vacancy left in her absence comes at a time when the Office of Professional Development, formerly know as the Office Career Services, is striving to adapt its offerings and support to better meet evolving student needs.
“Much of what I worked on, with input and support from the OPD team, was a redesign of the career services function,” Beck told the Citizen. “The vision was for OPD to be the cornerstone of an integrated professional development program that provides re-sources and connections to prepare and position students and alumni for rewarding public service careers.”
Before Beck assumed leadership of the office, the position had been vacant for 18 months. Her predecessor, John Noble, left KSG in August 2005 to lead the career serv-ices office at Williams College.
Asked about his reasons for leaving, Noble told the Citizen, “KSG had a great base with a staff of expert counselors, helpful databases and user-friendly information sys-tems. The next step was to have a director who looked more like what a KSG student would aspire to be, and I was not that person.”
“The best candidate for the job would be someone who had already experienced an impressive career track in the policy world,” Noble added. Beck, a KSG alumna, brought to the position significant experience in management consulting, investment banking, philanthropy and non-profit management, and she wasted no time in spearheading considerable changes in the office.
OPD’s new initiatives during her brief tenure included the creation of a customized professional development planner for students, and an updated support system to stream-line processes like resume collection and on-campus interviewing. OPD also hosted its first consulting and public finance fairs this fall.
Many KSG students expressed skepticism of OPD’s ability to implement and sustain significant changes after Beck’s departure.
“I might have used the office much more had there been a director,” said Josh Manning (MPP2). “But as things stand now, I know next to nothing about the office or what services it offers.”
Second-year students aren’t the only ones to complain. Participants in one-year programs like the Mid-Career track have spent almost their whole time at KSG without a director of OPD. Staff at OPD dismissed concerns that Beck’s exit represents a significant setback for the office or its reforms.
“It’s not about what is changing - it’s about what is constant,” said Mary Beaulieu, OPD’s Senior Associate Director and Coach. “We continue to be fully engaged in serving our students. Students shouldn’t worry about a drop in service.”
Administrative Director of OPD Janice Rand Vaughn, who is running the office during the search for Beck’s successor, says OPD is proceeding with its improvement efforts, including more collaboration with student groups and partnering with the Center for Public Leadership.
Still, the continued absence of a permanent director raises significant concerns about the state of OPD. Phillip McMullen, Director of Career Services at the Fletcher School at Tufts Univeristy, says that while day-to-day work of staff may not be interrupted, the biggest challenge in being without a director is “not having the voice of career services represented within the school and the administration.”
“It certainly affects morale among staff,” SIPA’s Heenehan said. “But there’s a big-ger concern for students - does the lack of leadership shake student confidence in the office?”
MPP2 Candace Chin said that the absence of an OPD director matters to KSG students, “because OPD, which was understaffed even with a permanent director, does not have enough staff to fully meet student demands. For a professional school, it is remarkable that we should experience such understaffing in this critical area.”
In contrast to KSG, peer institutions like SIPA and the Fletcher School require courses in professional development, which impart skills needed to compete effectively in the public and private sector job markets.
To address student concerns, KSSG President Doug Levine and VP of Student Services Rachel Hicks have proposed the formation of a new student advisory committee to work directly with OPD staff. The committee, to be comprised of students across degree programs, would act as a liaison to OPD, providing it with direct and regular feedback from students.
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