Don Gorman from Career Services informs the students about the current and long-term market trends for teachers and about their placement files. There is time for questions, and then students proceed to their departmental orientation sessions. At that meeting, students receive the internship application form and instructions for completing it, and they talk about the placement process and the internship experience. In the Department of Special Education, each student is assigned an advisor at the time he or she is admitted to the College. At the initial departmental orientation session students are informed about various program issues, get their picture taken, meet their advisor, complete a form which initiates their departmental file, etc.
Advisors usually see their advisees once per quarter.
On the formal side, when students receive notification letters about being admitted to Woodring College, they also receive a letter from Elementary Education that, among other things, informs them of who their advisor is and encourages students to contact advisors. Informal advising happens via the Elementary Ed web page, and brown bag sessions, and also during the practica and internship quarters by students' supervisors. An Elementary Ed listserv has recently been initiated. Elementary ed students, like secondary ed students, have a content area advisor as well as a Woodring College advisor. Both cited how their involvement in this program directly affected their teaching, and how they were able to immediately try out things they were learning.