Tuesday, December 7, 2021

By Noah Leavitt, director of the Career and Community Engagement Center

 

Welcome to Thinking about Working, a new bimonthly series from the Career and Community Engagement Center. These short pieces aim to help Whitman students, faculty and staff gain greater insight about the world of work in 2022.

 

Today I’d like to introduce you to Phil Gardner ’69, a Whitman alum and perhaps America’s foremost analyst of trends affecting new graduates’ professional opportunities. For more than three decades, Gardner led a research department at Michigan State University (MSU) specifically to learn from employers across the country about what skills and talents they are looking for when they bring new graduates into their organizations and businesses. During much of that time, he also led the MSU Career Center, helping thousands of students each year make their way into the world of work. Honoring his success, in 2019 the National Association of Colleges and Employers inducted Gardner into their Academy of Fellows.

 

In a recent conversation, Gardner told me that this is an incredible time to be graduating.

 

Read on to find out why.

Getting Ready for Finals #2

Study Tips from the Academic Resource Center

You are settling in to really focus on studying for your finals. You have a stack of notes from lectures, discussions and readings. But now what? 

 

Simply reading notes doesn’t accomplish much; instead try rewriting your notes, organizing and consolidating as you go. Set up a system for color coding. Feel free to eliminate the content that you know really well and focus on the areas that you need to study and ultimately understand better. If you have open note exams consider this as an opportunity to organize and consolidate so that if you need to reference your notes it will be much easier to find the information you are looking for at that moment.

In her contemporary twist to Homer's "The Odyssey," author Margaret Atwood has given the telling of the ancient story to Penelope and to her 12 hanged maids, asking, “What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to?” Associate Professor of Theater and Dance Laura Hope directs this Harper Joy Theatre production, which opens Thursday and runs through the weekend. More information and tickets are available online.

Substance use and addiction is more prevalent than many of us realize, but it continues to be a stigmatized and misunderstood issue. Cascade Centers, Whitman's employee assistance program, presents a training to provide basic drug and alcohol information, strategies for reducing stigma and how to support those who might be struggling. Register here for the webinar, which starts at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Positive COVID-19 cases in our campus community are noted in Whitman Today in compliance with state regulations. We also update the data in our COVID-19 Dashboard every Monday.

 

In accordance with Washington state Labor & Industries employer requirements, we are notifying the campus community that in the past 24 hours, a person with Whitman access was confirmed positive for COVID-19. This person is now in isolation for 10 days in accordance with our campus and CDC guidelines. Though the likelihood of transmission is low due to our campus COVID-19 protocols, it is possible that others may have been exposed to COVID-19. There is nothing you need to do at this time aside from following our campus COVID-19 protocols. Anyone identified through the contact tracing process as a close contact (within 6 ft. for at least 15 minutes over 24 hours) will be personally notified. 

Have an event you'd like to share with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.

“Whitman Today” is produced by the Office of Communications and is emailed Monday through Friday to Whitman College staff, faculty and students. All times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time. 

 

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Previous issues of Whitman Today are archived on our website.