Beginning in Fall 2015, Ogg Residence Hall will only allow upperclassmen residents, as well as provide an additional career resource service, according to University Housing officials.
Career Kickstart is an optional career-focused residential life program intended to help direct students with respect to majors and careers. The residence hall intends to have a full-time staff member that would coordinate activities with L&S Career Services in attempt to provide extra access to workshops, seminars and dinners for networking, along with extra interview practice.
“By making Ogg an upperclassmen second year experience, it gives returning students a place that they can be living amongst all upperclassmen, that they can have that second-year experience in one of our newer, more popular locations,” University Housing Spokesperson Brendon Dybdahl said.
The career resource program is entirely optional and boasts special discussion sections of LS210, a course open to all university students focused on career planning.
The plans for the program and changes to Ogg Hall have been in the works since last spring, but didn’t come to fruition until the summer as details began to form, Dybdahl said. In the spring, University Housing received feedback suggesting that returning residents would prefer more career and work-related programming leading to the formation of Career Kickstart.
Ogg’s transition is unique with the new career resource, as well as the student year make up.
“Career Kickstart is not exactly a learning community, there are some similarities, but there is no program fee for Ogg residents to participate in it,” Dybdahl said. “It’s just an additional value resource for students.”
