Frontline staff learn path to career growth, college

By Ajay Singh

As a University Apartments facilities coordinator, Richard Lee wants to advance his career. He has a year-old daughter — another one's due in November — and Lee is anxious about providing for them.

Prasert Kongkasem, who works in Dining Services, wants to find out everything he can about higher education to help a nephew who’s majoring in biochemistry at UCLA.

Maria Delvelle, a helper at UCLA Housing and Hospitality Services (H&HS), is eager to discover her career strengths and leadership style so that she might one day become a supervisor.

The trio were among the more than 300 frontline employees of H&HS, ASUCLA and Facilities Management who attended the first-ever UCLA Education Resource Fair, hosted specifically for them. Held at De Neve Plaza on Sept. 13, the half-day annual event was organized by H&HS with assistance from several groups, including Campus Human Resources (CHR) and Student Affairs, and was aimed at addressing the educational aspirations that employees might have for their children as well as their own professional development.

The fair was the brainchild of Alfred Herrera, assistant vice provost for academic partnerships in the Division of Undergraduate Education.

"It always made me wonder whether people who work in service-level jobs know anything about what it takes to put their kids in an institution they are devoting their lives to," he said. His conversations with a string of janitors and gardeners on campus led him to conclude that "they didn’t know much about it."

The fair began with three separate one-hour sessions in which experts from various campus organizations discussed a range of topics related to higher education and professional development. This was followed by face-to-face meetings with representatives from 22 organizations — 13 of them from UCLA — specializing in higher education and professional and vocational development.

In one of the most well-attended meetings, titled "Talk to Me About College," Julette Sanders, student affairs officer for undergraduate admissions, explained that UC accepts the top 12.5% of the state's graduating seniors and offers a wide range of academic and professional degrees. "All the campuses provide unique experiences and a wealth of opportunities," she said, outlining the requirements for admission and offering tips to prepare for college.

In a presentation on professional development, Rejeana Mathis, a CHR management development professional, stressed the importance of forging career-enhancing relationships with others. "You need to have targets, goals," she told participants.

Improving computer skills at work was the topic of the third session, where fair-goers were introduced by Brenda Mayorga to classes that UCLA Administration's Research, Training and Development office offers on mastering everything from typing to Photoshop to PowerPoint presentations.

As the fair came to an end, it was hard to count the masses of smiling, evidently satisfied faces — proof that UCLA truly cares about its employees. In fact, "UCLA Cares" was the fair's initial name, said Herrera, adding, "I think we’re going to go back to that."

For more details on UCLA's partnerships with California Community Colleges, go to the Center for Community College Partnerships. or call (310) 267-4441.

To enroll in CHR's Career Discovery Series and to learn about about training and development programs, go to CHR's Skillnet, or call Marsha Coutin at (310) 794-0850.