boosting enrollments for fall '96

[Paul A. Klanderud]

Ben Rifkin wrote:

>...I would appreciate hearing from any SEELANGers who
>have collected this information as to the range of jobs found by students
>with knowledge of Russian and/or other Slavic languages or languages of the
>former Soviet Union in order to improve our publicity effort.  ...If I get
a number of replies,
>I'll post a summary to SEELANGS by May 1, hopefully in time for last minute
>enrollment efforts this semester (for returning students) and well in
>advance of enrollment efforts for students registering in the summer and
>fall.
>
>I would also be happy to create a list of jobs found by our students that
>could be posted to the AATSEEL web page if there is interest in doing so.


This strikes me as one of the most important things our field could do right
now, collectively, to help boost enrollments.  So many students are now
weighing courses and degrees in terms of cost/benefit analysis.  We need to
engage in a bit more "samoreklama" about the prospects of using a degree in
language.

It would also be interesting, as a longer-term project, to gather info. on
how many employers, and in which fields, still value the transferrable
analytical and problem-solving skills that language study provides -- even
when it doesn't involve the language directly.  Getting in touch with our
institutions' business schools would be good here.  Speaking from a very
unscientific basis, I know someone who recently got out of the field and is
now employed in info systems, technical writing, etc.  This person informs
me that, in interviews, a number of prospective employers have said that,
with technology changing so quickly, they are more and more interested not
in pure computer nerds who do their best when locked in a room with a
massive machine, a pot of coffee and a dozen glazed donuts, but in people
who have the skills mentioned above, who can communicate with others in
plain language, and who have the ability to learn and to keep on learning
throughout their careers.

Just a few stray thoughts.

******************************************************
Paul A. Klanderud
N8106 1130th Street
River Falls, Wisconsin 54022
tel: (715) 425-9507
e-mail: paulkla at mail.pressenter.com