Career Center Named Outstanding University Unit by P&A Senate

The Law School Career Center has been selected as the 2017 recipient of the P&A Senate Outstanding Unit Award. The award, given annually by the University’s Academic Professionals and Administrators Senate, recognizes a University unit that is exemplary in its support of professional and administrative staff and the role they fulfill in advancing the University’s mission. The P&A Senate chose the Career Center on the basis of its exceptional work in the areas of performance, leadership, professional development, continuing education, and engagement with the larger University community, among others. The award will be presented May 5.

The Career Center’s eight staff members serve the career development needs of approximately 700 J.D. and LL.M. students and provide alumni career services to graduates. Four career counselors—all of them J.D. holders with experience practicing law—work with students individually; one counselor focuses on judicial clerkships and public interest careers. A three-person employer relations team provides access to a broad range of employers across the United States. The office’s innovative approach to career building includes a professional development series, three mentorship programs with local law firms and the Minneapolis city attorney’s office, and yearlong postgraduate fellowships in corporate and public interest law. The Career Center also emphasizes the development of its own employees’ potential by finding opportunities for staff to participate in Law School and University committee work and community engagement, facilitating career development opportunities, and recognizing new skills and credentials with increased leadership roles and internal promotions, among other strategies.

“These days, a great law school must not only do an outstanding job of educating lawyers—it must also partner with its graduates to ensure that they find the best possible professional opportunities,” said Dean Garry W. Jenkins. “The Law School is fortunate to have a Career Center of such energy, excellence, and market awareness. Congratulations to Director Claudia Melo and her team on this well-deserved recognition from the P&A Senate.”

The P&A Senate represents approximately 5,500 academic professionals and administrators, working in more than 140 job categories, throughout the University system.