Johnson School appoints Karin Ash new director of career management

Karin Ash will be the new director of the Career Management Center at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell starting July 1. Ash, who holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology, with a concentration in organizational behavior, from Cornell (1999), has been director of the university's Career Services office since June 1999. Before that she was director of career services at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, from 1985 to 1999, and worked in career and student services at state universities in Florida and California.

Robert Swieringa, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of the Johnson School, said: "Karin's background in career services gives her the breadth and depth of knowledge and experience required in working with today's MBA students. We anticipate that the job market for MBAs will be very dynamic over the next decade, and we look forward to Karin's leadership in forging a unique career management program that will truly differentiate the Johnson School as a leader among top business schools."

"Karin will be taking over the career services activities at the Johnson School at a time when we are making a major change in our approach," said Richard Shafer, associate dean for corporate relations at the school and director of its career services office during the past academic year. "Starting this fall, we are rolling out a new, comprehensive, modularized career management program for all first-year MBA students. It is designed to prepare them to select career options that are right for them, gain knowledge and skills required to pursue their career goals successfully and land the job they want after completing their MBA."

Ash believes that the Career Management Center, the newly chosen name of the Johnson School's career services office, more accurately reflects the mission of the office to help students clearly define and manage their careers. She will help develop the program further over the summer and begin to implement it at student orientation in mid-August, said Shafer. The new program evolved from the many separate career and job-search initiatives developed by the school in the difficult job market of the 2001-02 academic year, noted Shafer, and is characterized by students generating job opportunities through individual, self-managed job-search campaigns as well as on-campus recruiting opportunities.

"Johnson School MBA students have made a significant investment in time and financial resources," said Ash. "I am looking forward to working more closely with them as well as faculty and employers to facilitate the career development process. I appreciate the opportunity the Johnson School has given me to help reshape how MBA career services are delivered."

In her previous job as director of Cornell Career Services, Ash brought together the seven colleges served by Cornell's central undergraduate career services office and worked with them to develop a framework that guides the university's career programs and services. The working team structure across colleges that she helped establish broadened career opportunities for students. In tandem with the Career Advising Committee, she helped launch the Alumni Career Contact Network, an online alumni career advising service for students. She also helped the central career services office become more recognizable to outside constituents through logo and "branding" initiatives. In addition, she created a Business Advisory Council, a group of senior executives from major corporations, businesses and organizations, who advise Cornell on workplace and industry trends and serve as advocates for Cornell students. She made outreach efforts to involve more small and medium-sized companies as employers of Cornell students and helped set up an office in Goldwin Smith Hall offering career services for the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition she developed, and instructed at, the Cornell College Relations and Recruiting Institute, a series of training seminars to help corporations improve their college relations and recruiting efforts.

"Karin has been an energetic, sensitive and vital collaborator with her staff as well as with faculty, students, alumni and a wide range of employers of Cornell students and graduates," said David Yeh, assistant vice president for academic support services at Cornell. Calling her a "team player" and "dedicated Cornellian," he praised her for her deep commitment to supporting students' career development as well as her emphasis on research and analysis to help improve the central career services office's effectiveness.

"I am honored and privileged to have worked with her and pleased for her that the Johnson School has recognized her creativity, talent, professionalism, integrity and leadership," he said.