Krista Marie Simeone

My Learning Contract 

 Krista Simeone

General Information
Name: Krista Simeone
Internship Hours: 16 hours/week
Internship placements: Career Services
Room 237 Roosevelt Hall
90 Lower College Road Kingston, RI 02881
Disability Services
330 Memorial Union
University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 02881
Internship Supervisors: Career Services- Patrick Lennahan 401 874 4784
Disability Services- Matthew Cooper 401 874 4692
Job Title: Vocational Rehabilitation Assistant
Background
When I met the disability services coordinator that would later become one of my supervisors I worked as a receptionist at Disability Services. I immediately expressed an interest in his field (Vocational Rehab Counseling), and would often meet with him on my free time to discuss graduate programs, job settings, etc. When I started thinking about internships, I went to the internship office to look through some of their contacts, and while a few stood out to me, none of them really incorporated both career counseling, mentoring, and people with disabilities- so I decided to do a little searching on my own and through Rhodynet. Since rehabilitation counseling programs do not exist until you get to the masters level in your education, many of the places I called (such as the Rhode Island Office of Rehabilitation Services) would not hire me as an intern until I was enrolled in a VRC masters program. I went to him about this, and he told me that he had been thinking about creating an internship with me in mind where I would help him recruit students with disabilities for the Workforce Recruitment Program, while at the same time, I would be “bridging the gap” between Disability Services and Career Services, by helping students with varying abilities utilize the services provided by the Career counselors in the most effective way possible. I was immediately in love with the idea. This internship really gives me an advantage over other students applying to VRC programs because I’m getting rehabilitation counseling and career counseling experience and guidance while still in undergraduate school. After we discussed this, we went over to Career Services, and pitched the idea to a career counselor (my second supervisor) who was very supportive and willing to supervise my hours, he informed the Career Services staff of my arrival, and from there it has truly been an extremely rewarding, advantageous opportunity for me.
Professional Objectives
Recruit URI junior, senior, and recently graduated students to interview with the Workforce Recruitment Program on October 8th, 2010 and Meeting with all Students who plan to interview with WRP and make sure their application is complete and they are comfortable and informed about the process before the day of the interview
- Creating a list of qualified students who have expressed interest in WRP or who are eligible for the program based on their registration with disability services, GPA, and academic year. The list includes student ID#, Name, and Phone Number. After I contact them I send them a link to begin the wrp application process online via email.
Evidence: Include Phone List used as well as the list of students who interview with WRP in my portfolio.
- I schedule a meeting with each of the 10 students via phone or email, and meet with them in my office at Career Services during my internship hours. Once at the meeting I go through the following process:
1. Explain the WRP and the interview process, make sure they know the interview will take place on Friday October 8th
2. Review their online application at wrp.gov and see what they’re missing and what still needs to be submitted
3. Go over what they have established as far as career interests, paths, experience.
4. Do they have a resume? If yes, they should schedule an appointment with an adviser who can review it before submission. If they do not, give them the Resume Building Handout and suggest that they meet with an adviser as soon as possible.
5. If they don’t have a Rhody Net Account, help them set one up. Username: student id password: rams
6. If they do have a Rhody Net Account, or once they get one set up, show them how to schedule an appointment with a Career Adviser.
7. Mention Walk-In Hours, give them a card.
8. Have them submit an unofficial transcript in .doc format onto the wrp application
9. Have them order a copy of their official transcript on e-campus THE DAY OF THE MEETING.
Evidence: Provide documentation and notes from every meeting conducted with each student in my portfolio. I also keep a copy of all meeting records with both Patrick at CS and Matt at DSS. (In my portfolio names will be omitted due to confidentiality so I will list them as student #1, student #2, etc)
Designing an Evaluation form for data collection to be filled out by every student who interviewed with WRP in order to gauge how positive/negative, beneficial/unbeneficial their experience was, and follow up with them after the interview process
- Creating an evaluation using Survey Monkey that will be sent via email to each student
- Recording the data generated by those surveys into a concise, accurate WRP interview evaluation report
- Following up with each student via phone or email to track their progress and see what they have been doing with the resources and opportunities provided to them by the Workforce Recruitment Program. Meetings in my office may be required.
Evidence: Including the Survey Monkey Survey, and the WRP Interview Evaluation Report in my portfolio, along with logging any phone calls or emails made to those students throughout the follow-up process.
Creating a booklet about The Workforce Recruitment Program that can be distributed in both Career Services for Students and Disability Services for Students. Included in this will be a weblink that I will create and post on both department websites:
- Creating a comprehensive and detailed informational packet on WRP, and what it does for students and recently graduated individuals with disabilities.
- Making the requirements for interviewing with the WRP very clear and informational.
- Providing examples of placements sites where other students have been employed, as well as the range of ages and major concentration of those students.
- Providing anonymous testimonies from students who have successfully interviewed with the WRP, and including those testimonies in the packet.
- Providing resources for added information, as well as important contact information
- Making the booklet appealing and well-organized and creating enough so that they can be distributed in both departments throughout the year.
- Providing the booklet through a link online and in various accessible formats (such as audio), for people who need those accomodations.
Evidence: Including a copy of the booklet in my portfolio and a detailed summary of how the booklet was developed.

Details
Duties Include
- Recruiting juniors, seniors, and recent URI graduates with disabilities (who are registered with disability services) to interview with the Work Force Recruitment Program this October, to help them find jobs and internships with the federal government, over the summer or after they graduate. We want at least 8 students to interview, but the ultimate goal is 11 students.
- Taking those students to my office in Career Services in order to help them prepare for their interview. I will be walking them through the interview process, helping them set up a rhodynet account, and based on what they have prepared and what they still need help with, I will be helping them get into contact with the appropriate Career Services staff to aide them in resume building, career assesment, etc.
- After the students interview, I will develop an evaluation form for them to fill out describing their personal experiences. I will follow up with these students and track any progress or setbacks along the way.
- Utilizing the members of my student organization Students for a More Accessible Campus (SMAC), I will be helping to build and promote the Disability Services facebook page, so that it is seen by as many students as possible.
- Whenever Career Services has a workshop, seminar, or other public program, I will be there as an added resource for any students who may be attending who have a disability and need certain questions answered. Also, I will be promoting all Career Services events to the students I work with through Disability Services, bridging the gap between the two departments.
Evaluation Methods
- Consistent in-person meetings with both supervisors weekly to go over progress made, emails from time to time as well when I’m not in either office.
- Everything I print out or write down during a meeting is copied and shared with both of my supervisors so they can keep it for their own records.
- I keep all records of my appointments in my agenda, and on the “Sticky Note” program on my computer at Disability Services
- Completion of university provided evaluation forms by both supervisors, most likely in collaboration with one another
Expected workdays
- Career Services: Monday and Friday from 9-12pm (6 hrs)
- Disability Services: Wednesday from 8am-4:30pm (8-8.5 hrs)
- The remaining 2 or so hours are split between Disability Services and Career Services depending on where I’m needed at the time. In the future those 2 hours may be utilized by attending Career Services events and promoting them to disability services students.
- Start Date: September 3rd 2010- December 9th 2010