Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63444
"A YEAR OR TWO AGO, WHEN THERE WERE MORE JOBS THAN GRADUATES TO GO AROUND, MANY EMPLOYERS MADE SIGNING BONUSES PART OF THEIR RECRUITMENT PACKAGE." —Camille Luckenbaugh, NACE's employment information manager society, and that business schools are not adequately preparing students to see the link between the two." Recent disasters such as the Sep- tember 11 tragedy and the fall of Enron "have brought societal issues to the fore, making the training of future business leaders in these topics not only timely, but urgent," Samuelson concludes. The Job Outlook for Recent Grads The job market for recent college graduates might be chancy in 2002, with companies pro- jecting that they will hire fewer new grads and fewer companies offering signing bonuses to new hires. Yet students who par- ticipated in successful internships at corporations still stand a good chance of being hired at those com- panies. These are among the conclu- sions offered in Job Outlook 2002, an annual report compiled by the Na- tional Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to employers respond- jections. The organizations most pos- itive about the idea of hiring new graduates this year were government and nonprofit entities. College graduates who do get job offers might have to be content with the basic salary. A year ago, 55.3 percent of employers respond- ing to the NACE survey said they planned to offer signing bonuses to their new hires. This year, only 36.7 percent of respondents planned to offer such incentives. "A year or two ago, when there were more jobs than gradu- ates to go around, many employers made signing bonuses part of their re- ment information manager. The biggest change, again, is in the baugh, NACE's employ- cruitment package," says Camille Lucken- ing to the survey, companies expect to hire approximately 20 percent fewer new college graduates in 2001– 2002 than they did in 2000–2001. Employers were surveyed in July and December of 2001 to get their pro- jections. The majority of employers in the Northeast, Midwest, and South planned to stick to hiring projections they made in mid-year. In the West, however, nearly half of responding employers said they expected to fur- ther reduce their college hiring pro- West. Last year, 62.2 percent planned to offer signing bonuses to new grad- uates; this year, that number dropped to 25 percent. New grads are also un- likely to receive signing bonuses from computer software development com- panies and engineering/surveying firms.They're more likely to get a cash incentive from federal agencies and financial services firms. The picture isn't entirely bleak, however. The survey also reveals that students who have interned at com- panies are often considered good prospects for hiring—because com- panies themselves view internships as an effective way to recruit. In fact, given a list of 18 college recruiting methods, employers ranked intern- ships highest. They considered other top methods to be employee refer- rals, career and job fairs, on-campus recruiting, and job postings on their own Web sites. Internship programs are valued most because "they provide both the organization and the student an op- portunity to test the waters," says Marilyn F. Mackes, NACE executive director. "When employers convert interns to full-time employees, they already know what kinds of workers they're getting: if they fit the com- pany culture, if they can do the job, and if they have realistic salary and benefits expectations." The job outlook survey is an an- nual forecast of the hiring intentions of employers as they relate to new college graduates. For this year's re- port, NACE surveyed 1,803 mem- bers; 25 percent responded. For more information on NACE or Job Outlook 2002, see www.naceweb.org. Rawls College of Business Inaugurated Texas Tech's College of Business Administra- tion in Lubbock was formally re- named the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration in February during a two-day naming ceremony. The event also celebrated the $25 million cash donation Rawls made to the school. The school's Board of Regents approved the renaming last year, but the change was only recently made official. Rawls' donation included $10 million to establish five endowed chairs within the college. The first chair in business has gone to Shelby D. Hunt, who carries the university's Horn Professor designation. As for the rest of the donation, $7 million will be allotted to graduate scholar- ships; $3 million to faculty and staff career development; $3 million to BizEd MAY/JUNE 2002 7