By Victor Ordonez

Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill Maura B. Mast, Ph.D., hosted a Town Hall on Oct. 16 in McGinley 237. The topics varied from career building, to inquiries regarding transfer credits.

The first round of questions concerned career services. Students voiced their need for programs and courses that teach them how to properly create a resume. These concerns come at a crucial time for students who need to begin applying for summer internships.

“I know that senior year is really stressful because Rose Hill students see their friends in Gabelli, and they see that they have jobs already,” said Mast. “It is just the nature of the different schools, but it does work out.”
Mast spoke about the different paths Fordham College and Gabelli students take in regards to their careers. One of the hardest aspects of joining the workforce is finding an internship, according to Mast.

“We are close to career services and what I would like to do is create a stronger relationship,” said Mast. “Part of what I am trying to understand is how students hear about internships and job opportunities. How can we at the dean’s office guide them, both during the summer and during the school year?”

Additionally, Dean Mast addressed these issues by providing a forum for advice from other attendees. United Student Government Elizabeth Crennan Vice President of Finance recalled a composition class in which she was tasked with making a resume. Mast said that she will be looking into creating similar programs within the core that will aid in resume building.

“I really want to look at that first year — that freshman year,” said Mast. “I want to get freshmen over to career services. There are a lot of services and programs like that there. I think it is a great idea, however, that your professor did that. We should look into implementing a workshop like this into the core curriculum.”

Another student within the audience asked about transfer credits. He asked why Fordham University was so strict with what credits it chooses to accept and which it chooses to deny. Additionally, the student mentioned friends who were transfer students and lagged behind in credits because credits had not transferred over from their previous schools.

The deans attributed the transfer credit issue to Fordham’s strict guidelines and core curriculum standards. “We are pretty restrictive with transfer credits as it is,” said Mast.

Mast said that there was a transfer task force that specifically dealt with students seeking to transfer their credits over to Fordham University. “We don’t have articulation agreements with community colleges for example,” said Mast. “That is a challenge because they are not sure what we are going to accept or not, so we make course by course decisions that the Task Force focuses on.”

While identifying the problem of affordability, Mast attributed part of the issue to the incoming student’s ability to succeed at Fordham based on the origin of their credits.

“You are right and affordability is a lot of the reason why Fordham students go to community college,” said Mast. “We want to make sure students are successful when they get here and that they are prepared so they can do well. So we tend to be cautious as to what credits we accept.”

More information on the transfer credit task force can be found on the Fordham University website.