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SPOTLIGHT
BEEP classroom visits / what the BEEP happened?
By John Caldwell
Voice Staff Writer
Chances are if you were in class
in at least one of six buildings on
March 16 or 17 at Fayetteville State
University, you had a “BEEP” ex
perience and likely missed an entire
class. Some students missed sev
eral classes throughout the day.
During that “BEEP” moment you
may have heard, ‘Sve don’t need to
see your boobs hanging out which
does nothing for us,” or “have a
short-term and a long-term plan
incorporating action steps, written
down for your life,” or “pull up
your pants, we should not see your
under garments,” or “you are your
own brand, always on display, so
market yourself appropriately be
cause you never know what oppor
tunity will present itself”
S'o what the BEEP was going
on? The National Urban League’s
(NUL) Black Executive Exchange
Program (BEEP) visited FSU’s
campus at the behest of the Office
of Career Services March 15-17.
The BEEP corporate executive vol
unteers came from the CIA, Enter
prise Holdings, The Hershey Com
pany, Time Warner Cable, Unilever,
and UPS, as well as two National
Urban League Vice Presidents.*
They descended upon 39 different
class sessions to reach out to more
than 1,000 students during the two
day operation, according to Director
Helene A. Cameron, of the Office of
Career Services.
If you were “BEEPed,” rather
than hearing
your professor’s
lecture, you may
have heard “pro-
fessor” Keith
Butler, an execu
tive from Unile
ver, tell you that
“your resume
presented to pro
spective employ
ers not only rep
resents you, but
also represents
your school,
leaving a lasting
impression impacting every FSU
graduate in the eyes of that employ
er, so make sure you do it well.”
Maybe the BEEP you heard was
“professor” Terri Moore, a human
resource manager from Time War
ner Cable tell you “there are some
great materials out there that will
help each and every one of you in
answering or formulating your an
swers when in an interview - one of
the best things you can do is a mock
interview, and your being able to do
that at Career Services gives you an
opportunity to be in a lab almost.”
“There is a big no-no to remem
ber. You can use the social network
sites - facebook, twitter - it’s the
type of things that you are putting
out there that’s a no-no. Because
not only is the Federal Government
looking at that during background
checks, but more often, so are the
private industries. How you pres
ent yourself matters and when you
do delete it, it is still out there, for
ever,” were the words of another
BEEPing moment that happened
when the CIA executive “professor”
Lisa Gardner addressed a class.
BEEP was created 42 years ago
according to their website, making
it NUL’s longest-running program,
and has reached more than 750,000
students on the campuses of 84 His
torically Black Colleges and Uni
versities (HBCUs). BEEPs mission
is “to share learning and experience
across generations, cultivate new
leaders, and inspire achievements
‘beyond the possible’ through com
mitted involvement and operational
excellence by placing African-
American volunteers on Colleges
and Universities as visiting profes
sors.”
This “visiting professor” role
answering questions is what im
pressed Jalisa Seward, a sophomore
accounting major, the most.
“Having corporate executives
answer any questions we had, and
then to tell us what not to asked
about like pay rates during an in
terview, as well as what to ask,
helped me real
ize the impor
tance of doing
research to ask
good questions
of a prospective
employer. The
idea of asking
the employer
questions to see
if they are a good
fit for me had not
really occurred
to me,” says Ms.
Seward.
“The best fa
cilitators shared stories that were
relatable, that we could coimect to
because we could relate to the ex
perience they were sharing,” said
Freshman Jeffery Pearson, business
administration major.
What stuck in Mr. Pearson’s
mind most, he said, was the need
to get to Career Services as soon as
possible, so he could take full ad
vantage of all they provide.
Quite a few students favorably
recalled The Hershey Company
"Most employers will
tell you that they are
not Interested In a
student wth a 4.0
who has not done
any internships,"
KeimeA. Cameron,
Pirictor, Ofict of Carter
Serviess
Voice photo by John Caldwell
Senior Arthur Williams III (left), and junior Garrott Harris (right), both business administration majors
listen to College Recruiter Coren Burton (center) of The Hershey Company as she explains the
best practices to position themselves for opportunities before graduation, during the Career Fair on
March 17, in the Capel Arena
executive Coren Burton - who used
the slang term for women’s breast.
“She stood out,” said sophomore
Anna-Alicia Leggett. The business
administration major said she “re
ally liked Mrs. Burton’s style, keep
ing it down-to-earth without all the
corporate jargon, sharing her real
life failures and how she turned
them around was very inspiring.”
Seth Adams, a sophomore, said
Mrs. Burton stood out most to him
“by being forward, being bold, tell
ing the students what they really
needed to know.” The business ad
ministration and general biology
major said that is what students re
member most after being BEEPed.
Ms. Leggett and others expressed
concern that there was not enough
“diversity” of employers. She
would have liked to have heard
fi"om health care industry, or entre
preneurial firms during the class
room visits.
To this point Mrs. Cameron ex
plained while her office casts its
net broad to get a variety of partici
pants, BEEPers’ volunteer to come
to this campus. Nevertheless, Mrs.
Cameron, who was instrumental in
reviving BEEP at FSU in 2008 said
it, “exposes students at four-year
HBCUs to working professionals in
their fields of interest, and through
that direct contact familiarizes them
with the demands and expectations
of those industries.”
Another goal of the BEEP visits
is to “prepare students to become
the sophisticated and well-prepared
employees that corporate America
and its global competitors are seek
ing,” said Mrs. Cameron.
“Most employers will tell you
that they are not interested in a stu
dent with a 4.0 who has not done
any internships and has not been
involved as a student leader, co-
curricular activities, volunteering
and does not have a professional
presence to include effective writ
ten and communication skills,” she
said.
You don’t have to wait until next
year to be BEEPed if you missed
it this time around. Mrs. Cameron
insist that, “students need to visit
their career counselor, follow the
four-year plan, attend the numerous
programs and seminars that we host
throughout the year, access the Ca
reer Services website for resources
and by all means ‘READ ALL’
campus email daily.” You have just
been officially BEEPed!