How to build ‘soft’ employment skills? Randolph professor and career development director weigh in

Launching a career requires more than the skills and knowledge necessary for getting a job done. Employers increasingly are looking for people with “soft skills” that might not, at first thought, relate directly to a person’s on-the-job duties.

Two online articles recently raised this point. One explained that employers are struggling to find workers who can answer the phone professionally or who have good interpersonal skills. Another explained why one CEO refuses to hire people who cannot use correct spelling and grammar.

Krista Leighton, director of career development, meets with students
to help them assess and improve their preparation for careers.

Krista Leighton, director of career development at Randolph College, explained that those skills and attributes are crucial because of the message they send about employees and the employers they represent. “One person who does not adhere to being professional in every way can affect many people in the organization,” she said.

For example, a bad experience with a phone call—an unprofessional greeting or an incorrect call transfer—could sour a customer’s experience with a company, Leighton said.

Bunny Goodjohn, a Randolph English professor and director of tutoring services, added that grammar and spelling help ensure clear and effective communication.

Bunny Goodjohn, an English professor, recommends
reading well-written material to improve writing skills.

“We live in a world of mindless writing—hasty e-mails, two-thumb texts, a scribbled post-it note here and there,” Goodjohn said. However, “I am seeing a groundswell of support for good writing among employers in a host of different professions from sales to marketing, from human resources to engineering.”

Here are some tips Goodjohn and Leighton pointed out for developing the kinds of skills and attributes that will, in combination with an excellent education, help people get jobs after college.

Goodjohn recommends that the best way to develop more professional writing skills requires reading good material. “My advice to students would be that they read something decent with a group of friends and then talk about it. It doesn’t have to be something heavy—they just have to engage with the words,” she said.

Well-written magazines such as Sports Illustrated are a good start, she added.

Randolph’s Writing Across the Curriculum program helps students develop these skills by incorporating expectations for good writing in every course, not just English classes, she said.

Leighton said students should find a mentor who can honestly assess their career development. In addition to professors and former employers, students can find this type of mentoring in Randolph’s Experiential Learning Center. There, Leighton and other staff members can help students assess their career interests, explore internship opportunities, and engage in other career preparation activities.

Leighton pointed out that students can, and should, take advantage of those services as early as their first year in college. “The earlier a college student works on this process, the more satisfied and successful they will be in their career preparation.”

News broadcast features Randolph rhetoric class about presidential debate

This week's debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney provided plenteous material for analysis by Randolph College students in Jennifer Gauthier's rhetoric class.

Every presidential election year, Gauthier, a communication studies professor, focuses her rhetoric class on the presidential race and the debates. Students watch the debates and then discuss the communication methods in class.

This class was featured in a recent news broadcast on WSET, a local ABC television affiliate. Two students, Tyler Gilchrist '14 and Alyssa DeNisco '14, were interviewed for the segment.

You can watch a recording of the news broadcast here.

Sushi Friday

Fridays mean something new and great in our dining hall this year:

SUSHI.

This summer, Randolph’s dining services staff took a course in sushi preparation and designated every Friday as Sushi Friday. Each week, chefs serve up one or two variations of sushi, along with noodles and soy sauce.

Gage Stuntz ’13 was one of the students happy to hear about the new option in Cheatham Dining Hall. “When I first heard of Sushi Fridays I was very excited,” he said. “I love sushi and I thought it would be nice to have it on campus.”

Stuntz said Randolph's sushi tatests better every week as the chefs perfect the recipe. “It definitely makes the selection in the dining hall more diverse, which is great,” he said.

Sushi Fridays will continue weekly through the end of the Fall 2012 semester. In the spring, sushi will be served every other Friday.

Mom of three fulfills educational dream at Randolph

Cindy Ferguson ’13 has lived two blocks from Randolph College for nearly 20 years. When her children were small, she used to bring her family to have dinner on campus. “It was a great way to find babysitters,” she said.

She never thought a degree from Randolph would be in her future.

“I grew up in a really dysfunctional family, with parents that weren’t involved in school. Education seemed like it wasn’t really important to them,” Ferguson said. Although she dreamed of being a middle school guidance counselor, she felt she had to put those hopes on hold. She worked in several jobs, taught herself computer skills, became a paralegal, and volunteered in a recovery mission at her church, all while raising her family.

Cindy Ferguson ’13 transferred to Randolph to
continue pursuing her dream of finishing college

A few years ago, Ferguson’s oldest daughter came home from middle school with a poignant question: “Do you have any regrets?”

The resulting conversation led to Ferguson to enroll in college a few months later, with the support and encouragement of her husband Robert and their three children.

Today, Ferguson is preparing to graduate with a degree in psychology from Randolph. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in counseling. She is determined to have the career she always wanted. She hopes she can help middle and high school students make wise decisions and attend college. “I want to encourage other students to think not just about where they are right now, but to think about what choices they can make right now that would help their future be better.”

Before enrolling at Randolph, Ferguson attended Central Virginia Community College and received an associate’s degree. When she learned about Randolph’s highly ranked psychology department, she decided to continue her undergraduate education here.

Transferring to Randolph
Community college students in Virginia are guaranteed admission to Randolph College if they meet the requirements of an agreement between Randolph and the community college system. Visit our website to learn more about transferring to Randolph.

Randolph has been exactly what Fergusan hoped it would be. “I don’t think I’ve had any class that I’ve disliked,” she said. “I love that the class sizes are small so you get to have more conversations than lectures. The professors are just incredible.”

Despite the fact that some of her classmates are only a few years older than Ferguson’s children, she doesn’t feel out of place. “I think I fit in here because it is so diverse,” she said. “Everyone is learning from each other. I feel like everyone is my peer here.”

Attending Randolph means taking part in traditions that seemed silly for an adult at first, such as decorating academic robes with buttons and wearing a funny hat and singing College songs. But Ferguson has come to enjoy those traditions and the way they bind her to other students and to the school’s history. “Sometimes you just need to step out and see how much fun it really can be,” she said. “That’s not just about school, that's about life.”

Greek Play presents war drama in the way theatre was invented

Randolph College students are prepared to transport audiences 2,500 years into the past to experience a war drama as an original Greek audience may have seen it.

Seven Against Thebes, the 2012 Greek Play, will be performed Friday–Sunday, Oct. 5–7, at 4 p.m. In this play by Aeschylus, the sons of the Greek tragic hero Oedipus go to war against each other. The citizens of the besieged city Thebes fear the fate that might meet their city and its leader as, one by one, generals are sent to stop the invading army at each of the city’s seven gates. The Randolph actors will perform the play using original practices—including theatrical masks that amplify their voices; song and dance; and an outdoor theatre much like those used in ancient Greece.

The cast of Seven Against Thebes rehearses in the campus chapel. The performances,
beginning Oct. 5, are in the Mabel Whiteside Greek Theatre (The Dell.)

“You should come see our play for the reasons you should go see any play—to be involved and be entertained,” said Amy Cohen, the play’s director and a Randolph classics professor. “You should see a play in the way that the people who invented western drama did it. You get to be a Greek audience for a day in our beautiful theatre.”

The biannual Greek Play is a treasured tradition at Randolph College. Mabel Whiteside, who taught Latin and Greek at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College for 50 years, started producing Greek plays with her students. The College revived the tradition 12 years ago. Now a part of the College’s new Center for Ancient Drama, the play is held during the Ancient Drama in Performance conference at the College.

Karen Rose ’13 shows off the mask she wears in Seven Against
Thebes in the outdoor theatre that hosts the Greek Play.

Seven Against Thebes tells the story of a war between Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of Oedipus who disagree on how to share power over the city of Thebes. Polynices brings an army against the city to seize control. Eteocles, played by Claudia Troyer ‘14, sends generals to defend each of the city’s gates. When Polynices himself leads a group of warriors at the seventh gate, Eteocles goes to lead the defense.

“It’s a short, sharp play,” Cohen said. “It is about patriotism, how you engage patriotism, and what it means to fight for your country—but also what the consequences of that are.”

“From the perspective of this play, and the way the audience is involved in this play, we want Thebes to win,” Cohen said. “Thebes does win, but there’s a price.”

Nursery School continues 1/10th-Miler tradition

The Randolph College Nursery School (RCNS) held its annual 1/10th-Miler race this morning to celebrate Lynchburg’s 10 Miler race and cap off a week of fitness and health education.

The students entered the gymnasium in the Randolph Athletics and Dance (RAD) Center to the applause of their families, teachers, and other friends who came to cheer them on.

After singing some traditional RCNS songs, the “senior class” (the 4- and 5-year-old students) warmed up for the race with jumping jacks, pushups, and stretches.

Then they lined up at one end of the gym and sprinted to the other end. The “juniors” (the Nursery School’s 3- and 4-year-old class) helped cheer for them.

Each of the seniors received a medal for their participation. After the race, they enjoyed granola bars and cool water in the RAD Center lobby.

French film showing Oct. 3

Grenhouille d’hiver is a film in French that can speak to all cultures.

“It’s not only about French culture, but it’s also about Japanese culture,” said Francoise Watts, a Randolph French professor. “It’s about how one culture can learn from another.”

Even its production team crossed cultural lines. “The film was done by an African director who lives in France,” Watts said.

Randolph College’s French department will host a screening of Grenhouille d’hiver with its director, Slony Sow, on Wednesday, Oct. 3. It is an opportunity to see a beautiful story with acclaimed filmmaking techniques and a cross-cultural message.

The short film tells the story of a French winemaker whose wife dies after a long illness. A young Japanese woman who is visiting the winery gives him gifts symbolic of her culture, helping him to mourn his wife’s death in such a way that he can overcome his grief. Gérard Depardieu, an icon of French cinema, stars in the film as the winemaker.

Grenhouille d’hiver has been widely acclaimed at many film festivals, including the Richmond French Film Festival this spring. Each year, Watts and a group of professors from other Virginia colleges choose a film from the Richmond festival and invite directors or actors from the film to tour college campuses for screenings.

The Oct. 3 screening of Grenhouille d’hiver will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Harold G. Leggett building, room 537. The film is 17 minutes long and will be shown with English subtitles. A reception will follow so students and other community members can meet Sow.