How Career Services Directors Provide Career Programming Support and Services in a Continually Changing Economic Climat

This qualitative case study was designed to explore how career services directors provide career programming support and services in a continually changing economic climate. The study is based on the following premises: (1) environmental challenges external to the institution impact service delivery goals for students; (2) internal institutional constraints influence Career Services Directors' ability to serve students; (3) students place expectations and demands on Career Services; and (4) formal and informal learning is utilized by Career Services Directors to meet the needs of students.;This study consisted of 12 Career Services Directors, 6 from Private and 6 from Public Colleges/Universities. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, participants were drawn from the membership of the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers. The primary sources of data were: in-depth interviews of 12 Career Services Directors, a Focus Group of 4 Career Services Directors, and documentary analysis.;This study set out to examine how the sample conceptualized their experiences with how they learned to integrate the challenges emanating from the external environment with their mission to provide career opportunities and related services to students. Key findings revealed that all participants reported the need to (1) respond to changing economic conditions and their effect on employment, (2) gain recognition for contributions toward the institutional mission of the institution, (3) provide employment opportunities in response to students' expectations and demands, and (4) learn to manage the challenges they face in formal and informal ways. Furthermore, the findings identified two distinct categories that emerged from how they learn to integrate the challenges emanating from the external environment with their mission to provide career opportunities and related services to students: (1) Trail Blazers -- those that tend to actively seek new roads in the career services profession and are able to shift program and service delivery to align with the current changing economic climate as well as their students' expectations and demands, and (2) Remodelers -- those that lean toward revising programs and services that currently exist in their Career Services office.;The study includes recommendations for Career Services Directors, Institution Supervisor of Career Services Directors, and for Professional Associations (EACE/NACE).