Helping Students and Employers Make the Most of Gap Year Experiences

Presenters: Gary Beaulieu and Jennifer McConnell, Butler University
Track: Bridges from Campus to Career

Description: Millennial students are increasingly looking for ways to give back or delay entering the workforce. This workshop will discuss how Butler University works with students to maximize a Gap Year experience and how the Internship and Career Services office helps students locate a quality experience matching their passions and skills.

What is a “Gap Year”?
A gap year (also known as "year out", "year off", "deferred year", "bridging year", "overseas experience", "time off" and "time out") is a term that refers to a prolonged period (often, but not always, a year) between a life stage. The most popular gap years are taken between college and graduate school and a profession.

Gap year programs can be done here in the United States through programs like Americorp, Teach for America, etc. or they can be done abroad through various programs such as Peace Corps or the J.E.T. Programme. Some students spend time traveling. Others spend their time working, and many combine these into an international working holiday.

A popular option for gap year students, also known as "gappers", is international volunteering. Also, many gap year students earn money while overseas by working cash in hand, often in the hospitality industry. Another growing trend for gappers is to enroll in global education programs that combine language study, home stays, cultural immersion, community service, and independent study. --- (http://www.butler.edu/career/gap-year/overview )

As Butler’s Internship & Career Services Office began to dig deeper into their students’ post graduate plans, they realized that there was a growing number of students that were not accounted for, they were not “employed full time”, “had accepted and were planning to attend graduate or professional school”, or “job searching”. Instead they were “gappers”. I spoke with Jennifer McConnell to discuss how Butler addressed their Gap Year phenomenon and how her office’s focus on this group of students has grown to help support them.

At the CDPI Conference Jennifer and Gary give specifics into how they address one-on-one advising for potential Gap Year students, offer information sessions, and host a GPS (Graduate Programs, Professional Schools, Service Programs) Fair. They will also discuss how they have utilized their employers on their career services advisory board to discuss plans and approaches for working with gappers, (i.e. how to include a Gap Year experience, such as volunteering for a year in Africa, on a resume). Furthermore Jennifer and Gary will share print and online resources for those interested in learning more about the Gap Year.

In addition to the resources, Jennifer and Gary will discuss how their Gap Year support program evolved from researching the area to program development and enhancement. It is worth mentioning that although other countries such as the U.K., Canada, and Australia have resources and experience working with gappers, it appears that Butler is breaking new ground since many of the resources for Gap Year students are for those students leaving high school for college, (not post college). In addition, Jennifer and Gary will discuss the increasing popularity of Gap Year experiences, (perhaps due to the economy), since 2007.

For those interested in learning more about this growing field be sure to attend. Jennifer ensures me that by the end of the workshop all in attendance will better understand: Gap Year experiences, Butler’s approach/history with their program, and things any office can do to help this increasingly popular post graduate population.

Resource: http://www.butler.edu/career/gap-year/overview