Campus selected as site for federal jobs kiosk

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The United States has targeted Fresno State as one of only two universities in the entire West, and one of 20 nationwide, to help improve the representation of Hispanics and minorities in the federal work force by placing a touch-screen kiosk in the Career Services office in the Joyal Building.

UCLA is the other western university selected to maintain an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) kiosk that provides up-to-date information on nationwide employment and internship opportunities in the federal sector at the Treasury Department.

While the kiosk has been available to Fresno State students since August, Career Services this semester has begun efforts to promote the service, said Manuel Olgin, who is assisting with the marketing efforts of the office, previously named Career Development and Employment Services.

"The OPM kiosk is an enormous resource but has lacked the campus awareness to perform at its high potential," said Olgin, who is also coordinator of the Scholars Service Grant. "We want students to know it's here. We want to get them a job."

Colleges and universities were chosen based on their relatively high minority enrollment. The Treasury Department also selected schools based on their proximity to future job openings in the department as well as whether the selected schools had degree programs that were compatible with the projected vacancies.

Of the 20 kiosks allocated, 15 were distributed to members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) while the remaining five were given to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Dr. Judy Sakaki, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, requested the kiosk for Fresno State as a HACU member last year.

The $12,000 kiosk, which was provided free to the university, is updated daily by the OPM and has numerous capabilities, Olgin said.

"The kiosk contains worldwide employment information, federal salary information, facts on the federal hiring process and an audio capacity through its synthetic voice component," Olgin said. "The kiosk has a built-in printer to provide all necessary application forms and announcements at point-of-contact."

Some of the other schools that have received this kiosk include University of Miami at Coral Gables, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jackson State University, Howard University and Texas A&M International University.