S97 – Features

By Sharon Kalbfleisch

Career Development Practitioner Program

A new, seamless career development program is being developed as part of an articulation agreement between Conestoga College, University of Guelph, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. The program includes a creative and flexible balance between theory and practice and will build on Conestoga’s existing post-degree, post-diploma Career Development Practitioner Program and the three universities’ undergraduate degrees. The intent of the program is to provide excellent preparation for career development practitioners for their role in developing a nation of lifelong learners able to compete in a global marketplace.

The Contact Point team is constantly expanding. If you would like to be a member of the board of directors, participate on a committee, or be a beta-tester, please send a letter of inquiry highlighting your experience and commitment. Let us know how you can be a part of “the team.”

We strongly encourage practitioners (institutional, non-institutional, private, and not-for-profit) from all parts of Canada to consider making a commitment. Contact Point is committed to regional representation.

By Kathy Gollert, Canadian Career Information Association (CCIA)

The CCIA draws its 250 members from several sectors: education, government, social and community services, libraries and private practice. The primary goal of these career practitioners is to develop and share current career information. To this end, four professional development meetings are held each year; three issues of the CCIA newsletter, Career INFOcus, are published for members; various CCIA members facilitate workshops at national and regional conferences; and the CCIA Listserv allows on-going discussion of career issues among members.

CCIA is a member of the Contact Point community. CCIA membership information can be accessed through the CCIA site at www.ccia-acadop.ca and the Contact Point members’ link at www.contactpoint.ca. 

By Sahri Woods Baum, Centre for Student Development and Counselling, Ryerson Polytechnic University; and a member of the Contact Point board

As a counsellor working in a university counselling service, I am very excited about Contact Point, which allows career counsellors across Canada, and in fact worldwide, to access up-to-date information and exchange ideas and information almost instantaneously.

I know that often in my practice I have questions regarding what resources might be most useful in working with particular types of clients or with clients who are facing certain unique problems or difficulties. It’s encouraging to know that there is a Resource Centre that provides annotated bibliographies of materials which can be easily accessed via a keyword search.

The International Association of Career Management Professionals (IACMP) recently held its annual conference in Washington, D.C. Jane Lanthier of Mossop, Cornelissen & Associates was there and provides a sketch of the keynote presentation.

Jeremy Rifkin, author of The End of Work, kicked off the conference with a dynamic and engaging presentation that left participants energized for quite some time