Sen. Baldwin meets with UW faculty and staff

Freshman U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin made a trip to our area Tuesday.

She stopped by UW Oshkosh to offer an ear to some of the problems facing college students.

Specifically, finding a job after graduation.

"Education is the key factor to not just the path to get out of the recession we were just in but also the long term path, said Baldwin.

In a stagnant economy, trying to find a job post graduation can be challenging for many college students. But at UW Oshkosh they're finding ways to plug students into local companies in hopes to gain real life work experience and be better prepared when they graduate.

"We have a program called 'Hire a Titan' where employers come here and interview students for internship or employment opportunities," said Jaime Page-Stadler, the Dir. of Career Services, UW Oshkosh.

Ashley Leonardelli is one of many students taking advantage of the schools Professional Skills Programs.
As a social justice major, Ashley hopes to spend a year in Costa Rica interning at a women's shelter and teaching them computer skills.

"Understanding cultural differences and why that's important going into the work place, said Ashley Leonardelli, a UW Oshkosh Senior.

"Organizations are looking at their well rounded skills that they have and for a student they need to know how to market those," said Page-Stadler.

Since starting the program 5 years ago, 85% of graduating seniors have found a job within 9 months of graduating.

That's 5 percent higher than the national average.

To ensure students on campuses across the country find employment, Senator Baldwin says more schools need to development programs like UW Oshkosh.

"It's really great when our higher institutions of education are thinking ahead, thinking about preventing a skills gap if there's a tight partnership between employers in the area, faculty members and students," said Baldwin.