December News from Minneapolis Area Senior Workers Association

COMMITTEE EVOLUTION
Since its inception in June 2009, the joint Community Liaison Committee has been an active and energetic group. Approximately 20 members from the Minneapolis and St. Paul Senior Workers have united to fulfill the mission to reach out to connect with universities, community colleges, and high schools to engage and inform students about careers in aging. While the committee initially wanted to address the need to reach out to minority communities and also respond to senior-related issues in the media, the committee recognized a need to focus our mission on doing outreach to schools. At the early development stages of the committee, we feel this has been a realistic and productive place to start.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
The committee developed a power point presentation entitled "Professional Senior Workers: Who are they and what do they do?" The purpose of the presentation is to serve as a guideline for committee members to use when they are going out and presenting to students. A number of topics are covered in this presentation, which include: 1) aging demographics 2) the growing need for professionals in aging, 3) wide variety of different careers in aging, 4) educational requirements and paths to working in aging, 5) salary information and occupational outlooks, and 6) Information on MASWA/SPASWA and the value of joining our associations for networking or pathways to employment.

EVENTS
So far, the committee has organized a number of presentations and meetings with local colleges and high schools. These include Concordia University (Biology students), University of Minnesota Career Development Network, St. Kate's/St. Thomas (School of Social Work) Mounds View High School, and Irondale High School. In addition to learning about opportunities in the aging field, students receive an invitation/coupon to attend one Senior Workers monthly meeting for free. The committee also developed a press release for the Fall Aging Conference, which was distributed to numerous colleges, inviting students to attend the FAC.

UPCOMING EVENTS

U OF M JOB FAIR:
The committee has registered for the job and internship fair at the University of Minnesota on February 22nd from 10:00 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Last year, over 3,000 students and 250 employers attended this fair. We will promote our associations, have brochures and the PowerPoint presentation available, and will have the most recent Care Options Employment Newsletter available. NOTE: There is an opportunity for members to post employment or internship opportunities: if you would like to advertise your employment or internship opportunities, or if you'd like to volunteer to work at the table, please contact Georgia Lane (contact info listed below).

CAREER DEVELOPMENT NETWORK:
We are working on assembling a panel of 5-6 professionals to meet with the U of M Career Development Network on February 4th at 9 AM. This is a group of all career service professionals who meet to discuss career development, plan collaborative events, and create professional development opportunities. They want to inform career counselors on how to educate students about aging demographics and careers in aging.

If you would like to participate on our committee, or know of any schools or universities who are looking for professionals to educate students on aging, please contact Georgia Lane, Committee co-chair at 612-695-2770 or glane@eldercc.us