When Millie Harrison, junior in communication, made Miss Auburn's top five, she was determined to find a way to give back.
"I was thinking of a way I could better the school and leave a mark, but also would have been beneficial to me and my time here at Auburn," Harrison said. "Career Development was so beneficial and helpful for me, so I wanted to do something where I could partner with them."
Harrison went to CDS with an idea about a program where students could talk with other students about their career goals.
"We've been wanting to do it for a long time," said Torey Palmer, CDS graduate assistant. "When Millie was elected for her position, that was the final impetus to start doing it."
Palmer, Harrison and Katie Mantooth, CDS counselor, started doing research to see what works at other universities.
Mantooth said they found students react better when they talk to other students as opposed to counselors, so they created a program called Peer Career Advisors.
Peer Career Advisors are students selected from each college, except from the College of Business, and trained to advise their fellow students on anything from resume building to major direction and other career decisions.
"Their purpose is to basically help any student with the needs they have career-wise," Harrison said.
Harrison said most students don't even know that Career Development Services exists, and Peer Career Advisors will help connect students with CDS resources in a relatable way.
"It is kind of like the missing link here on campus between the student body, Career Development Services and the different advising groups," Harrison said. "A lot of students don't utilize those services, so I think this will open up their eyes to what they have to offer."
Open to all juniors and seniors, advisers must have a grade point average of 3.0 or above, strong communication skills and the ability to work five hours a week.
"Hopefully what we are doing is having a career adviser from each college so they can have a different outlook and address the different needs of our student body," Harrison said. "You don't have to have perfect writing skills; we just want people who are willing to learn, who are willing to grow."
Becoming an adviser comes with other benefits besides leadership opportunities.
They also receive a stipend and advanced registration.
"We don't know how much (the stipend) will be yet," Palmer said. "It's been a need that office has wanted to fill for a while, and we had a commitment from our director that she would be willing to allocate the funds if we could find the right student base to fill it."
Once chosen as advisers, the students will attend a mandatory two-week training period at the beginning of fall semester hosted by Palmer, Harrison and Mantooth.
Harrison said they will officially start in September and will be located at a table next to the Foy desk every school day.
"It's great that it is going to be in the Student Center because students filter through here all the time," Harrison said. "It's going to be in a really accessible location, and anyone is welcome to come up and utilize them whenever they need."
Palmer said there is an agreement with the Student Center to eventually build a kiosk for the advisers resembling the Verizon kiosk next to the Foy desk.
Applications for Peer Career Advisors are due Friday by 4:45 p.m. in Mary Martin Hall.
"I'm hoping it will be successful," Harrison said. "So far it is looking hopeful from the amount of applications we have gotten."
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