After acting as interim director of the Career Center for a year, Ann Morey is the new permanent director following the retirement of Adele Scheele.

Morey has worked at the center since 1989 and took the leadership role in July of this year. She received her master’s degree in educational psychology at CSUN and her bachelor’s degree in psychology at Western Michigan University. In her new role, she said she aims to lead the center and students in a new direction.

“We can help students find a direction for their studies,” Morey said. “At the Career Center students can explore themselves, majors and careers – it takes time to make meaningful choices in your life, so we want to start the process early. That’s why we are changing the focus in our office.”

She said the staff at the center wants to explore and focus on all students at CSUN, rather than just juniors and seniors. She said freshmen and sophomores have a different type of motivation, but the center aims to put more effort into helping them so that they can have a broader sense of their college experience.

“We are also designing new services that will support students as they begin thinking about what they want to do with their lives and how the college experience can help them succeed,” Morey said.

Jessica Curiel, freshman business administration major, said her high school adviser, who told her to “think ahead of time,” influenced her life.

She said she went through the Bridge Program offered through the Educational Opportunity Program last summer, and that experience introduced her to the Career Center.

“I went there before through the Bridge Program. I used the center to do an assignment,” Curiel said. “I had barely experienced college – this is my first year (and) so far they (have) been helpful.”

Curiel also said she plans to see a career counselor just to make sure she is doing the right thing and to explore what her options are through her major.

Some students start using the resources of the Career Center when they are close to graduation, rather than going to the office when they start CSUN.

Magno Perez, a recent engineering graduate, said he started using the Career Center during his junior year.

He recently had a job interview with an employer who worked directly with the center, and he said he was able to secure the meeting by attending the university’s job fair.

“They do a lot for the students,” Perez said. “They help students on their resumes and give information about the companies.”

According to Morey, the center is also shifting to online services for some of the work that it does. These services include information on resume writing, a wider range of information on employers, and an opportunity for students to set up appointments online for workshops offered through the center.

“Students will now find those services more streamlined, efficient and accessible online,” Morey said.

Ervin Hunter, senior economics major, said he started using the center’s services last spring. He said he usually uses the online services because of the Monstertrak job listing offered on the center’s website.

Morey said her leadership style will be similar to Scheele’s, but she will run the center under a new idea.

She said the center used to be fixated on making “community and university connections,” but now it is intent on “narrowing down the focus.”

Morey said the focus will give students the power to take control of their career plans at an earlier stage.

She also said the center plans to work with other CSUN departments to get its message out to lower-division students who might not be aware of the office’s services.

She said the center currently has five career counselors, three coordinators of programs and two clerks on staff.

Joanne Angeles can be reached at city@sundial.csun.edu.