Several months ago, in a report to our community, the community college was identified as a source for workforce and career development. While playing a role in workforce development has always been part of ICC's mission, the study suggested that ICC could do even more in this area. With a dedicated Career Services staff and an exciting new construction project, ICC is further expanding its reach in the areas of workforce and career development.
The need and demand for these services has increased dramatically over the past few years. Consider this: in 2003-04, 7,357 people attended workshops presented by ICC Career Services. That's 422 more than last year and a dramatic increase over the 1,086 people served in 1999-2000. One-on-one resume assistance was given to 226 individuals-up from 163 last year. Employers posted 753 job openings, and 494 resumes were posted-up from 513 and 428, respectively. Additionally, our staff conducted career presentations to nearly 3,000 people during its 29 stops at various high schools and middle schools in our college district.
We've seen the demand for these types of career services steadily grow for the past four or five years. That's why we're especially excited about the newest construction now underway on our East Peoria Campus-a new and improved Career Center. The center will be a 14,000-square-foot addition to our existing Edwards Library Administration Building and is being funded by $3.6 million from Illinois First funds the State of Illinois pledged in 2000.
Our Career Services staff offers free workshops, open to the public, to help participants prepare their resumes and get ready for job interviews. We also offer career exploration workshops to help those seeking a new career path identify what fields might be good fits for them. Our staff is also part of a greater community-wide Rapid Response Team that goes on site when companies are downsizing or closing to help those employees determine what options might be available for them.
In addition, the staff works hard to maintain a Web-based job matching service. Employers can list openings free of charge, and anyone who's completed at least one course at ICC qualifies to list their resume on the database. Then, we work to match employers with potential employees. Our Career Services staff also works closely with our middle schools and high schools to provide career assessments.
Our new Career Center allows us to expand and improve existing services. It will house an open lab with lap top computer stations, interview rooms so employers can conduct interviews here on campus, and classrooms. It also will be home to the Counseling Office. The Testing Center, which administers the Academic Placement Test, as well as state and national certification and licensing exams, will then expand into the current locations of the Career Center and Counseling Office. IBI
