The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 31
August 1, 2003

Pat Helbig
Photo by Ben Dashwood

New career planning director aims high

By John Bennett

Pat Helbig, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s new director of career planning and placement, has held her new position for less than two weeks, but she’s not shy about describing her goal for the department.

“Our intention is to have the best possible team effort with faculty, staff and students that SCAD has ever seen,” she said.

It’s this brand of vision and vigor that made Helbig the obvious choice for the job, according to Vice President for Student Services Frances Wong.

“She’s energetic and enthusiastic and is a great addition to student services and the college. I think students will be very excited about her eagerness to help them. They can be confident she’ll go the extra mile for them,” Wong said.

Wong predicted that employers will come away with similarly positive impressions.

“I think employers will immediately recognize her interest in forming partnerships and matching students with job opportunities,” she said. “She brings a great deal of corporate experience and industry contacts that will instantly establish her credibility.”

Helbig’s corporate experience includes founding a consulting firm specializing in strategic, organizational, marketing and operational planning. She also served as a senior vice president, general manager and in other positions during a career with the American Express Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Chicago.

Wong said Helbig has spent her first week on the job evaluating the needs of individual academic departments and their students.

“We have a lot of great ideas and we are doing a lot of brainstorming. Right now Pat is meeting with staff from all areas of the college to gather information and find out what each department would like to see happen for their students,” Wong said.

Already, Helbig said some overall guiding concepts are emerging.

“I’m in the key listening and data-gathering stages now, but one thing that keeps jumping out at me: My major strategic initiatives for this department must be based on student and faculty needs and trying to define whatever we can do better and best,” she said. “We are ramping up to a new level of visibility and partnership with students, faculty and staff and employers. Our strategies and deliverables will focus first and foremost on student needs as we overlay them on potential employer requirements and opportunities.”

However, Helbig said, students must actively and meaningfully cooperate with her department to make new initiatives successful.

“The students have a responsibility, just like we have a responsibility to them. It’s a two-way street. We must constantly talk to each other and make use of the facilities in career services,” she said.

Helbig is part of SCAD’s delegation to the annual SIGGRAPH conference in San Diego, Calif., which attracts researchers, artists, developers, filmmakers, scientists and other professionals who share an interest in computer graphics and interactive technology. However, no matter what career field students wish to enter, Helbig explained, employers will be looking for some common abilities and attributes in candidates.

She said, “Our graduates should enter the field with the highest quality skill sets, absolute professionalism in communication and self presentation and the ability to articulately state what they want to achieve with their potential or new employers.”

The career planning and placement department can help SCAD prepare to meet employer expectations and Helbig said she wants to make sure the college excels in this pursuit.

“We are here for the students and working together with them we will become No. 1 in career planning and placement,” she said. “The coming year will focus on defining and implementing innovative approaches to providing the highest standard of services for students and employers — all team-based and team-driven by the students themselves, the faculty and the staff. Our potential, working together, is unlimited.”