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What Can I do with this Degree The answers, my friends, are written in their stories, revealed in the community and beyond, and told with pride and pleasure. Augusta has always been a city for tours. There are the scenic tours (catering to Masters' visitors), historical tours of Olde Towne, sociology tours of deteriorating neighborhoods and toxic waste sites, and deviance tours featuring the Strip and staring the Snake Lady. Perhaps it is time for a another tour, a treasure tour, seeking out former Sociology and Criminal Justice majors working, succeeding, and contributing to their communities in a variety of roles and settings. Before we begin our local tour, we need to go by the bookstore and pick up scenic (Paine Hall, Benet House, flowers, and THE TREE) "thinking of you" postcards to send to majors no longer in the community. Mail carriers all over the county will learn more about ASU through delivering cards to former students currently enrolled in graduate programs in Sociology, Social Work, Law, Theology, Public Administration (U.MASS-Amherst, University of Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Washington University, University of Florida, University of New Mexico, University of South Carolina, University of Georgia). Our graduates get around, and they tell us they are well-prepared for graduate work. Written communication is fine, but it is time to seek out
people still in the CSRA neighborhood. To find some of our recent
graduates we need to go to the outer reaches of the CSRA, and
it is worth the effort. Not too far Andrea tells about interning with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Service, falling in love with the program, serving as a volunteer
until a position opened, and now enjoying employment as a full-fledged
Ombudsman, directing a special grant project investigating unlicensed
personal care homes. Christine, Supervisor for Adult Protective
Services, Department of Family and Children Services, swaps
stories with her current intern. Linda, new Director of Kelly
Assisted Living, receives congratulation on her promotion; and
Lisa explains what is involved in being the director of a private
benefit eligibility program. The others are too busy eating
and "mixing and mingling"--two things our majors do extremely
well-- to talk to wandering tourists. So we move on. Where are our majors? They are everywhere. Unfortunately, this treasure tour must come to an end, and we have not even visited: Barbara, a pre-school counselor for Columbia County Board of Education; Charlotte, assistant director for CASA; Chris, director of public relations for University Hospital; Cassandra, Family Self-Sufficiency Program at the Augusta Housing Authority, Kathryn in Public Relations at the Medical College of Georgia; Robin, newly appointed Community Resource Coordinator for Section Eight Housing Project; and the ASU/SOC group within the group at Safe Homes and Domestic Violence Intervention Center--Annette, para-legal program director, Mae, outreach worker, and Elizabeth, director of children's program. One thing we know for sure, this tour is just a beginning. We must plan another tour and do it soon.....maybe with pictures
of graduates in their natural (work) habitats....maybe with
quotes and more stories, certainly, with mention of more graduates,
here and there....where they are and what they are doing. We
may even, being who we are, talk a bit about patterns and trends,
and you can be sure we will work in the sociological imagination.
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Other postcard recipients (former majors) have left our Fair
City, but they keep in touch, telling us their experiences at
ASU and their hard-earned degrees in Sociology and Criminal
Justice have prepared them to hold positions such as Customer
Service Coordinator for the Columbus, GA., Housing Authority,
Director of the Rape Crisis Center in Savannah, Program and
Clinical Director of the Health Care Services in Mobile. Several
have received commissions in the U.S. Army and are now serving
all over the world. We salute them in passing. Others are social
science teachers, case workers, employment counselors, agency
administrators, law enforcement officers, probation/parole and
juvenile court officers...and rumor has it...one is a sho 'nuff
rural sheriff.
away in Waynesboro, we come upon Dorothy, who graduated in December,
1997, interviewed the week before graduation for a job development
position with the fourteen county JTPA program and was hired
immediately as director of the entire program. She attributes
her success to her wonderful personality and to the knowledge
and skills she acquired in organizational theory, community,
social problems, research, agencies and services, and methods
of social work classes. Close by in Warrenton, we find Emma
(easy to find since she is known to everyone in the area) who
is executive director of the nation's most successful Quality
of Life Agency, running programs for the disadvantaged and writing
and receiving large grant awards for expanded services. Mandy,
Director of Social Services, is holding down the fort (better
known as the McDuffie County Hospital) in Thomson. Mandy's career
is not untypical of many of our Sociology (minor in Social Work)
majors. As an undergraduate she interned at Blair House Nursing
Home. Upon graduation she was hired as Director of Social Services;
the third major in a row to move directly from an internship
to employment as Blair House's S.S. Director. Mandy later moved
to the Senior Citizens Council as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman
and then returned home to Thomson to her present position at
the hospital.
Combining
business (touring) with pleasure (eating), we finally arrive
in Augusta for the Ninth Annual Gerontology Dinner where current
students in aging cook up a storm and entertain directors of
area programs and services for the elderly and former students
(more than 40 on the invitation list) working in the field of
aging. What a wonderful opportunity to find former students
networking, sharing horror stories from their student days and
talking about how their internships and course projects opened
doors for career opportunities. Social Service Directors and
Activities Directors at area nursing homes share experiences
with Francis, Administrative Coordinator of First Choice Medical,
Sharon, Program Administrator for the CSRA Senior Nutrition
Program, Cathy, Bereavement Counselor with St. Joseph Hospice,
Jerry, Director of Residents' Services (elderly and disabled)
for the Housing Authority, Jenny, former Administrator of Sunrise
Personal Care Home (private sector) and currently Senior Rights
Coordinator for the Area Agency on Aging, and Gwen, one of several
former students employed as case managers for Care Management,
Inc. Christine, outstanding Sociology Senior once upon a time,
is waited on by current students anxious to secure internships
and possibly employment (died and gone to heaven) opportunities
at Brando Wilde where Christine is Director of Social Services.
A policeman's lot may not be all fun and feasts--more likely
coffee and do-nuts, but locating our many former majors working
in the areas of law enforcement adds a note of "right stuff"
to our tour. Recent graduates can be found serving as Sheriff's
Deputies in Richmond and Columbia Counties (Bruce just whizzed
by on his bicycle doing community policing.) and Police Officers
in North Augusta (different cities, different titles), probation,
parole, and juvenile court officers, and supervisors at Youth
Detention Campus. They have a promising future ahead of them
as visits with out not-so-recent graduates working in law enforcement
reveal. Many of our majors are now Majors and Captains, running
programs, supervising criminal justice interns, and making policy.
They have, in other words, learned how to "define the situation"
and act accordingly, understanding group, organizational, and
community dynamics. Incidentally, we drive very carefully during
this part of the tour. What could be more tacky than getting
ticketed by a former student? Really!
Other very recent
CJ graduates and those soon to graduate have completed successful
internships where they impressed their supervisors with their
research and computer skills as well as their knowledge of the
field of criminology and are waiting, with high expectations,
for positions to open in the almost-completed Federal Prison
in Edgefield, in the Department of Natural Resources (game wardens--great
for students who love the outdoors, like to work on their own,
and can handle receiving a boat or two when they start work),
and with the G.B.I. They can take heart from the experience
of Terrill who left his heart at Pardons and Parole when he
completed his internship. At that time, the Program was not
hiring (known as The Freeze for good reason), and Terrill found
employment as a Substance Abuse Counselor at Community Mental
Health. Come the thaw, however, he was the first hired as a
parole officer...and came by the Department to say, "I just
want to see your face when I tell you I got the job...I am going
to be a Parole Officer." 