STEM majors to network with local employers at Employability Forum
Selected STEM majors at Amarillo College will have a chance to enhance their prospects for summer internships and future employment when they network with a number of local employers at AC’s STEM Employability Forum. The event, which is being co-sponsored by the College’s Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) STEM Grant and AC’s Career Services, will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, Oct. 25 at AC’s Innovation Outpost, 1220 S. Polk St.
According to an AC news release, STEM majors who applied to participate in the forum will engage with representatives from several local employers in conference-style informational sessions. Students will have opportunities to take part in mock job interviews and to attend networking sessions designed to help them prepare for future summer internship interviews, while making valuable connections for future career possibilities. Participating local employers include: Phillips 66, Xcel Energy, City of Amarillo, Shiver Megert & Associates, Altura Engineering, BSA Hospital, AMA TechTel, Bell Helicopter, Region 16, AOMS – Full Smile Orthodontics, Amarillo Gear, Advanced Eye Care, SIMS Architects, Pantex, Hi Plains Civil Engineers, Square Engineering, Run Biz, Axigent, Andrews & Associates, Micro Technologies, and KT Black.
“One of the objectives of the HSI STEM Grant is to broaden access and success in STEM fields for all students,” said Holly Hofmann, director of the HSI STEM Grant at AC in the release. “This event will allow STEM students to network with local employers who are collaborating with us on a paid, eight-week summer internship program in a variety of STEM fields, for which students soon will have the opportunity to apply.”
For more information about the STEM Employability Forum at AC’s Innovation Outpost, contact Imelda Saavedra, external partnership coordinator, at 806-345-5683 or Imelda.saavedra@actx.edu.
WT Criminal Justice Career Fair Set for Oct. 29
CANYON — Students and community members seeking jobs in various criminal justice fields including law enforcement can attend the Criminal Justice Career Fair, set for 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 29 in the commons area in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on West Texas A&M University’s campus in Canyon.
Sponsored by the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice in WT’s Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, the career expo is meant to appeal not only to WT students but to the broader public, said Jeanette Bissoni, instructor of criminal justice.
“These agencies often need support staff who aren’t officers,” Bissoni said in a news release. “They need communications specialists, nurses, social workers and more, so there are ample opportunities for a wide variety of students and community members.”
Participating agencies are scheduled to include the Amarillo Police Department; the Liberal, Kansas, Police Department; Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Police; Texas Department of Public Safety; Randall County Sheriff’s Office; Randall County Juvenile Probation / Youth Center of the High Plains; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the San Juan County, New Mexico, Sheriff’s Office; the Canyon Police Department; the Midland Police Department; Kansas Highway Patrol; New Mexico Department of Game & Fish; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the law office of Cody Pirtle; the Lubbock Police Department; the Texas Panhandle Paralegal Association; and the Amarillo and Plainview District Parole Offices.
WT’s criminal justice program has earned several recent national accolades. Its graduate program ranked No. 3 in Texas and No. 17 in the nation in 2024 rankings from from U.S. News & World Report. It ranked in the Top 10 programs based on quality and affordability by Securitydegreehub.com in 2021. In addition, the online criminal justice administration degree was ranked No. 1 by Best College Reviews in 2021 and one of the Best Online Programs and Best Online Programs for Veterans by the U.S. News and World Report in 2021.