Highlights


  • Professionalism

  • President’s Message

  • Internships

  • Advisory Board

  • Contact Us

  • The CPE Poll

“Professionalism” isn’t just a trendy word at York College of Pennsylvania. It’s something that President George Waldner has believed for a long time makes a profound difference in the impact students have in the workplace after they graduate from college. He, and the faculty at York, believe so strongly in imbuing students with Professionalism that they’ve created the Center for Professional Excellence to give EVERY student the Professional Edge.


When you talk with students and faculty at York, like Sarah Inskip, Pennsylvania Student of the Year, or Dean Debbie Ricker, they’ll tell you that professionalism and advisor/student mentoring happen at so many different levels, it’s pervasive. “The program at the Center for Professional Excellence, and the Personal Strategic Plan, are tangible reflections of everything we do at York,” Dean Ricker says.


Her belief is echoed by President Waldner: "At York College, we think we know quite a bit about the essence of professionalism. Now, we are engaged in learning more and more about how to help students develop the attitudes, behaviors, and skills that define one as a professional.


"Recent national research validates the significance and importance of professionalism in the workplace, and that it does give job seekers THE edge -- “We are very interested in that question at York College, for two different, but connected reasons. First, our alumni, responding recently to a survey about benefits gained from a York College education, time and again emphasized that their York experiences helped them develop as professionals. The second reason is that the heads of corporate human resources departments as well as their CEO’s, again responding to a recent college-sponsored survey, indicated that “professionalism” is a crucial factor in both hiring and promotion decisions,” says President Waldner.


What sets York apart from other “professionalism” programs? What makes Professionalism at York real? First, EVERY student at York benefits from the Center for Professional Excellence, and EVERY student gains a professional edge by developing her or his own Personal Strategic Plan with an advisor that York bonds each student with from day one. Second, York is a great proving ground for student internships and community services. “York’s internship and service programs have been a tremendous asset to students,” says Dean Ricker. York boasts one of the best records of any college or university for student participation in internship and service programs. By the time they graduate, it is our hope that every student at York will have participated in internship or community service programs.”

President’s Message:

“Most, if not all of us aspire to be professionals in the conduct of our careers and businesses.  But what does it take to be a professional? 

“We are very interested in that question at York College, for two different, but connected reasons.  First, our alumni, responding recently to a survey about benefits gained from a York College education, time and again emphasized that their York experiences helped them develop as professionals.  The second reason is that the heads of corporate human resources departments as well as their CEO’s, again responding to a recent college-sponsored survey, indicated that “professionalism” is a crucial factor in both hiring and promotion decisions.

“At York College, we think we know quite a bit about the essence of professionalism. Now, we are engaged in learning more and more about how to help students develop the attitudes, behaviors, and skills that define one as a professional.”


George W. Waldner
President

Co-ops



Internships


  • John Bartman

    VP Human Resources, Snyder’s of Hanover

  • Robert Batory

    VP Human Resources, WellSpan Health

  • David Borden

    Executive Vice President,
    Bizet Human Asset Management

  • Stuart Levey
  • Todd McCarty

    Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Readers Digest

  • Robert Newcomer

    Retired President and COO, Glatfelter Co.

  • Lawrence Raff ’88

    Partner, KPMG, LLP

  • Carl Vizzi

    President, York Wallcoverings

  • Coni Wolf

    Vice President, Business Development

    York Container

 

York College Administration

 

  • Mary Dolheimer

    Assistant Dean, Office of Communications

  • Beverly Evans

    Assistant Dean, Student Affairs

  • Dan Helwig

    Dean of College Advancement

  • Joe Merkle

    Dean of Student Affairs

  • Mark O’Donnell, Ph.D

    Assistant Professor, Management

  • David Polk, Ph.D

    Professor, Behavioral Sciences

  • Deborah Ricker, Ph.D

    Associate Dean, Academic Affairs

  • George Waldner, Ph.D
    President
York Gives You THE Professional Edge

Send us your comments

If you have any comments, or would like further information, please use the following form.




The national survey of human resources professionals and business leaders — those who make final hiring decisions — shows that personal professionalism matters most when deciding whether to extend a job offer. The survey also found that a lot of college grads are failing that test.


Nearly 60 percent of the hiring decision for new college graduates is based on an assessment of the applicant’s professionalism, according the poll of 520 human resources professionals and business leaders conducted for the Center for Professional Excellence (CPE) at York College of Pennsylvania.


“HR pros and business leaders identified five primary characteristics of the professional they are looking to hire,” says David Polk, president of the Polk-Lepson Research Group in York, PA, which conducted the survey for York College. “The research also found that a lot of college graduates nationally are not measuring up well in these areas.” The characteristics are:


  • Personal interaction skills, including courtesy and respect
  • The skills to communicate, and listen
  • A great work ethic; being motivated and staying on task until the job is completed
  • Professional appearance
  • Self-confidence and awareness

Nearly 90 percent of respondents said that professionalism is related to the person and not the position.


Unfortunately, when human resources professionals and business leaders were asked to rate the presence of professionalism qualities in freshly minted college graduates, they gave out low marks, notes Polk, who is also professor of behavioral science at York College. On a five-point scale where one was “very rare” and five was “very common,” none of the top five traits reached a mean rating of four.


One trait that did get a “four” rating was a concern by applicants about opportunities for advancement. That trait, however, is the least important to the respondents when they are considering a recent graduate for a position requiring professionalism.


One in every three respondents believed that less than half of all new graduates’ exhibit professionalism in the workplace.


When asked if professionalism has increased, decreased or stayed the same among entry-level college graduates during the past five years, 53 percent believed levels of professionalism were the same while 33 percent believed professionalism had decreased. Those who cited a decrease pointed to a young worker’s sense of entitlement for the job, changes in culture and values and lack of work ethic among new workers.


Entitlement, defined as a worker expecting rewards without putting forth the effort to achieve them, was seen as on the rise among first-year college graduates. Sixty-one percent reported the sense of entitlement among first year college graduates has increased over the past five years.


Business leaders complained that many recent college graduates have a hard time accepting personal responsibility for their decisions or acting independently. Managers also said graduates seem to not have a clear sense of direction or purpose in the office.


Survey respondents found a role for higher education in addressing problems of professionalism in the workplace. Twenty percent of business leaders and hiring managers suggest that colleges help students work on their attitude or demeanor. Other suggestions include colleges doing more to help students locate internships or gain hands-on experience, develop an understanding of professionalism, and work on communication and interpersonal skills.


York College of Pennsylvania authorized the survey, in part, to inform its co-curricular programming. A comprehensive college with strong professional programs, York’s alumni have reported that they were prepared by the College to succeed in a professional environment. The College plans to capitalize on that tradition by using the results of the poll to inform future professional development seminars, guaranteeing that its students are ahead of the curve when it comes to making themselves marketable as graduates. Through its annual poll, York College will ensure its students know exactly what human resources and business executives are looking for in today’s professional.


“The first step was to assess the state of professionalism among new college graduates as seen by the people nationally and regionally who make the hiring decisions,” says Todd McCarty, vice president of human resources at Readers Digest and a member of the Advisory Board for York College’s Center for Professional Excellence. “Now that we have this information it will help us make decisions on campus speakers, workshops, and other initiatives. This information should also be useful to colleges and universities throughout the nation.”


The survey respondents were a nationwide random sample of human resources professionals as well as samples of regional and Pennsylvania HR pros and regional and state business leaders. A total of 418 respondents were human resources executives. The business leaders sample numbered 102. Researchers found no significant differences in answers among the groups. The survey has a 4.3 percent margin of error at the 95 percent level of confidence.

 

Download a copy of the survey (PDF).