New director chosen for L&S career advising program

A new director has been hired for Career Advising and Planning Services (CAPS) at UW–Madison, marking the first step in a major expansion of the program.

Ann Groves Lloyd, currently the senior director of campus outreach for the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA), will take the helm of CAPS beginning July 1. Her appointment concludes a national search this spring that attracted 42 candidates.

Janet Vandevender, associate dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, described Groves Lloyd as a “real go-getter” whose experience with alumni will be a valuable asset.

“Ann has a great rapport with a wide variety of people on and off campus,” Vandevender said. “Her experience is a perfect fit for what were trying to accomplish in CAPS.”

Groves Lloyd will lead a program responsible for directing career goals and internships for Letters and Science and the School of Human Ecology. Letters and Science is the university’s largest college with about 16,000 undergraduate students. As part of a growing commitment to career services, Vandevender said CAPS’ staff will increase from four staff members to nine.

A top priority will be to develop a large internship base for Letters and Science students. Alumni will play a key role in expanding the internship network, Groves Lloyd said, through programs such as WAA’s Career Connections.

Internships are especially crucial for liberal arts students, she said, because they build the connection between broad talents and specific careers. “I think we can be doing a better job of articulating to students and employers what a liberal arts degree means in the job market,” she said.

Groves Lloyd also said she wants to strengthen the link between career and academic advising as early as the freshman year, noting that many students start planning for careers much too late.

Groves Lloyd, who has been with WAA since 1988, also had served as the organization’s director of student relations and career resources. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UW–Madison in 1985 and her masters in 1994. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in higher educational administration and anticipates graduating in May 2000.