Earlier this week we ran a pretty lame but kind of funny contest asking you all what you would rename the Career Center. After receiving some minimal responses (come on guys, let’s see some creativity), we’ve decided to scrap the vote and, by default, give the award to Carly for “The ‘Here’s my CV, So Cawley Maybe.’” I mean, really, the other submissions didn’t stand a chance.

So let’s try something different. With the Georgetown community all abuzz on the Campus Plan shenanigans from this week, we’d like to present a poll. Sure, there were some significant gains for students in the recently proposed conditions. From the list we put together yesterday, what do you think sucked the most?

In light of the newly-renamed career center, Vox is now initiating a new contest. Get pumped.

Here’s the deal: just recently, the Career Education Center was renamed in honor of GU alumnus Charles M. Cawley.  If you had the chance, what would you rename the career center?

For example, “The Cawley Why-Am-I-An-English-Major Career Center,” or anything else that makes you think of your experiences at that lovely chamber of unfulfilled dreams and face-palm reality. Prize yet to be determined.

We’ll be checking blog@georgetownvoice.com for submissions. Then we’ll hold a vote in a week for the best career center names, as per Vox tradition. Keep ‘em coming!

Photo: Georgetown University

Last Saturday, the name of Georgetown’s career center officially changed to the Charles M. Cawley Career Education Center. Who the franc is that, you ask? Well just you wait, dear readers, because you’re about to find out!

Cawley (COL ’62) is a longtime (50 years longtime) donor to the University who also funds and supports several scholarship programs, including the Baker Scholars Program. He co-founded MBNA, which provided the funds to create the career center in 1994 as well as Sellinger Lounge in the Leavey Center.

I know what you’re thinking, but MBNA is not the Monument Builders of North America.

MBNA Corporation is a bank holding company (acquired by Bank of America in 2006) that became the third largest independent issuer of credit cards as well as the number one issuer of affinity cards, which donate a small percentage of the money spent on a credit card to a charity organization. MBNA was also the largest political donor to the George W. Bush 2000 campaign, after Enron.

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The Georgetown University Career Center has compiled and released the data from surveys it took of graduating students of the Class of 2009. The report presents the class as a whole and then breaks it down by school. So, without further ado:

Georgetown University Class of 2009

The most immediate things apparent in the results, comprised of the responses of 60 percent of last year’s senior class, or 1024 of the 1716 graduates, won’t shock you: employment rates immediately after graduation were down—but not dismal—and so were starting salaries.

Fifty-seven percent of the Class of 2009′s respondents reported being employed post-graduation. By contrast, 62 percent of the Classes of 2006, 2007, and 2008 reported being employed post-graduation. Twelve percent of Class of 2009 respondents listed searching for employment as their primary activity after graduation, the highest percent recorded since 2004.

The average starting salary reported employed Class of 2009 graduates was $46,989, about six percent lower than the average starting salary reported by the Class of 2008.

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As we mentioned last time we checked in with the GUSA President Calen Angert (MSB ’11), GUSA has been busy this summer setting up a subsidized LSAT practice course. According to Angert’s Chief of Staff Tim Swenson (COL ’10), the program is ready to start accepting applications, and a schoolwide email about it should be going out today. So what’s the deal exactly?

According to Swenson, the program, which is being co-sponsored by the Career Center, will offer students (specifically Juniors and Seniors, although underclassmen can apply) a chance to take an LSAT prep class on the cheap.

For $50, you’ll get eight two-hour sessions with Tom Xosa, a professional LSAT tutor. The class will be starting in mid-September and is designed for students planning to take the LSAT in December.

Applications are online now at GUSA’s website; the deadline to fill yours out is August 21st.

Update 1:45 p.m. According to Swenson, this year’s class will have between 25 to 30 students (GUSA and Xosa wanted to keep it relatively small so that students will be able to get personal attention).  Depending on how successful this program is, GUSA might expand it in the future and might offer subsidized training courses for other tests like the MCAT, GMAT and GRE.

Photo from Flickr user S.C. Asher, used under a Creative Commons license.

If this fail proof tactic didn’t work, there’s always litigation!

If you’re one of the many jobless recent grads out there, Monroe College alumna Trina Thompson may have found the perfect solution for you: sue your college’s career center for failing to find you gainful employment!

Thompson, who graduated from the New York school in April with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, recently filed a lawsuit against her alma mater alleging that their Office of Career Advancement did not help her find a job. She’s suing them for $72,000—the cost of tuition plus $2,000 for the emotional stress of her job search.

Thompson—who had a 2.7 grade point average—also alleges that the College’s Office of Career Advancement treats students with higher GPAs preferentially.

According to CNN, Monroe College had this to say about the lawsuit:

While it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search.