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The Summer Youth Employment Program“I don’t know what I would have done without this program,” says Aracelis Cuevas, who works for the Office of Student Financial Planning and has the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) to thank for her introduction to Columbia. Ms. Cuevas was pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Hunter College when she learned of the program through a friend. She enrolled for the summer of 1992 and was placed in the Office of Academic Integrated Systems. “I was working in a supermarket,” she says of her employment problems before enrolling in SYEP. “It was very hard to schedule that part-time job and still go to school.” AIS was impressed with Ms. Cuevas, but they did not have a position available for her. Not wanting to see Columbia lose a valuable employee, her employers recommended her to the Office of Student Financial Planning. She started as a casual employee in that department, and has since graduated and switched to permanent status. Young people have difficulty finding the right job. Limited experience, inability to work full-time due to school, or lack of transportation are just a few factors that might explain the alarmingly high rate of unemployment among young people. And youths from low-income families, minorities in particular, seem to have the toughest time finding the right job. Statistics show they have the highest rates of unemployment and school dropout, the greatest difficulty entering the job market, and are most likely to be victims of employment discrimination. SYEP is one answer to this large social issue. Mandated and funded by an act of Congress, SYEP is administered through New York City’s Department of Employment. It is a seven-week program that provides part-time work experience, job counseling, and education to approximately 32,000 of the city. s disadvantaged youths. Columbia University has participated in the SYEP since 1987, when it took in 35 local youths to work in jobs throughout the facility. Working with Children’s Arts and Sciences Workshops, the Community Affairs Department has increased participation by almost 200 percent. Today, 100 neighborhood youths ranging from ages 14 to 21 can find clerical and laboratory jobs at the University. “I know a lot of people who started [at Columbia] in SYEP and stayed here,” says Ms. Cuevas. “It’s a great program--really spectacular.” To have your department sponsor a youth, contact: Eva Matos |