OCS to Offer J-Term Activities

The Office of Career Services plans to remain open and offer off-campus trips during the Optional Winter Activities Week this January, adding to the list of College-sponsored activities available during that time.

During Optional Winter Activities Week—the last week of January Term—OCS will offer workshops on topics such as grant applications and summer internships, as well as drop-in hours.

“We’re planning a full week of programming,” said Robin Mount, director of the Office of Career, Research, and International Opportunities—an umbrella organization that includes OCS.

OCS will also sponsor three different trips during Optional Winter Activities Week—two to New York City and one to Washington, D.C.—to give students an opportunity to learn more about potential employers.

Though the details of the trips are still being finalized, each trip will help students explore different careers within a specific industry, according to Anthony J. Arcieri, an assistant director at OCS. Students may visit government agencies in Washington, D.C. or fashion industry giants in New York, Arcieri said.

“Fashion is big on our campus,” Mount said.

Each trip will accept up to 25 students, who will pay a program fee of approximately $20, according to Mount.

Mount said OCS would like to sponsor similar trips abroad in the future.

After last year’s inaugural J-Term, Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds solicited feedback from administrative offices across the College, which resulted in the College’s decision to let students stay on campus the last week of January Term.

“We were a big part of reporting back to the dean and other administrators,” Mount said of OCS.

“We just said students need a little more time on campus before classes started to prepare for deadlines that were coming up,” she added later.

Mount said Optional Winter Activities Week will allow students to take advantage of resources at OCS before spring semester.

“It’s really hard [for students] once classes start to put all that energy into it,” Mount said.

Lucy M. Caplan ’12, who has only visited OCS once during her time at Harvard, said she thought it was “a smart idea” for OCS to be open during Optional Winter Activities Week.

“I think I’d be more inclined to go during a time when I didn’t have more academic commitments,” Caplan said.

—Staff writer Melody Y. Hu can be reached at melodyhu@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.