Vivian Lutian used to be an adult student. Now she’s offering counseling services to adult students as the first-ever career counselor devoted exclusively to the CCE population.
Lutian is available to help CCE students find their career path through individual counseling, career-interest testing, and workshops such as “How to Conduct a Successful Job Search.” Books about career choices and graduate schools are also available.
Both Lutian and the staff agree that some of the most important offerings of the Career Center are the two career fairs held each year. The first one is Nov. 18 and the staff encourages seniors to get resumes into the center so interviews can be set up ahead of time.
Bill Stevens, Dean of Continuing Education, said that a career counselor devoted to CCE students is needed because traditional students have different challenges than adult students. “CCE students are almost exclusively coming back to college and in most cases are making a sacrifice to come back to college and working [it] into their existing life.” The difference in lifestyles reflects a need for the two kinds of counseling now available.
Irene Harrington, center director, said, “The Career and Community Center is excited to welcome a new career counselor dedicated to the CCE population. We encourage all CCE students to touch base with us, especially to find out what resources are available for our CCE population.”
Lutian remembers juggling motherhood and academics at the same time. “I know firsthand how difficult it is to do this and yet I also know how meaningful it was to me to accomplish it.”
She has a long history with Guilford, beginning in 1982 teaching ESL and Adult Transitions.
In 1994, with three other women, Lutian created the Women’s Resource Center, a non-profit organization to help women improve their lives. The building burned down six months after the center began, leading Lutian and the other women involved to rebuild the center. Lutian then returned to Guilford.
In addition to serving as the CCE Career Counselor, Lutian continues to teach Adult Transitions.
The Career and Counseling Center is located on the lower lever of Founders hall and is open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Making her services even more accessible, Lutian will also be in Hendricks hall Monday evenings, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.