Engaging students on and off campus for success
Joe Demarest and his role as director of community and civic engagement at Coe College is a match made in...upstate New York with a soccer ball nearby. Trading the soccer field for Coe’s nest, Joe is living his dream after joining Coe’s C3: Creativity, Careers, Community center four years ago as an internship specialist.
“It was a journey for me to realize what made me happy. I remembered the happiest I’d ever been was working as a coach and counselor at a soccer camp in New York. It opened my eyes that I get the most satisfaction when I help others reach their goals. I got more pride watching my players become successful than I did over my own successes,” he said.
Joe looked to higher education as the perfect opportunity to utilize more than 15 years of human resources experience to coach students. As part of the C3 team, he guides Kohawks through the internship application process from resume to cover letter writing and directs community and civic engagement programming.
“When students reach out and say ‘I got that internship I wanted’ or ‘I finally registered to vote,' that makes my day. I want students to achieve their dreams. I work with them to identify what needs to get done to make it a reality,” he said.
An important process for Joe is getting students out in the community. Joe collaborates with CoeVotes, a student-run and student-led organization focused on voter education and registration. Together, they encourage and facilitate student participation in local, state and presidential elections.
“I love that we have a group educating their peers. I think it’s important for students to hear from each other as opposed to just me. The students in CoeVotes make a huge difference in educating others on why voting matters and why it’s important,” he said.
Joe also oversees hands-on community work with agency service agreements between Coe and local nonprofit organizations. The main focus is off-campus federal work-study opportunities for students to work several hours a week at a local nonprofit, or they can participate in the Campus Compact AmeriCorps Program and complete 300 hours of service to earn an educational stipend.
“These AmeriCorps positions have more responsibilities than on-campus work-study. This is career development through a lens of civic engagement. Students gain skills that are important to have in the workforce like how to interact in an office environment, and it’s also a great way for them to experience life outside college,” he said.
Joe calls these opportunities resume builders. His experience in human resources reviewing thousands of resumes and applications from new college graduates highlights how important it is for students to show they’ve worked and engaged in the community. Students are encouraged to participate in research projects and attend conferences, showing they are both academically accomplished and involved outside of the classroom, which makes a difference with employers.
“I can edit a student resume and they’ll say, ‘Wow, that looks great,’ and I say, ‘You did these things. You accomplished these things. While I've helped with the formatting and presentation of your resume and how to best highlight the work you’ve done and skills you possess, the focus is really on you and your accomplishments,’” he said.
Through service and civic engagement, students become responsible citizens while they learn new skills. Joe takes great pride in helping students access these resources and most importantly advising how they can use this experience to develop a career path that leads to success and happiness.
“Use your time wisely. These four years go by quickly. Be open. You don’t have to do everything, but try new things. Take advantage of the opportunities and the people around you who want to help you be successful,” he said.
Students interested in meeting with Joe about community and civic engagement opportunities can make an appointment at coe.joinhandshake.com.