About CIS-Connection
- What is CIS-Connection?
- What is the purpose of CIS-Connection?
- What is a cooperating organization?
- How does CIS-Connection benefit participating businesses?
- What types of information do participating businesses provide?
- How is the information used in CIS?
- Is the information secure? How is it handled after it is submitted?
- What uses are prohibited?
What is CIS-Connection?
CIS-Connection is a tool to connect schools to businesses and businesses to schools:
- Businesses and organizations register, providing a description of the business and employment opportunities. This information is seen by students using the Oregon Career Information Systems website for career and educational planning.
- Employees of registered businesses sign up as volunteers. This information is used by schools to connect teachers and students to volunteers for educational and career-related learning activities.
CIS-Connection was originally developed by Wisconsin Careers, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Oregon Career Information System (CIS) modified CIS-Connection for use by Oregon communities. Oregon CIS is an outreach center of the College of Education at the University of Oregon. The CIS website is Oregon's career information delivery system, licensed by schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and agencies to support career planning of students, clients, employees, or customers. Oregon CIS has been delivering quality information about career and educational opportunities to Oregonians for over 40 years. For more information about Oregon CIS, see our organizational website at: http://oregoncis.uoregon.edu/
What is the purpose of CIS-Connection?
1. Connect students to business information and employment opportunities
CIS-Connection makes information about local businesses and organizations available to thousands of youth, adults, and potential employees engaged in career planning through the CIS website. The CIS website includes comprehensive information on occupations and training institutions in Oregon and nationwide. It also offers extensive assistance with career development and planning, financial planning, and job seeking. Precise information on businesses provides students and adults with a real-life perspective on what will be expected of them in the workplace.
2. Connect business people willing to do volunteer work with educators needing volunteers
CIS-Connection also provides an easy mechanism to link business people who are willing to volunteer with teachers and school personnel who are seeking volunteers. The tool helps organize and track business-related school-to-career activities in a local area. The types of volunteer activities included in CIS-Connection may include these activities:
- Advisory Committee Members
- Business Site Visits/Industry Tours
- Career Days/Fairs/Expos
- Cooperative Education Worksites
- Donations of Equipment
- Educator Externships
- Enterprise Advisors
- Field-based Investigation Advisors
- Guest Speakers
- Informational Interviews
- Internships Paid and Unpaid
- Job Shadows
- Job Shadows for Teachers
- Mentors
- Mock Interviews
- Readers
- School Volunteers
- Senior Project Advisors
- Service Learning/Volunteer Opportunities
- Staff Development Training
- Summer Jobs Paid and Unpaid
- Tutors
What is a cooperating organization?
CIS-Connection is implemented in Oregon regionally. The leadership in connecting the business community to schools is provided by the cooperating organization. The cooperating organization may be a business, workforce, or school group that licenses the CIS-Connection product and manages the work to secure and maintain business and volunteer registrations in the region.
Currently in Oregon there are three active regions:
| Name of Cooperating Organization | Counties | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| BizConnect - Portland Metro | Multnomah and Washington | Worksystems, Inc. (WSI) |
| Job Growers Incorporated CIS-Connection | Marion, Polk, and Yamhill | Job Growers Incorporated |
| Linn-Benton CIS-Connection | Benton and Linn | Corvallis School District, Greater Albany Public Schools, and Lebanon Community Schools |
Interested businesses and schools in regions that do not currently use CIS-Connection should contact Oregon CIS for more information.
How does CIS-Connection benefit participating businesses?
Benefits of participation include:
- Increasing knowledge about and visibility of the business or organization.
- Identifying the business or organization as a future employment option.
- Educating young people about soft skill expectations.
- Providing career-related learning opportunities that help students develop meaningful and realistic career and educational plans.
- Facilitating business and organization participation in school activities and events.
- Being part of a systematic effort for offering support to schools and students.
- Being involved in educating future workers.
What types of information do participating businesses provide?
When registering, a business or organization provides two types of information - business information and volunteer information. The business information helps users of CIS understand what the business or organization does and the types of workers it employs. It includes a description, a list of occupations employed, special skills and qualities desired in employees, and links to company websites. It takes about 30 minutes to enter the required information through an online form.
The volunteer information is compiled from employees of the registered business or organization who would like to volunteer at local schools or with students in career-related learning activities. Volunteer connections can be centralized under a single contact for the business or individual employee can register independently.
All information can be edited and updated at any time. Cooperating organizations often help with initial data entry.
How is the information used in CIS?
Business information is available to thousands of young people in Oregon through the CIS website. The business information is linked to CIS information within the descriptions for the occupations hired in the business. It is displayed to the CIS users in the geographic region specified during the registration.
The volunteer information is made available to educators in that same geographic region through a Volunteer Exchange link on administrators tools for CIS. Educators log into the Volunteer Exchange to find, request, and follow-up with registered volunteers who meet their needs through an automated e-mail system.
Is the information secure? How is it handled after it is submitted?
When a business or organization registers, it establishes a secure username and password. If at any time the business wishes to delete or correct any of the information, it can use the username and password to access the data entry form and make corrections.
After a business submits information, staff from the cooperating organization previews it and contacts the business with suggestions, if any. Next, an analyst from Oregon CIS checks it for punctuation, spelling, and grammar. If the analyst has other concerns, the analyst conveys these concerns through the cooperating organization who resolves them with the business. Once the analyst has completed checking the submission, the business is contacted that its information is published on CIS. Periodically, the cooperating organization sends e-mails reminding businesses about its information on CIS-Connection and requesting that it be reviewed and updated if necessary.
What uses are prohibited?
The following uses of CIS-Connection are specifically prohibited.
- Use of the site for the sales of any product or service to users of CIS or CIS-Connection.
- Use of CIS-Connection for the purpose of making contact with minors for any purpose other than to support legitimate educational and career-related learning activities.
- Providing registration information to or entering data into CIS-Connection by any organization whose primary activities involve selling products illegal for minors.
Copyright 2015, University of Oregon for the Oregon Career Information System. All Rights Reserved.