For Immediate Release September 7, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

"Parachute Express" Stopping at IUPUI on National Tour to Help Students Make Safe Jump from College Life to Real World

INDIANAPOLIS - A career center on wheels will pull into IUPUI next week as part of a national tour designed to help prepare college students to transition successfully from campus life to the working world.

The Parachute Express, a 40-foot RV operated by the Parachute College Program, will open for business at IUPUI from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 14 on the University College Courtyard.

Parachute College Program staff, most recent college graduates, will provide various services to IUPUI students, including personal finance workshops, business card printing, and mock job interviews. The Parachute program will also broadcast announcements about the IUPUI Career Center and its ongoing services. Parachute activities, which also include music, games and prizes, will be free of charge to all IUPUI students.

Named after the best-selling, job-hunting volume "What Color is Your Parachute," The Parachute program is partnering with the IUPUI Career Center to provide resources to students, and to promote campus career services.

"They are going to market our Career Center services in a very unique way," said Sarah Reed, the center's assistant director of employer relations and employment services. "Parachute is experienced in attracting crowds of students. This is a way to get the word out about career services available at IUPUI and issues the student should be considering at this time in their academic careers."

Parachute serves about 133 universities nationwide. IUPUI is one of only two Indiana stops during this first-ever national tour during which the California-based program will visit 50 schools during the fall 2005-spring 2006. The Parachute Express will visit Goshen College in Goshen, Ind., on Sept. 15.

"(Nationwide) approximately 25 percent of students who graduate college each year are either unemployed or underemployed," says Douglas Frazier, Parachute CEO. "We hope to reduce that number by providing a program that engages students, reduces their anxiety about the future, and builds their confidence so they can make a successful transition into business life."

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