This thought-piece reaffirms and updates the 10 "Imperatives for the 90s" articulated in a 1993 issue of The Jossey-Bass New Directions for Student Services Series titled The Changing Role of Career Services (J. R. Rayman, 1993). In that volume (No. 62), 10 imperatives for the 90s specific to career services in colleges and universities were identified. Some of the issues that seemed critical then remain critical today. Others have been partially resolved and still others have taken on even more importance and urgency. This article reaffirms those 10 imperatives, provides additional support for their legitimacy, and offers speculations about the future.
In early 1992, M. Lee Upcraft and Margaret J. Barr (associate editor and editor-in-chief, respectively, of the respected Jossey-Bass series titled New Directions for Student Services) approached me about editing an issue on college and university career services. I was delighted with the opportunity because it had been some time since an issue had been devoted to career services. As I completed my editing chores on that volume (no. 62), which was titled The Changing Role of Career Services (Rayman, 1993), I felt confident that the six authors and I had accomplished our goal. We had brought to the fore many of the critical issues confronting the profession, we had anticipated future trends, and we had provided concrete suggestions to career services practitioners as they confronted a challenging decade. I still feel good about that volume although my hindsight, like that of everyone else, is much closer to 20/20 than was my foresight. In the pages that follow, I restate the 10 imperatives exactly as they appeared in the original chapter and provide my hindsight-aided updates. In most cases, the imperatives still hold with only modest revision. With hindsight, however, it is fair to say