In 1916 R. H. Fitzgerald, the campus YMCA general secretary, began helping needy students find jobs in order to be able to attend the university by establishing an employment bureau through which local businesses and individuals could employ students for intermittent or regular work. O. N. Smith, YMCA secretary in 1921, expanded these efforts into an elaborate self-help bureau. In 1931 Leonard Raulston succeeded Dan Winter as employment secretary of the YMCA.
In August 1933 the university announced a Bureau of Appointments, an employment organization to assist seniors in finding jobs after graduation. The bureau differed from the YMCA efforts, which had been aimed principally at providing work for enrolled students. The new bureau was under the general direction of Victor Davis, secretary of the Alumni Association, with Leonard Raulston in charge. It was located in the YMCA building. The office subsequently became the Placement Office, Career Planning and Placement, and is currently Career Services. It was located for many years in Aconda Court. It moved to Dunford Hall in August 1988 and to a section of the new student union in 2014.