experiential learning

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Career Readiness and Student Success 3.0

February 19, 2019 by 0 Comments

By Lynn Chisholm, MS, CPM, Director, USF Office of Internships and Career Readiness

Student Success 3.0 takes collaboration and planning!

As usual, I’m thinking about career readiness. The importance of career readiness has taken on increasing value on our USF campuses (Tampa, St. Pete, and Sarasota/Manatee), and from conversations I’m having with colleagues around the Tampa Bay community, the state, and country, we are not alone. We, like nearly all campuses now, track our grads as they enter the job market, and just like worried parents watching their own children cross the stage toward the “real world” door, we hold our breath until we see that they “made it!” All the while wrestling with the questions “are they ready?”, “will they continue to be successful beyond the first job?” and “what else should we be doing before they leave us?”

This time my thinking was stimulated by Troy Markowitz’s (VP – Academic Partnerships at Portfolium) Forbes article of August 8, 2018, The Barriers To Success And Upward Mobility For First Generation Students And How To Fix The Problem. Markowitz observes that we’re entering a new version of what student success means, and he cites the evolving mission statements of campuses around the country as evidence. Student Success 3.0, he observes, represents an important paradigm shift:

Three components comprise the third iteration of Student Success: 1) Curricular and Co-Curricular Learning, 2) Assessment, and 3) Career Readiness. …let’s agree that successful outcomes should include strengthening higher education’s value for students and positioning graduates for a lifetime of opportunities.

What jumped out to me was the shift towards experiential learning and linking it with career readiness as the bookends to Student Success 3.0 (that’s us folks!) and the crucial role that “assessment” plays in driving the decisions any campus makes in support of “a lifetime” of career success.

On our campus, we have felt this shift. We’ve been morphing out of a traditional service delivery model (if you build it, they will come) and into Career Advocacy for this very reason. We’re connecting with students both before and after their years on our campuses in order to extend the runway and groom their path for success. And equipping them for success not just in that first post-grad opportunity, but well beyond that as we enable them to manage their career progress without us.

Those may not seem like revolutionary ideas, but how we are doing it represents a significant change in service delivery through closer alignment of what we do, when we do it, and who we’re offering it to. And with this iGeneration we’re also thinking through the “why” and providing them with just-in-time services through a blend of high-tech and high-touch that speaks their language and meets them where they are. Our Career Readiness Badging Program is one example of this, it is offered on all three of our campuses, to Alumni, and to our FUSE transfer students, and helps students prepare for skill transfer post-USF as well as develop practices in support of on-going professional development.

As I finish these musings, we – SoACE Experiential EeducKG members – are on the front lines of the Student Success 3.0 shift, and I look forward to the variety of ways that our members translate that for our students. Student Success 3.0, becomes that process of equipping our students with the keys (experiential learning) to drive their life-long career success (career readiness), using a longer runway and strategic nudges (applying assessment data) and will require collaboration in new and innovative ways as we respond to the continually changing needs of our students. A new definition of success for a new generation of students.

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Lynn Chisholm is the Director of the Office of Internships and Career Readiness within the Community Engagement and Career Readiness division of Student Affairs and Student Success, at the University of South Florida. Lynn’s office is responsible for developing and managing student career-focused experiential learning opportunities and programming to promote student success. Her team oversees the Engaged Student Employment program and On-Campus Internship Program, Co-op, and internships both domestic and global. Her team administers the Career Readiness Badging Program and supervises our crew of Career Readiness Peer Leaders who provide the student interface for the program.

Lynn has been in higher education for 15 years, having been faculty at FSU and UGA and staff at Polk State, and has worked in HR in workforce and organization development for 12 years.

Lynn earned a Certified Public Manager Masters Certificate through FSU, her Master’s degree at Boston University, and her Bachelor’s degree at UCF.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnchisholm
Twitter: @LynnChisholm3

Best Practices

Career Fair Management 101

February 13, 2019 by 0 Comments

by Colleen Gleeson, University of Houston, Conrad N Hilton College

Going over the day-of agenda during “print day”- the day that the team prints and assembles employer packets, signage and any student handouts

Looking for new ways to engage students in experiential learning? Feeling overwhelmed as a member of a small career services office? That’s exactly where I was almost three years ago when I accepted a promotion to director (of a 2-person office). Leaning on some faculty partners for help, I sought guidance in how to incorporate more student help in the weeks leading up to career fair. We had the interest- in fact we sometimes struggled to engage the increasing number of students interested in event management. But would it be more work for my (already stretched thin) team than relief? Could I trust students to provide the same level of customer service to employers and to manage all of the marketing and logistics with the same commitment? I always spoke highly of the professionalism and maturity of our hospitality students and now it was time to put my money where my mouth is.

Management team showing off the team t-shirt, designed by the marketing team

We approached one of our student organizations- the International Association of Exhibitions and Events- and with help from their faculty advisor put together a plan that incorporated four areas of responsibility. We had enough interest from this group to staff our Marketing Team, Employer Relations Team, Operations Team and Volunteer Team and put them to work. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of commitment of our initial 8-person team meeting once a week as a group and then individually within teams. The Employer Relations team relieved much of the daily toil of answering questions about the event and confirming name tag spelling and day-of needs. The Marketing Team came up with new ideas and kept us on track with social media posts. The Volunteer Team recruited and trained over 50 volunteers and the Operations Team helped us communicate with the hotel (our career fair venue) to make sure everything would go according to plan on the big day. The results the day of spoke for themselves – we had a record number of students attend (almost half of the entire population of our small college) and received excellent feedback from employers about how organized and smooth things went for them.

The career fair management team featured in the annual dean’s report

Given the level of engagement from students on a volunteer basis, we made our case to the administration and was able to get approval for a one credit course the following semester. We have since expanded to a three credit hour hybrid course and shored up some money from our operating budget to allow students to be even more creative with their marketing plans, ideas for additional hospitality for employers and incentives for volunteers. Allocating funds to this course has been invaluable in creating excitement for students to exercise their creative muscle while also holding them accountable and showing them how to work within a budget and timeline.

One of the biggest challenges we faced (particularly in the spring) was the timing of recruiting season and how rushed we were to get students involved. We addressed this by planning a “team retreat” the week before classes start. During the retreat, we spend time getting to know each other with ice breakers and games (including a scavenger hunt of the hotel where the career fair is held), but we also get the first day of class nuts and bolts out of the way- going over the syllabus, grading and expectations. The timing is still a challenge, but it’s amazing what one extra, pre-first day of class meeting will do to increase team bonding and morale. Each new team of students challenges us to engage their increasingly varied interests in ways that support our mission of creating experiential learning opportunities for students interested in convention and meeting planning. We hope to establish this practice as college tradition that showcases the hospitality skills and experience of our student body.

Copy of the Dean’s Report that features the career fair management course:
https://issuu.com/uhhiltoncollege/docs/deans_report_2018-1fb

One of the marketing team’s ideas came to life in the student lobby.

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Colleen Gleeson is the director of career development for the Conrad N Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. She has been with the Hilton College since 2013, starting as a career counselor and moving into her current role in 2016 where she oversees the career programming, career fair planning and internship program facilitation for hospitality students. In addition, Colleen teaches professional development courses at the Hilton College and an undergraduate college success course for the college of exploratory studies. Her past experience includes work with adults with disabilities and employment counseling as strategic goal for poverty alleviation.

MA, Counseling, St Edwards University, Austin, TX
BA, Political Science & Women’s Students, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO

Best Practices - Hot Topics

The On-Campus Intern: Real Work, Real Results

May 1, 2018 by 0 Comments

by Jenna Tucker, Clemson University

When I first started working with the UPIC Program at Clemson, I knew that experiential education was important; but now, I believe it should be a part of all students’ college experience in some way. Internships create career readiness, due not only to the technical expertise and area knowledge students encounter, but also because of the development of professional competencies. Though sites may range in projects and type of work, one thing remains the same: the importance of working well with others and learning how to interact professionally. These skills will be valuable to students long after the internships end, by first enabling them to feel confident while interviewing for industry jobs or graduate school, to years down the road, as they continue to develop as young professionals. UPIC provided over 900 experiences during the last school year, quite a change from our pilot semester in 2012 (in which we had roughly 20). Our rapid growth is due in part to the state of South Carolina, who generously provided us with recurring annual funding, as well as Clemson’s upper administration, who recognizes the significance of our work. The UPIC staff consists of dedicated professionals who truly believe in what we do. But the heart of the program remains the mentors and interns, who create the exceptional quality of our internships experiences. Our interns work alongside faculty and staff, applying theories learned in their classes to real-life work situations. For me, the most exciting part of working with an on-campus internship program is getting to see all of the amazing projects that they are involved in!

UPIC interns are engaged in every college (and most individual departments) across campus, participating in work that matters. They are adding to their resumes, but more importantly, developing relationships and gaining valuable skills that will enable their success, post-graduation and beyond. We have a group of interns who work with CCIT, Clemson’s in-house computing and information technology department; as well as at the Watt Family Innovation Center, a new facility on campus that hosts state-of-the-art technology in a collaborative, modern space. These opportunities enable interns to stay ahead of the curve in a world with constantly changing technology. There are interns in various research positions across campus, studying genetics, plant pathology, chemistry, etc. They participate in presentations and publications as undergrads, which often increases their chances for admission to medical or graduate school. For our interns in Cooperative Extension, work includes interacting with local farmers and land owners, collecting field data, and presenting workshops at schools and community centers. Many majors find it refreshing to have a hands-on internship experience outside of an office environment. We have student-athletes who work within various areas of Clemson’s athletic department, including recruiting, marketing and student development. They are intrigued to learn about what goes on behind the scenes and off the field. There are also interns working within Development, the Honors College, Study Abroad, Public Affairs, Human Resources, the Michelin Career Center, and Campus Life. These are just a few of the hundreds of internships sites that Clemson hosts, and each one provides interns with tools to excel. For those professionals in higher education thinking of starting a similar program, it may help to ask: Who are my existing campus partners? What are some departments that would benefit from student interns? In what ways can interns make a difference on campus? Even starting with a small number can create impact. UPIC truly prepares students to face the world of work with competence, and I feel blessed to be a part of such a meaningful program. GO TIGERS!!

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Jenna Tucker, M.Ed., began working in Clemson’s Center for Career and Professional Development in the fall of 2013 as a graduate assistant for the University Professional Internship and Co-op (UPIC) Program. She returned to graduate school at Clemson after working for three years at a Fortune 500 company in Greenville, SC. After completing her Master’s degree in Counselor Education in the spring of 2014, she took on a full-time role as an Internship Counselor for UPIC, before moving into the role of Assistant Director of the program in 2015. Jenna’s main area of focus is career and professional development, specifically by helping students gain valuable skills and real-world work experience through intentional and field-based internships.