4 Simple Reasons to Register for the SoACE Technology Boot Camp

by Danielle Golinski, Elon University & SoACE Technology Boot Camp Chair

The third annual SoACE Technology Boot Camp is quickly approaching! On Wednesday July 24 and Thursday July 25, SoACE members will connect virtually to learn how colleagues are exploring marketing techniques and utilizing technology trends in their respective spaces. We have so much to learn from each other! So, put on your comfiest of clothes, grab a cup of joe, your techiest way to take notes, and learn something new from your colleagues!

Now, why should you register for sessions of interest? Read on:

  1. It’s free! Yes, really! SoACE provides so many fantastic, fun and free opportunities to continue the learning for everyone at every stage in their professional development. This is just another great option to spice up your month.
  2. It’s convenient! Attend every 1-hour session (8 total) to fill up your afternoons or pick and choose a topic that catches your attention. And, if the dates don’t work for you, the sessions will be recorded so you can watch them on your own time. At the airport, on the beach, or at home the opportunities to watch are literally endless. Yay!
  3. Learn something new! If you have “Learner” in your Top 5 Strengths like I do, then you know how I feel about learning something new. I’m a total geek when it comes to the process of learning something new. I get excited and I get energized. Don’t you? Even if you don’t have Learner in your Top 5 you are still encouraged to stretch outside of your initial learning bubble and consider the “what if” option. If you can’t benefit directly from the content, maybe on of your colleagues at your institution or across your state would benefit. Here’s your line: “Hey Sam! I just learned some really unique program ideas at a virtual technology boot camp offered through SoACE. It was so helpful! I know that you’ve got a lot going on this summer, so let me treat to you a cup of coffee next week so that I can share with you everything I learned as I think the project that you’re working on with Joseph would greatly benefit from this new information.” You’re welcome!
  4. Support your fellow colleagues! Show your colleagues (whether you’ve met them or not) some virtual love. Let’s show up in the masses, and interact with them. Send them questions through the platform and follow up with them after to continue the conversation offline. The community of SoACE is strong and mighty, let’s continue this incredible trend! No pressure!

I’ve thought of at least 4. If you could add one more, what would it be? Technology Boot Camp registration coming soon! Keep an eye out in your email!

Questions about the boot camp? Contact Danielle Golinski (dgolinski@elon.edu). Can’t wait to “see” you there!

Introducing Your New Assessment and Data Analytics (ADA) KG Chairs!

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Howdy from Aggieland!

Abdullah and I wanted to introduce ourselves to the greater SoACE community and give you a little taste of what we hope to do this year.

As your new chairs for the ADA KG we are hoping to provide you insight about how to effectively capture data in order to improve career readiness for students.

We wanted to hear from you on any ideas around Assessment and Data Analytics that you would be interested in by filling out this one question form. We also invite you to come join the conversation on Slack about any helpful tips and tricks you’ve learned about data!

We’re also planning a three-part webinar series this summer about the essentials of assessment and data and how to effectively use it to improve programming. Stay tuned for more information!

Now, a little bit about us!

Abdullah Abdul Kader received his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from India. After a brief career in the engineering industry he joined the Career Center in January 2017 in a newly created position and serves Master’s students in the College of Engineering.

Cami Hernandez Merhar is the Assistant Director of Mentoring here at Texas A&M where she is amassing a holistic view of mentoring culture at the university. The majority of her role involves strategically advising mentoring programs across campus on best practices, technology, and logistics. Prior to coming to Texas A&M, Cami lived in Seattle where she worked for various technology companies.

We’re excited to work with all of you to learn and implement assessment best practices!

Cheers,

Abdullah & Cami

Introducing Technology Spotlight!

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Technology vendors. Just hearing that phrase can invoke concern, stress, anxiety, or even fear. Yet we know that many of them provide our offices with a wide variety of solutions and services which we can use to better serve our students and meet their career needs.

But how can we learn about all of these different tools without triggering a seemingly endless stream of phone calls and emails?  And how do we acknowledge the important contributions that vendors are making to our profession and make them feel welcome in our Association?

At the 2018 Annual Conference in Atlanta, the Technology Knowledge Group (Tech KG) hosted several sessions with our membership to better understand their needs when it comes to evaluating, demo-ing, and purchasing new software and services. One of the messages we heard loud and clear was the need for a way for our members to be able to hear from and interact with vendors, without having to get onto the sales track.

The leadership of the Tech KG considered these questions and feedback at our December and January leadership planning meetings and we are pleased to announce a new, year-long webinar series: TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT.

Each 75-minute Technology Spotlight will focus on a specific type of technology, problem, or service area. The first 30 minutes of the session will be a moderated panel-style conversation where we invite the participating vendors to answer some of your most pressing questions related to the Spotlight’s topic. We will then provide another 30 minutes for up to three different vendors to do a high-level demo of their products. Finally, the last 15 minutes of each Spotlight will allow participants to ask questions about the products to the vendors.

Each Technology Spotlight will be recorded and archived to the SoACE MemberClicks website, so that you can view them anytime.

We are excited to share that for the Spring, we have the following Technology Spotlights planned:

  • March 19, 2019 at 2 p.m. (ET) / 1 p.m. (CT), we will be looking at interview technologies.
  • May 21, 2019 at 2 p.m. (ET) / 1 p.m. (CT), we will be looking at resume technologies.

This fall, we are exploring Technology Spotlights on online and virtual fair technologies, career development and learning technologies, and a Spotlight on hot technologies leading into the Tech KG Pre-Conference Session!

To help make the moderated panel a positive experience for our members and our participating vendors, we invite all members to submit their questions in advance, online at http://TechSpotlight.usfcs.info

If members have specific vendors, technologies, or services you would like to see covered in an upcoming Technology Spotlight, please feel free to reach out to either Peter Thorsett (pethorsett@usf.edu) or Ashley Graham Phipps (phippsac@wfu.edu).

If you’re a vendor and would to be considered for an upcoming Spotlight, please contact either Peter or Ashley.

We invite all SoACE members to join us for this exciting new program!

Watch your email and SoACE social media channels for the registration information for our first Spotlight on March 19th.

Ashley Graham Phipps
Emerging Technologies Coordinator, SoACE Tech KG
Assistant Director, Employer Relations
Wake Forest University

Peter Thorsett
Past Chair, SoACE Tech KG
Director, Strategic Initiatives, Communications, & Research
Division of Community Engagement & Career Readiness
University of South Florida