Strategy/Project Name:
Supporting student success through career preparation and leadership opportunities
Momentum Area:
Purpose
Strategy/Project Description:
This project is promoting career readiness by:
- Engaging first-year students in the Focus 2 Career Assessment and career option discussions with career advisors. Career and academic planning is a major focus of the student success content in Area I courses. Students are encouraged to take Focus 2 Career Assessment, register for a Handshake account, attend a career event or meet with a career advisor, and complete readings and quizzes about career exploration and planning.
- In the Area I student success module, students take quizzes for the following career competencies: communication, self-awareness and career management, and professionalism.
- Introducing first-year students to the NACE Career Competencies so that they are aware of the skills employers want to see them build before entering the professional workforce.
- Planning and implementing a centralized process for promoting and preparing students for internships (both credit and non-credit) to increase student participation.
Leadership promoting activities:
- Knights LEAD has students participating in sessions led by community, faculty, and staff leaders who discuss how career competencies have impacted their professional and leadership journey. Students will put these skills into practice through service projects and case studies.
- Emerging Leaders is a co-curricular leadership development program for upper-level students that helps them expand their campus, civic, and professional involvement within the context of the Social Change Model of Leadership Development.
Activity Status:
Evaluation/Assessment plan:
KPIs:
- Number of students completing Focus 2 Career Assessment and a quiz
- Number of students participating in Knights LEAD
- Number of students participating in Emerging Leaders
- Number of students engaging in career and leadership development programs and advising appointments
- Number of students participating in internships through Knights@Work
Baseline measure (for each KPI) from 2022-23:
- 771 students completed at least one career assessment in Focus 2 in fall’22
- 12 students participated in Knights Lead
- 20 students participated in Emerging Leaders
Goal or targets (for each KPI):
- Increase the number of students participating in Focus 2 by 20%
- Increase the number of students participating in Knights Lead by 10%
- Increase the number of students participating in Emerging Leaders by 10%
Current Status:
- Number of students completing at least one career assessment in Focus 2 in 2023-24 was 79
- 651 Stepping Blocks accounts were created and 338 Personality tests were taken as of September, 2024.
- During the 2023-24 academic year, 12 students completed the Knights LEAD activities, and 13 students completed the Emerging Leaders program for a total of 25 students.
- 25 students participated in a corporate tour, a Leadership & Service Day, the Student Leadership Conference and the Leadership Challenge.
- In 2023-24 academic year, 1727 students participated in events planned by the CCLD.
- To promote the opportunities provided by the CCLD, a statement highlighting the resources linked to career preparation and readiness has been introduced in all course syllabi.
Progress and Adjustments:
- Changes to the Student Leadership Programs in 2023-24 resulted in improved participation and retention. Changes implemented will continue in 2024-2025 so that completion/retention can be tracked rather than participation.
- Participation and interest in Emerging Leaders for Cochran has increased to 10 for 2024-25 so the program was not moved to Eastman. Currently, the plan is to design and implement a general first-year Leadership LLC in Fall 2025 in Macon and Cochran so that interest in leadership is increased and Emerging Leaders can be recruited for the following year.
- Completion of Focus 2 assessment within the Area I module has seen a decline in 2023-24. This challenge is being addressed in 2024-25.
- 413 career advising appointments were completed in the CCLD for AY2024.
- 62 students reported internships through Handshake Experiences in AY2024. The new Knights@Work program and more faculty getting students to report their academic internships could increase this number in the future. This number is one of the metrics in MGA’s the university’s new strategic plan.
- In fall 24, Mocktails and Majors event was hosted to share career planning resources in collaboration with Academic Advisors. 38 students attended.
Plan for the Year Ahead:
- Implement the new Knights@Work Internship Program which allows students to get recognition on their transcript for completing a non-credit internship.
- Work with Housing & Residence Life to design a general Leadership LLC for first-year students in order to scale participation in the student leadership programs.
- Implement and assess the new career resource liaison model that aligns each career development advising staff member with a specific School.
- Develop a resource list or repository for Core IMPACTS courses that can be used in D2L.
- Use Knights@Work to promote early career preparation by working on the application process to participate in internships. This promotion will include the Career Ready Toolkit, the Virtual Internship Series, Career Fairs, and the Knights@Work Internship Program.
Challenges and Support:
Challenges:
- The CCLD has 5 staff members aligned with 6 schools (1 staff member is a coordinator who has 2 schools). One challenge will be determining what is manageable for a staff member to take on in these new roles.
- CCLD will collaborate with academic departments to promote Handshake experiences for internship reporting and supporting students who are searching for internships - the new career resource liaison model that is being implemented in Fall 2024 has the most potential to make this happen.
- Discussions between the CCLD and the Area I administrator are necessary to assess how Area I student success content is impacting career development participation.
- CCLD is finalizing a contract with Big Interview to scale interview and resume development across the student population. Including this platform with others in a D2L module that can be used in any course, particularly Core IMPACTS, could increase participation.
Support Needed:
Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to career services.
Contact email:
Primary Contact:
Mary Roberts
Heather McIntosh
