Career-Engaged Departments Program

This is a department initiative and the department chair’s input is important. Although the chair is not required to be part of the faculty team, the chair is encouraged to facilitate conversations at the department level about career engagement in curriculum. The chair is encouraged to forward program information to faculty members, including lecturers, and to help assemble the team. Chairs and/or dept members are encouraged to identify their team before submitting the application. Any faculty member from the department may submit the online application, provided all team members are named. Faculty who submit single applications will be referred back to the Chair for clarification.

The team may consist of a mix of Full, Associate, and Assistant Professors, as well as lecturers involved in teaching all levels of the undergraduate curriculum. A minimum of five (5) and up to 10 faculty from a department may participate—including those who teach multi-section GE courses.

Small departments are absolutely encouraged to apply to the program. We will consider a proportional number of faculty relative to department size.

One goal of the Engaged Department course is to work on the courses that will reach the greatest numbers of students—commonly taught, lower division courses as well as those required of the major. Faculty must nominate a minimum of three courses, including one lower-division General Education (GE) course and at least one required course in the major.  Although the work in the program is focused on specific courses, the broader goal of the initiative is to facilitate conversations that may result in more broader changes that can help students understand how their coursework prepares them for their future.

Yes! Members of the team are encouraged to teach and revise different courses. The department team will work together to create three career-engaged deliverables for the nominated course(s), and these deliverables can serve as templates for faculty to incorporate into other courses that they teach. 

Participation in the Career-Engaged Departments Program requires a department team of a minimum of five (maximum of ten) faculty members. If individual faculty members apply to the program, then the program team will follow-up with the Department Chair. 

(Forward thinking) instructors who participated in the 2022 spring pilot have two options: they may join the department team and complete the series OR they may earn a certificate on their own. Only faculty who participate with a department team are eligible to earn the team payment.

Faculty who completed Workshops 1 and 2 piloted during AY 2021-2022 do not need to take the workshops again. However, we highly encourage faculty to attend the workshops again so that they receive updated workshop content and so that the material is fresh in their minds as they collaborate with their department team. 

The Department team earns the stipend. Each member of the Department team who completes all program requirements will receive $750 for their work at the end of the program.

To support faculty in completing this program, Dr. Marla Parker and Dr. Tanya Sanabria hold weekly office hours. Dr. Parker holds office hours Thursdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, and Dr. Sanabria holds office hours Wednesdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the CETL Virtual Support Room. You can also schedule an appointment with them by emailing us at [email protected]  Faculty who are not part of the program can also utilize office hours to get feedback or ideas on career readiness classroom assignments, pedagogy, or tools (e.g., curriculum map, syllabus).

The Career-Engaged Departments Program requires attendance at five workshops and completion of their deliverable assignments post-workshop. The workshops are each offered three times, at a variety of dates, during the program's duration. Because workshops feature active learning, faculty must attend workshops when they are offered, are not able to make up missed workshops, and must complete all workshops in order to submit deliverables. Department teams are highly encouraged to schedule their workshops upon acceptance into the program so that all team members know when they are able to attend the workshop offerings. Current workshop times are found in the Qualtrics application survey.

Department teams should collectively decide on membership (up to ten faculty) and include those faculty who regularly teach lower-division GE and required courses in the major. Teams should decide ahead of time the courses they will select. At least one lower division GE and two required courses in the major must be selected. Each participating team member then attends five (5) CETL online workshops; workshops 1 and 2 in Fall, and workshops 3, 4/5 (pick one elective), and 6 in Spring.  Each workshop has a short deliverable associated that faculty will use to build their classroom materials.

Faculty who each complete five workshops and their deliverables must submit three deliverables for the course they selected to receive payment: 1) A Canvas course rationale that tells students how the course will help them develop professionally, and why the course matters for future work; 2) a short, classroom routine students will practice regularly that will develop a habit of mind relevant to course outcomes; and, 3) a transparent course assignment that helps students build their job crafting skills.