Career-Engaged Departments Program

Introduction

In the wake of the COVID pandemic, many students are now opting out of college. Enrollments are declining (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2022), and the perceived value of a college degree is at an all-time low--especially for Gen Z (ECMC Group, 2022; Fischer, 2022c), the next college-going population in the U.S. Moreover, low-income, minoritized, and first-generation students who do graduate have a tougher time finding a job out of college and earn less than privileged peers (Fischer, 2022b; Manzoni & Streib, 2019).

However, the habits of mind that a college education affords are relevant to professional formation (Fischer, 2022a). Academic departments have a vested interest and opportunity in representing their disciplines to new students-- many of whom say they want to see career pathways articulated for them in college coursework (ECMC Group, 2022).

Is your department interested in becoming Career-Engaged? The Career-Engaged Departments Program is a two-semester long learning community that supports departments to help their students navigate a post-pandemic workforce. Department teams consisting of five to ten faculty members will work together to build “career-engaged” content into selected courses in the major.

All Department faculty are encouraged to apply as a team: Full, Associate, and Assistant Porfessors and especially lecturers

What is Career Engagement?

In the past decade, many stakeholders, including campuses and employers, have tried codifying career-relevant outcomes (American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2022; National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2021). These sets of knowledge, skills, and dispositions manifest themselves differently in how they apply to student learning. Broadly speaking, career relevant learning cuts across any single discipline and can be developed through intentional curricular experiences, regardless of the content being taught. These competencies anticipate the changing world of work. Moreover, many of these are already being featured in the classroom—but there may be a lack of awareness by students as to how these skills, as they are currently taught, relate to community and workplace settings.

In the wake of the pandemic, the national discussion on professional learning has intensified. The Cal State LA Career-Engaged Departments program uses the NACE 2021 competencies as a springboard for career learning at Cal State LA. The 2021 NACE competencies include:

• Career and Self-Development
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Equity and Inclusion
• Leadership
• Professionalism
• Teamwork
• Technology

Faculty participating in the series will learn to integrate NACE competencies into their courses in ways that honor the spirit of the discipline while making the connection between college and work explicit.

Contact

The Career-Engaged Departments program runs September through May of each year. Look for the call via CETL email. For more information about the Career-Engaged Departments Program, please contact CETL at [email protected]