Balancing Old and New Learning Methods

 

In some institutions, career development does not exist in a classroom setting beyond a 15-minute class presentation at the beginning of the semester, and only when specifically requested by a faculty member. Numerous sources support the need for it to be incorporated in a classroom setting and a many other institutions offer career development mentorship or advising programs. As we move towards shifting expectations in higher education as a whole, it only makes sense that career services would face the same. According to Cruzvergara, the expectations are shifting towards “customized career path[s] for each student, using technology to more closely match students with jobs and mentors that best fit their interests” (Cruzvergara in Young, 2016, pp. B4).

 

Campus leadership cannot be relied upon to prioritize career services, because they are not closely engaged enough to see the differences in the impacts we can make. The best way to gain their attention is to involve prospective students and their parents, who are equally as concerned about return on investment as institutions are. Then, professionals could find ways to incorporate career development from day one.  This is aligned with Selingo’s suggestions that “the ability to transfer knowledge between the classroom and the workplace and back again is what gets new college graduates hired” (Selingo, 2016, pp. B17). The advising syllabus I created illustrates the way that student affairs professionals can begin to incorporate career services into their other processes for a seamless integration that students can more easily digest.

​