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OPERATIONAL PRIORITY #1
Cultivate a Coordinated Campus Network
Career Influencers Network
Launched Fall 2018
We recognize and appreciate that many individuals across the SCU community engage in frequent discernment and career conversations with students in their roles as faculty, academic advisors, program directors, supervisors, and mentors. Students develop many circles of trust as they engage on campus, and we see an opportunity to coordinate and support a strategic network of these important career influencers.
- Launch focus groups to collect faculty and staff feedback to inform initiative development (Summer 2018)
- Create a year 1 implementation roadmap (Summer 2018)
- Identify and invite inaugural members of the Career Influencers Network (Fall 2018)
We see an opportunity to coordinate and support a strategic network of these important career influencers.
New Student Career Support System
Launched Fall 2018
To support students where they are and through student networks they trust, we will implement a Peer Career Advisor and a Graduate Student Career Coaching program which will enhance the number and scope of students served by the Career Center.
- Identify and hire new student Peer Career Advisors (14) and expand the number of Graduate Student Career Coaches (2) for the 2018-2019 academic year (Spring 2018)
- Develop and implement a robust on-boarding and formation program (Summer/Fall 2018)
- Implement a 3-tiered student career support system via career counseling appointments, office hours, career advising pop-ups, leverages appropriate expertise of student staff and professional staff members (Fall 2018)
Discover! Vocation Discernment Retreat
Launch Spring 2019
With the support of faculty, staff and alumni mentors, and in partnership with Campus Ministry, develop and launch an inaugural overnight vocation discernment retreat where first and second year students will engage in exploration and reflection around the 3 questions of vocation – what do I love to do? What am I good at? What does the world need?
- Develop objectives for an inaugural retreat to include a planning timeline (Summer 2018)
- Identify and invite faculty, staff and alumni influencers to share their vocational journey and provide mentorship to students as part of the retreat experience (Fall 2018)
- Invite students to apply and host an inaugural Discover You! Retreat (Spring 2019)
What do I love?
What am I good at?
What does the world need?
Career Guides By Class Year
Launched Fall 2018
Develop action-oriented career exploration and preparation guides by each class year featuring key resources, experiences, tools to support students throughout their SCU education.
- The Career Guides by Class Year provide career milestones and resources for students for each class year build career guide content into digital, web and print assets and incorporate into core career support services (Summer/Fall 2018)
OPERATIONAL PRIORITY #2
Engagement with Silicon Valley
Revamp Existing Employer Connections Services & Programs
Started Fall 2018
Assess and revamp existing programs to ensure resources are aligned with changing college recruiting needs and trends. Existing programs include:
- On-Campus Interviewing Programs
- Information Sessions
- Career Fairs
- Website
- Communication & Branding
Introduce Targeted Recruiting Forums
Started Fall 2018
Begin to expand the variety of campus recruiting programs by industry, theme and topic. Programs launching Fall 2018 - Spring 2019 include:
- Diversity Expo
- STEM Career Fair
- Year of Service Night
- Tech and Innovation Fair
- Social Impact Fair
Host New Employer-Student Connection Experiences
Started Fall 2017 - Ongoing
Students and employers both seeking immediate, meaningful and customized ways to connect in addition to traditional recruiting programs like fairs and on-campus interviewing.
Examples of new university recruiting models:
- Summits: Educational or leadership development conferences at the employer site or at SCU
- Meetups: Employer-student gatherings that are less formal and more casual in nature and often focus on specific topics or themes (diversity, mentoring, industry deep-dives etc.)
- “Google University”: A large space is reserved on campus for an organization to provide single or multi-day mentoring, coaching, and experiential product/technology demos.
Silicon Valley Industry Treks
Launched Spring 2018
Industry treks bring students into the workplaces of local organizations in order to expose them to potential career paths and broaden their understanding of industries. Given SCU’s position in the heart of Silicon Valley, this initiative leverages our geographic location in addition to connecting students with recruiters and local alumni who are excited to share their insights and personal career stories with students.
This initiative leverages our geographic location in addition to connecting students with recruiters.
Silicon Valley DIY Treks
Started Spring 2019
Scale industry treks and create a campus-wide Bring A Bronco To Work movement through the creation of a tiered DIY (Student-Led) Trek Program. Tier 1 will include materials and resources to help students source employers/alumni and develop their own trek programs. Tier 2 will create Career Center Fellowships, which are trained and incentivized student trek leaders.
- Develop training materials, sourcing employers and students for pilot program
- Meet with campus colleagues in the Alumni Association and UMC to explore storytelling campaign opportunities
- Launch first training and DIY Treks
- Program launch, including recruiting trek hosts and implementing a new Bring a Bronco to Work program (Fall 2019)
New Micro-Internship Opportunities
Launched Spring 2018
Provide students access to the gig economy through real-world (paid) work-projects hosted by local and national organizations to help them explore career options, build experience and develop in-demand skills.
- SCU’s Career Center will launch this new micro-internship initiative through a partnership with Parker-Dewey, a mission-based education-technology platform
Provide students access to the gig economy through real-world (paid) work-projects.
Technology Enhancements
Launched Fall 2018
New Handshake features:
- Search and message: Select employers will have the ability to search and send messages to Santa Clara students through the Handshake platform.
- Q&A: Students will have the ability to pose questions receive answers from students and alums across the platform.
- Reviews: Students will be able to provide reviews of their job and internship experiences as well as access other students’ reviews.
OPERATIONAL PRIORITY #3
Storytelling & Communicating the Brand
Campus Communication, Engagement & Storytelling
Started Summer 2018
- Boldly share the Center’s new vision, mission, operational priorities and message and invite campus constituents to engage in feedback and conversation about future collaboration opportunities. (Ongoing)
- In partnership with campus colleagues, seek opportunities to develop and showcase student success campaigns and career pathway stories(TBD)
- Create class-specific portals on the public Career Center website, allowing students to view career education milestones and a timeline appropriate for achieving each one. (Launched Fall 2018)
Student Outcomes Campaign
Completed Winter 2018
Given that one important measurement of a university’s success is what its’ students are able to do after graduation and who they become, in the last 3 years many comparable institutions have made sizable reinvestments to revamp first destination and outcomes campaign infrastructure.
- Using the Handshake outcomes collection platform, Career Center staff launched a pilot first destination campaign for the class of 2017 (Spring 2017 - Winter 2018)
- Provided a final report to the Provost’s Office with considerations for SCU’s outcomes collection and storytelling practices and implications for new resources needed to align Santa Clara with current industry standards (Winter 2018)
- Participated in an initial meeting convened by the Provost’s Office with departments across campus to assess needs and discuss opportunities for SCU’s outcomes process (Summer 2018)
Strengthen Measurement and Reporting of Industry and Outcomes Data
Timeline - TBD
In partnership with campus colleagues, seek opportunities to effectively respond to daily and ongoing demands for industry, learning and outcomes data. Most of these requests are time sensitive and require that information be parsed to satisfy the needs of a particular audience.
- Create a strategic planning and data analysis staff line in The Career Center to address this immediate demand (TBD)