National Association of Colleges and Employers
We hope your summer has been going well and that you are ready for the new academic year! We’ve had a busy summer at NACE planning for the year ahead and working to ensure we bring our members what they need, want, and value.
As part of that, we would like to share with you important outcomes from our recent Board meeting that will move the association and the membership forward.
Our bylaws were last revised in 2017, and a lot has changed since then. Over the past year, the NACE Board has been reflecting on and deliberating about needed changes, including benchmarking and consulting with attorneys. The updated bylaws were then discussed and unanimously approved at the Board’s annual July meeting.
NACE is governed by its bylaws, which lay out how the association operates and provide structure to ensure accountability, effectiveness, and transparency for the benefit of the membership. Together with our strategic plan, the bylaws serve as our map to building a successful professional community.
The Board believes that the updated bylaws now reflect the considerable growth NACE has experienced and position the association for continued growth.
A significant revision to the bylaws is in the designation of leadership titles, including those of our Board officers and our chief staff officer. Titles/roles will now be as follows:
Previous
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Executive Director
Current
Chair
Vice Chair
Past Chair & Secretary
Vice Chair & Treasurer
President & Chief Executive Officer
Why the change? We have aligned leadership’s titles to accurately reflect responsibilities and provide our membership and the public at large with greater transparency about our governance and operations. This change also reflects how we have evolved as an organization.
The Board sets the strategic direction for our association and these titles are in sync with those responsibilities. In addition, the CEO and President titles reflect someone charged with heading up daily operations and designated as a chief spokesperson for the organization.
The Board approved other revisions to keep pace with legal requirements; eliminate old standards; and clarify operations, governance, and fiduciary responsibilities. For example, the revisions:
The Board has re-committed itself to regularly reviewing the bylaws going forward. We encourage you to review the bylaws to gain insight into how NACE operates for the benefit of its members. We hope you will agree that these changes are a positive reflection on our association and our professions and position us for a bright future ahead.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE President & Chief Executive Officer
Stephanie Pallante
2023-24 Chair, NACE Board of Directors
Brian Guerrero
2023-24 Past Chair, NACE Board of Directors
Charles Jennings
Rachel Larson
Jim Lowe
Bryan Quick
Alessandra Rober Christensen
Kelli K. Smith
Bless Vaidian
Nicole Wagner
Good morning:
On behalf of your professional community, we’d like to share some highlights with you from the 2022-23 year.
At NACE23, we unveiled our new position statement on unpaid internships. Developed through our Advocacy Advisory Committee, the statement calls on public policymakers to work toward an end to unpaid internships. Equity is a driving factor behind our position, and we believe our data make a compelling case, but we encourage you to read the statement in full. It lays out the data and issues behind our decision and offers recommendations for how we all can move forward.
We understand that there is a lot of work to be done to realize our goal. Our statement is an important first step in a process that will require all of us to think differently about unpaid internships—including challenging the whys behind them—and to find practical steps to move away from unpaid to paid experiences. We hope you will make this journey with us.
NACE plans to advocate on this issue with policymakers and will continue to conduct research that looks at internships as they relate to careers and an inclusive and career-ready workforce.
We recently gathered in Orlando for NACE23—and it was amazing! The keynotes, concurrent sessions, and other professional development-focused offerings were terrific, inspiring, and insightful, but the depth and breadth of camaraderie and support we saw among our members was absolutely breathtaking. It was wonderful to see the NACE community in person and in action, living out our values and engaging in critical dialogue. Here’s to NACE24 in Phoenix when we can do it again!
Much of the work NACE undertook in 2022-23 was behind the scenes—thanks to the efforts of volunteers serving on committees and task forces, including the URR and Career Services Research Advisory Committee, Recruiting Standards Task Force, and Career Readiness Integration Task Force, as we worked to lay the foundation for new programming, resources, and offerings that you’ll see in the coming year. However, if you missed it, some other highlights of the past several months include these important research studies on the mental health and well-being of young professionals; mental health and job satisfaction of our members; Recruiting for Equity at HBCUs and Beyond: Current Practices and Pitfalls; the correlations between career services and student success; and case studies of institutions that have been able to elevate career services on campus.
Together over this past year, we’ve grown our professional community to more than 16,000 individuals. This is in no small part to your efforts to help NACE be inclusive of the many professionals who serve and recruit students and those who serve these professionals. The past year has been an amazing journey. Thank you for being part of it!
Sincerely,
Brian Guerrero
2022-23 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Dear Colleague:
As you are no doubt aware, there has been much in the news about recent and controversial legislative changes in a number of states affecting a range of individuals—including women, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities, and immigrants—as well as state colleges and universities.
While we do not generally comment on state legislative issues, these issues matter to all of us, regardless of where we work or reside, and we want to reiterate our commitment to our members and to our values.
NACE has a DEI statement that we live by, and we embrace our core values of community, belonging, integrity, innovation, and impact.
We want to state unconditionally that we are opposed to public policies that strip or limit protections for equal rights and equitable outcomes; this extends to policies that would eliminate or hinder the free exchange of ideas and/or the advancement of equitable treatment and outcomes of our colleagues and the students we serve and employ.
In just a few days, many of us will gather for NACE23 in Florida, one of the states where lawmakers have enacted legislation that runs counter to our values and beliefs. Not surprisingly, some members have reached out to ask about 1) why we are still gathering in Florida, given the circumstances, and 2) how we choose locations for our conference.
First, we believe it is important for us as an association and as a professional community to stand with our colleagues wherever they are. Unfortunately, we know that controversial legislation is not isolated to Florida and that other state legislatures have taken similar or related actions that run counter to our values.
Second, it is important to recognize that the sites are selected many years in advance. In particular, the selection of and contract with the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts were undertaken more than six years ago, before the recent controversy. As many would surmise, we do have a considerable financial obligation related to the conference site that prevents us from responsibly cancelling our contracts without significant financial harm to the NACE organization and, as a result, to our membership. We encourage you to read more about our Site Selection Process, which considers how sites align with our values, and our stance on Controversial Locations.
While we are in Florida, we are committed to being unapologetic about our beliefs and values and will do everything possible to make our conference safe, secure, and welcoming for all. To that end, we have keynotes, concurrent sessions, meet-ups, and other activities that will clearly demonstrate our commitment to our ideals. This includes opportunities for members to give back to the community while we are there. We plan to follow this model—to use actions as well as words—wherever we are.
We recognize the challenges so many of us now face in light of recent legislative actions, but believe that, as a community, we can support and help each other. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we are committed to you.
Sincerely,
Brian Guerrero
2022-23 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
We are excited to share with you our second annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Report. Like our first report, this year’s report details progress we’ve made toward meeting our 10 commitments to the Black community and anti-racism, chronicling the journey we have committed to and the progress we have made as an association.
We are especially excited to share this with you during Black History Month, which reminds us all to recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of the Black community. At the same time, we hope our report illustrates our commitment to building an inclusive future together.
We invite you to dive into the report, but would like to offer a few highlights:
In the coming months, we have several important events planned that illustrate our commitment to offering quality programming that addresses DEI, including:
We recognize that we are still at the beginning of our journey, but invite you to make that journey with us and ask that you help guide us along the way: We need and value your support, participation, and ideas. We thank you for being a crucial part of our community.
Sincerely,
Brian Guerrero
2022-23 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Dear Colleague:
As 2022 draws to a close, we’d like to share some highlights and give you a glimpse of what 2023 will bring.
First, we’re thrilled to report that NACE membership now exceeds 15,000 individuals—an all-time high! Thanks to the strength and depth of our professional community, we have a number of amazing achievements to celebrate and many more to come.
2022 by the Numbers
In addition to our astonishing number of members, 2022 features a variety of other impressive figures, including:
We’re proud of these numbers—and the engagement they represent—but they only tell part of the story. In fact, our Board of Directors has devoted much time and thought behind the scenes to ensure the association is positioned to address future trends affecting the professions and aligned with the needs and priorities of the membership by developing our strategic plan to guide NACE over the next few years.
Check out just two examples of how the strategic plan is being actualized to support the membership:
Similarly, our plan provides the underpinning for our DEI focus, for our efforts to bring public awareness to the impact and value of the career services and university recruiting professions, and for our commitment to expanding and diversifying the membership.
Looking Forward to a Happy—and Jampacked—New Year!
There is a lot coming in 2023—from trailblazing research and analysis you can use to drive your strategy and tactics, to a host of events and professional development opportunities to help you expand your network and expertise, and more!
Thank you for everything you’ve done over the past year to support and strengthen the NACE community. We look forward to your ongoing engagement as we move forward together.
Best wishes for safe and happy holidays,
Sincerely,
Brian Guerrero
2022-23 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Good morning:
Believe it or not, it’s already August! This summer has flown by. Before we go much further, we’d like to share with you some of the highlights from the past 12 months and give you a preview of what’s ahead in 2022-23.
We recently rolled out our new strategic plan. This plan was constructed with the input of hundreds of members, our Board of Directors, and staff. We are particularly proud of how it boldly outlines a vision and strategies for the future of NACE and our professions.
We’re also thrilled to announce that our professional community now encompasses more than 14,000 members—this is an all-time high! That growth benefits all of us as we’re not just bigger in terms of numbers—our collective expertise and experience have grown as well. Thank you for working to bring your colleagues and co-workers into our community!
We made significant progress on our commitments to the Black community and anti-racism and toward equity and inclusion generally. The full report for 2021-22 will be available shortly, but some highlights include:
More than 1,600 of us gathered in person at NACE22 in Portland—definitely a highlight of the year. We’re looking forward to more in-person events, including NACE23 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. We’re also exploring in-person experiences for career coaching programming as well as roundtables and other networking events.
At the same time, we recognize that virtual events work well for many members. In fact, NACE22 Virtual brought together nearly 3,000 of us! Consequently, in addition to our in-person conference in Florida in 2023, we plan to provide a virtual conference. Stay tuned for details about both experiences—and keep an eye out for our call for proposals!
Groundbreaking research: We’re undertaking a wealth of research that will support your day-to-day work and inform your strategy, and looking forward to working with the Research Advisory Committee to identify research products and services to benefit the professions. Much of our research will break new ground. For example, we’ll be providing members with insights into students who serve as caregivers; attitudes and preferences among LGBTQ+ students; and what “belonging” means to students.
In addition, we are revamping our research process to make it easier on responders, with shorter, more-focused surveys. As always, we appreciate your participation in our surveys as it provides valuable information for the work we all do. (Reminder: Research participants and their organizations/institutions receive complimentary copies of the resulting reports and dashboards.)
Career readiness: We’re working toward developing standards of measurement to support competency assessment for colleges, employers, and the students they support and hire. We are also engaging in new areas of research to identify significant trends and insights to drive strategy, decision-making, and practice within the professions, and, of course, we will continue to work with SkillSurvey to examine the impact of competencies. You can also look forward to engaging in the Competency Symposium in 2023 to enhance your career readiness initiatives and to the recommendations that the Career Readiness Integration Task Force will provide for implementing initiatives.
Standards for university relations and recruiting operations: The Recruiting Standards Task Force will review and revise the existing standards to ensure they reflect leading practices and benchmarks and are responsive to member needs.
Strategic positioning of career services: Building on the work of a 2021-22 task force, we plan to create programming and content to support the elevation of career services across the country.
DEI programming: We’ll begin work on developing standards for the profession, including DEI-related certificate programs.
Look forward to all of this and much, much more.
Perhaps nothing is more valuable for us as a professional community than our connections with each other, and we will do all we can to bring you opportunities to connect this year.
Please consider joining a NACE Affinity Group, giving back by mentoring new professionals, exchanging your ideas and challenges in the NACE Community, and/or sharing your insights and experience by writing for NACE.
Best wishes for the conclusion of summer 2022 and for a terrific fall season ahead!
Sincerely,
Brian Guerrero
2022-23 NACE President
The Ohio State University
David Ong
2022-23 Past President
Maximus
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Good morning:
We are thrilled to present you with NACE’s new three-year strategic plan. Designed to move our professional community forward, the plan outlines our mission, vision, and values while also laying out four goals with related strategies.
Just a little background information: Typically, the Board of Directors updates NACE’s strategic plan every three to five years. This is an essential function of our Board and one that requires leadership, vision, drive, and commitment on the part of our directors—thank you to all of them for bringing their best selves to develop the plan! The Board also relies on key input from members to help shape the plan. On behalf of the Board, we’d like to thank the hundreds of members who provided valuable feedback and insights to ensure the strategic plan reflects the goals and aspirations of our professional community!
Today, we’d like to share our strategic direction, what it means for you, and how you can contribute to our professional community’s success. We believe that we’re at a critical juncture: Never has there been a time that has offered greater opportunity for the career services and university recruiting community to lead the development of the future workforce. We believe our new strategic plan shines a light on how we can do that together.
Read NACE’s 2022-25 Strategic Plan
1. Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion.
What this means for you: You can expect NACE to bring a DEI lens to our research, products, services, and programming; to increase access to DEI-related data to inform your decision-making as well as NACE’s; and to broaden engagement opportunities for diverse populations and stakeholders.
What you can do: Something you can do right from your desk is help NACE track the diversity of our membership by providing your demographic information in your NACE profile (optional!). Less obvious but very important: You can share your expertise and insights, encourage others to share theirs, and welcome new ideas and different points of view (see below for ways to do so). You can also spread the word about the research NACE has uncovered related to diversity and equity.
2. Lead dialogue.
What this means for you: We’re committed to bringing our collective voice to the national conversation on the future of the workforce and to demonstrating the key roles career services and university recruiting professionals play in shaping the workforce.
There is no time that has offered more opportunity for us as a professional community to demonstrate the value career services and university recruiting bring to the nation and to your individual institutions and organizations: NACE is committed to being the voice for the profession!
What you can do: Advocate for your operation at your institution or organization; leverage NACE benchmark and research data to demonstrate the impact and value of your operation internally. Help advance public awareness of how career services and university recruiting impact the workforce. Promote careers in career development and university recruiting.
3. Provide quality research, content, and programming.
What this means for you: You can rely on NACE to address critical issues—career readiness and competency development; diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruiting; changing modalities in recruiting and the workplace, operational benchmarks, shifts in the marketplace, and more—and provide a range of opportunities, including free and low-cost events, for professional development for members at all levels. Look forward to more Town Halls, where we discuss the hot topics that are keeping us awake at night!
What you can do: When you take part in a NACE event, workshop, or webinar, we need you to provide feedback: Let us know what you really thought, so that NACE can correct what’s wrong, replicate what’s right, and address what’s missing! In addition, you can step up (and encourage others to do the same) to share your information and expertise, by taking part in NACE research, contributing to the NACE Journal or Member Voices blog, and by submitting a proposal for a webinar or conference session.
4. Expand and cultivate community.
What this means for you: We are stronger together, and a deeper, wider, more inclusive and engaged community gives us all the more strength to achieve our collective goals.
What you can do: Engage. You don’t have to lead a task force, present a webinar, or write an article to contribute to the life of our professional community—although all are great options! You can join one or more of our 17 Affinity Groups, post and answer questions through the NACE Community, and/or share your data by taking part in NACE research. You also can encourage colleagues and peers to join NACE.
Once you have reviewed the new strategic plan, we hope you will agree that it is both ambitious and achievable. You are at the heart of everything we do; with you, we will accomplish great outcomes.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Dave Ong
2021-22
NACE President
We are pleased to share with you our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Annual Report, which documents our progress toward meeting our 10 commitments to the Black community and to anti-racism. It is important to us that we share these insights with you during Black History Month—a period of time dedicated to reflecting on and celebrating the success of the Black community.
We encourage you to review the full report, which outlines efforts in each of the commitment areas, but we also want to highlight a few accomplishments:
These are just a handful of highlights, but we hope they illustrate that our commitment is to action, not just words. To that end, earlier this week we joined with more than 50 higher education associations to call on the U.S. Congress to take immediate action on the threats that have been made to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
We want to emphasize that we understand commitment must be ongoing to be meaningful. We recognize that our initial steps, outlined in the report, are just first steps. We must and will build on them. We invite you to help us with our ongoing commitment.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Dave Ong
2021-22
NACE President
Data are critical to making informed decisions about our profession and the students we develop and employ. That is why it is important to us to find new ways of capturing, analyzing, and reporting data that are reliable, accurate, and timely.
Building on a rich history of delivering research findings that provide value to members, we are thrilled to announce that we have transformed our research program to meet your evolving needs. Thanks to new enhancements, you will have access to personalized data for your operations plus key insights into what the data mean and how you can act on it. This new and innovative approach puts you in the data driver’s seat.
With the release of results from the 2021 Student Survey, we are debuting a new suite of research products to help you hone your operation and drive the success of your organization.
The NACE 2021 Student Survey Product Suite, which will be launched tomorrow in the Spotlight member e-newsletter includes:
Interactive Dashboard: The interactive dashboard enables you to personalize results so that you can benchmark your own operation against national data and gain insights into specific trends.
NACE Briefs: Two briefs analyze data through the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens to identify opportunities for members to achieve greater equity in employment
for new college graduates.
Survey Report: The report, provided in PDF format, includes the executive summary and tables/charts for ease of use.
The 2021 Student Survey Product Suite will be launched tomorrow in the Spotlight member e-newsletter.
In the months ahead, we will be releasing product suites for each of our benchmark surveys—Recruiting Benchmarks, Career Services Benchmarks, and Internship & Co-op Benchmarks. We hope you and your organization will take part.
We are dedicated to delivering research insights that will make a difference for you, our profession, and the world. The data are important to shaping our future. With your participation, we can all make an impact!
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
David Ong
2021-22 NACE President
Dear Colleagues:
As we prepare to kick off the 2021-22 academic year, we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for the support, engagement, and commitment you demonstrated to your colleagues, co-workers, and professional community during a past year. We not only made it through—together—#WeAreNACE!—but there were a lot of amazing accomplishments we can all be proud of, including:
NACE put its commitments to the Black community in writing in 2020-21 and revised our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement. The work is ongoing, but we had some key accomplishments this year and will have a full report to you in the coming months. We are particularly proud of the success of our HBCU Summit—which generated funds to underwrite NACE membership for all HBCUs for three years as well as provide complimentary virtual conference registration. Kudos to the HBCU Affinity Group for its work in planning the Summit!
In April, we announced revisions to the career readiness competencies, thanks to the tireless efforts of our Career Readiness Competencies Task Force. Sample behaviors, validated through research NACE undertook in partnership with SkillSurvey, accompanied the revisions and represent a turning point in our work to help higher education and industry develop a career-ready workforce. We encourage you to share examples of your good work with the NACE community of members.
Throughout the 2020-21 year, we worked to engage in and facilitate conversation with and among NACE members. For example, our Town Halls—free to NACE members—provided a platform for discussing pressing issues. We’re proud to say that, overall, more than 26,000 individuals took part in 101 programs and events this past year. We also had one of our most successful conferences ever, despite not being able to get together in person. NACE21 brought together more than 2,500 of us. Although we expect to be in-person in Portland in 2022, NACE21 showed us all that a virtual experience has its own benefits. In fact, we aren’t choosing between the two: We plan to offer both this coming year—an in-person conference, in Portland, and a virtual one, in our own offices. In the near-term, keep an eye out for the Call for Proposals—coming in late summer/early fall.
We would also like to thank our 2021-22 committees and task forces for their outstanding efforts in helping move the association and our community forward—from working to identify quality programming for the conference, to developing ethical resources to guide our profession, to delving into the nature of our membership offerings, and more.
What can you expect in the coming year? There are a host of offerings headed your way, including:
Robust Programming. We already have a wonderful slate of professional development webinars on the books. And, we’ll be adding more, including face-to-face events potentially mid-year. In September, we are kicking off with a Town Hall. This Town Hall, free to members, will focus on fall recruiting activities as well as look back at summer internships. We’re currently conducting quick polls that will provide data as a jumping off point for the event. Watch for registration details!
Expect DEI to continue to be at the forefront. We are planning a number of events that will spotlight marginalized communities, including students with disabilities, and move our commitments to the Black community forward, including HBCU Summit 2.0.
Important Research Findings. We have a number of reports that will be issued over the coming year, including this fall. We’ll have a full report on what actually happened with the Class of 2020, student insights on their virtual internship experiences, a job outlook for the Class of 2022, and so much more!
In looking back, it’s clear that it took all of us working together to stare down adversity (and there was plenty of it) and push beyond it and forward. We encourage you to harness that same grit for 2021-22.
One way to do that with your professional community is by taking part in one or more of our Affinity Groups. These groups contribute significantly to the life of our association by developing resources, weighing in on critical issues, presenting webinars for the membership, writing, and providing a safe space for members, notably marginalized individuals, to share. We can’t say enough about the good work these groups bring forward: Join and bring your own good work forward.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Jennifer Lasater
2021-22 NACE Past President
David Ong
2021-22 NACE President
Dear Colleagues:
We are pleased to announce the revisions to the career readiness competencies. This release marks a pinnacle point in NACE’s stewardship of competency development with and on behalf of members.
Revised by a task force of members representing career services and talent acquisition, the eight career readiness competencies are:
We are also pleased to announce that, accompanying the revisions, each competency now has a set of sample behaviors. These behaviors have been validated through research NACE undertook in partnership with SkillSurvey. (View the competencies and the sample behaviors here.)
This is a game changer: The behaviors can serve not only as guideposts in our work with students, interns, and new hires, but also can help us in discussions with colleagues and co-workers about the important role they play in developing a career ready workforce. This significant addition will also inform the development of reliable and valid tools and assessments, critical for understanding levels of competency proficiency among students and candidates.
Overall, the revisions are designed to simplify and strengthen the competencies’ usefulness and relevance to the work of our profession. However, two competencies have undergone significant change:
“Career management” is now “career and self-development” and focuses on individuals’ journey of learning, self-awareness, and networking as means for personal and professional development.
Global/intercultural fluency” is now “equity and inclusion” and recognizes the importance of these concepts to a successful workforce and the responsibility we all have to contribute to a society free of racism, sexism, and other forms of bias and discrimination.
We encourage you to review the revisions and sample behaviors and consider how these will impact your work going forward.
On behalf of the association, we would like to thank the Career Readiness Competencies Task Force, which has dedicated nearly two years to this important initiative.
We would also like to thank the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee and the NACE Board of Directors for their input. In addition, as you may recall, as part of its work, the task force solicited input from the membership: Thank you to the more than 300 members who weighed in with thought-provoking insights and recommendations!
Together, we are working to build a vibrant workforce.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Lasater
2020-21 NACE President
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Tim Harding (Co-chair)
University of Tampa
Stephanie Pallante (Co-chair)
CIGNA Corporation
Fred Howell (Board adviser)
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Candace Barnes
Rockwell Automation
Randy Bitting
SkillSurvey, Inc.
Susan Brennan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Katie Brokaw
Ecolab, Inc.
Craig Bullock
Morgan State University
Donna Cassell Ratcliffe
Virginia Tech
Amanda Cox
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Heidi Cuthbertson
Ball Aerospace
Colleen Egli
University of British Columbia
Kevin Gaw
Bryant University
Jenny Hahn Schnipper
St. Charles Community College
Erin Hart
Gannon University
Tara Lewis
Collin College
Theresa Lopez
Cerritos College
Sara Mason
University of Oregon
Colin McCurry
BB&T Corporation
Jeffrey Moss
Parker Dewey
Ryan Noon
West Virginia University
Santina Pitcher
University of California - Berkeley
Sam Prestwich
Brigham Young University
Anita Ryan
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Courtney Stefanik
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Monica Towner
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Calvin Williams
Indian River State College
Sherrod Williams
The Washington Center
Matthew Brink (Staff adviser)
NACE
Dear Colleagues:
Over the past year, the Asian community has been subjected to hateful rhetoric and increased acts of violence and racism. Chillingly, hate crimes against the Asian community have grown almost 150% in just a year, according to California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. The murders that occurred in Georgia on March 16 are the latest in a string of hate-filled and horrific acts targeting the Asian community.
On behalf of the association, we want our friends, colleagues, and all those impacted in any way by these sickening acts to know that we are here for you. We will do our part as an association to make a difference, to bring awareness, and to be part of the solution.
The Asian community needs us all to step up and demonstrate our solidarity. We must all speak up to call out and condemn violence, racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and hate. In addition, let each of us evaluate how we can make a difference, in small and significant ways. It will have an impact. At NACE, we are committed to doing so.
By being part of the solution, we can work together to produce a college educated workforce that is free from discrimination and hate, and one that is rooted in equitable outcomes.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Lasater
2020-21 NACE President
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
NACE believes in a world that is inclusive in approach and where equal opportunities and equitable outcomes exist for all. Read NACE’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement at www.naceweb.org/dei-statement.
Dear NACE colleagues:
Earlier this week, we shared our commitment to fighting racial injustice and furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion. (See June 2 message, below.) Our message included a promise that NACE would work to advance change and support members’ in their efforts.
While there is much work ahead of us, to meet the immediate needs of our members, we’d like to invite you to take part in the following:
Of course, there is much more to come. We will need your voice and participation as we work to advance change; further diversity, equity, and inclusion; and fight racial injustice.
We are all in this together. As a profession, we are well positioned to make a real impact on all of these issues and can exact positive change for a better future for us all. We stand together. #WeAreNACE.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
Dear NACE Community,
There is so much hurt and pain being felt throughout our country right now. In these unprecedented times, it is important that our NACE community knows that we stand together...together with our staff, colleagues, family, and friends.
Injustice, inequity, and racism are not okay.
We are all impacted by what is happening and all have a role to play in fixing these systemic problems. As an association, we have to be committed to addressing the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion together. We have a distinct role to play on an individual level, but also as a community of professionals. NACE is dedicated to workforce development and the employment of the college educated; we can make a tangible impact on these societal issues. Let’s take this moment to do so.
Together we can and will create solutions that make a difference. We need and will make real change. And we must.
#BlackLivesMatter #WeAreNACE
Truly,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
Good afternoon:
In this ever-changing environment, it is more critical than ever to understand leading and promising practices. That is why we are planning a virtual experience to take place in June. We want to provide you with timely content on important issues affecting your work.
NACE Connect: The Virtual Experience will span two weeks (June 15 – 26, 2020) and will provide insight and expertise around three themes: 1) Virtual Engagement of Students and Candidates 2) Career Readiness and Work Force Development, and 3) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
We have approximately 30 sessions slated for NACE Connect covering a range of topics—from the future of campus recruiting to ensuring diversity in the workplace to developing a career readiness kit using intelligent technology—and each reflects the challenges we face as a result of the pandemic and addresses the “new normal.”
You’ll also have the opportunity to take part in Affinity Group Meet Ups, discussions with this year’s NACE Award winners, and product showcases from leading providers that support the profession. Throughout the experience, we will offer a blend of free-to-member and low-cost programming. Watch for details to learn how you can take part!
NACE Connect is just the beginning of a new slate of professional development opportunities we’ll be offering going forward. Our focus for professional development—in fact, for all things NACE—will be to connect, educate, and empower our membership to move forward. We also recognize that many of our members are facing reduced budgets and will need to weigh carefully how they spend their dollars. We promise to provide a range of quality programming that is affordable, timely, and laser-focused on the issues and challenges you face.
We look forward to “seeing” you at NACE Connect. #WeAreNACE!
Sincerely,
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
We’ve made it through a very unusual April. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous impacts on our work as a profession, it has also provided us with an opportunity as an association to take a leadership position. We thought you might be interested in learning about some of the advocacy- and media-related activity NACE has engaged in on behalf of our membership during this time of crisis.
First, we have joined with a number of other higher ed associations and organizations to advocate for policies and legislation that support higher education, students, industry, and the work force. These efforts are designed to provide you with a voice in the national dialogue. Many of these issues are directly related to funding for institutions and students, but others address pressing concerns including providing tax relief for institutions and students and lifting state licensing regulations for physicians to allow for more widespread use of telemedicine. In all, NACE has supported more than a dozen recommendations related to coronavirus legislative and regulatory issues.
In addition, through our interactions with the media, NACE has been working to provide fact-based insight to the public about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. NACE quick poll results have been shared with more than 800 media contacts over the last several weeks and been featured in a variety of outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Inside Higher Education, Washington Post, and more. You will find a selection of media citations on the website. Thank you for sharing your stories and the work of your association—and please continue to do so!
Finally, we are also working on initiatives to strengthen our professional community, bring you new and timely learning and networking opportunities, and plan for the challenges we face today and tomorrow. Stay tuned.
As always, thank you for your support. We are in this together—#WeAreNACE!
Sincerely,
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
I regret to announce that the 2020 NACE Conference & Expo, scheduled for Minneapolis in June, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in travel restrictions, prohibitions on large gatherings, and closures of various sites, including the Minneapolis Convention Center.
We are also cancelling the 2020 Executive Leadership Symposium (June 1) and the Preconference Workshops (June 2), which were planned to coincide with the conference.
If you are registered for the conference, workshops, or symposium, you will receive a separate message later today with details about receiving a credit or refund for your paid registration and information about cancelling any hotel reservations you may have.
I would like to thank the many people who worked to bring NACE20, workshops, and symposium to the membership—the NACE Conference Committee, sponsors, exhibitors, presenters, faculty, and facilitators: Your dedication, effort, and support are deeply appreciated.
In addition, please know that your work has not been for naught. Although it is not possible to reschedule NACE20 as an in-person event, we plan to offer much of the expertise and insight the conference would have provided and are working to transition many presentations and activities to other formats. We are also developing plans to offer the Executive Leadership Symposium and Preconference Workshops in alternative formats. Please stay tuned!
Finally, I would like to thank the membership for its patience and support as we work behind the scenes to determine how to best move forward with our professional development and networking offerings—safely and securely. We will keep you apprised of developments, but please reach out to me, the Board, or the NACE staff if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Good morning: We hope you, your family, friends, and colleagues are safe and well. We recognize that our personal and professional lives continue to be turned upside down. At the same time—and perhaps this has never been more apparent—we recognize that our professional community also continues to grow stronger and more supportive: #WeAreNACE is more than a hashtag—it encapsulates the nature and power of our membership. NACE is here to help you harness and unleash that power, to respond to and anticipate your needs, and to support you and help you manage through this crisis and beyond.
As part of that effort, we are pleased to announce that we are extending our free virtual roundtable series through the end of the month as we recognize the need for all of us to come together to lean in, collaborate, and share common solutions.
NACE’s roundtables are focused on enabling you to connect with your member colleagues to share challenges and solutions: NACE’s roundtables tap directly into the knowledge, strength, and collaborative spirit of the membership. To that end, we have added several roundtables around topics that are pressing concerns for members right now—virtual internships; leading during a crisis in a virtual environment; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Watch your mailbox for an invitation to take part, or check out the links to registration information on our Coronavirus Updates page.
Besides taking part in the roundtables, you can leverage the power of the membership through other events and resources:
On a different note: You likely are wondering where we stand with the NACE 2020 Conference & Expo—our biggest in-person event and where we, as a community, are used to engaging, learning, and celebrating on a grand scale. Of course, we continue to monitor guidance from federal, state, and local authorities, but, given the timing of the conference, we need to make a final determination and expect to make a decision sometime next week. We will communicate that decision to you and to the many individuals involved in the conference. And, just a heads up: We are working on how we can engage, learn, and celebrate together outside of an in-person conference, if necessary.
Finally, thank you for your ongoing support and commitment, your willingness to collaborate and share with each other, and for giving life to our hashtag: #WeAreNACE.
Sincerely,
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Hello, NACE colleagues and friends:
First, I have to note that this is my first full week on the job as NACE’s executive director: It has been quite a start, but I want you to know that this is my dream job, and I am very glad to be a part of the association, especially at this time.
In the last three weeks, the world as we know it has changed. We are all in the middle of a significant shift in the way we work, educate, and live. This current disruption will surely have a dramatic impact on the future of everything. This includes the very important work that we all do to support and facilitate work force development and the employment of the college educated.
During this time of uncertainty, I want you to know that your professional association is here for you. We too are busy adjusting to this new normal, but we are dedicated to getting it right. With your feedback and involvement, we are poised to meet the challenges of today and prepare for what is to come.
The strength of NACE is its members—13,000 strong. Together we can adjust, pivot, and produce dynamic and important outcomes. Together, we will bring calm to the chaos, and together we will produce solutions to the most pressing issues of the day. I want to assure you that you can rely on NACE to guide you through all of this and to help make sense of it all.
On a personal note, I would like to say that it is my wish that we will be able to meet in person in June at the annual conference. However, I think we all recognize that, with each passing day, an in-person conference seems less and less likely. Like other groups with June events, we expect to make a decision by the middle of April. We are also considering how to share the rich content that would have been part of the conference should we have to cancel. We will keep you informed.
In the meantime, please know that we are working diligently to meet your needs. NACE is here to support you by providing you with critical data and research, promising and best practices as they develop, resources that are relevant, a voice with governmental decision makers, and connections to other members who are going through the same challenges.
Finally, I would like to thank you: During this unprecedented time, you have shown incredible resilience, agility, and creativity. I am inspired by you and your passion. You are the reason that I joined the NACE staff. I look forward to serving as the executive director of your association and to leading, facilitating, and engaging in the important work of this profession and creating a bright future where we thrive.
We truly are in this together. We are a professional family. We’ve got this.
Sincerely,
Shawn VanDerziel
NACE Executive Director
Twitter: @ShawnVanderziel
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/svanderziel/
Good morning, and I hope you all are remaining safe and focused on the well-being of yourself and your family and friends. It goes without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has altered our professional and personal lives in vital and varied ways. On behalf of the NACE Board of Directors and staff, I would like to thank all of you for stepping up to support each other. As always, your willingness to share expertise, ideas, and data continues to demonstrate our commitment as a community.
As we need to rely on each other more than ever, I would like to offer two key ways we can help each other:
Also, although we cannot meet up in person for the time being, we can tap into our collective thinking in a variety of ways. We are planning for additional ways to connect virtually. There are currently several ways we can continue to connect including:
Updates: First-Destination Surveys, In-Person Events
We have received some questions regarding the survey currently underway (Class of 2019) and the pending survey (Class of 2020).
We are extending the deadline for reporting results for the Class of 2019 to June 30, 2020.
In addition, we recognize that, as many institutions collect data at graduation, many members will need to use different strategies to collect data from the Class of 2020. We are developing recommendations to assist and will reach out to all college members with guidance.
Finally, please be aware that we continue to monitor guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding travel, large gatherings, and safety concerns and will keep you apprised of any changes or modifications to the NACE conference and other NACE in-person events scheduled for June and beyond. Your safety and that of our staff and partners is paramount.
In the meantime, and as I noted in my last message, we will provide a full refund on registration to anyone who must cancel their paid registration for an in-person event scheduled between now and the end of June 2020 due to illness or travel restrictions implemented by their organization. (See refund details.)
As always, we will keep you apprised of developments, but I encourage you to reach out to me, the Board, or the NACE staff if you have questions or concerns. Stay safe, and stay connected!
Sincerely,
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
On behalf of the NACE Board and staff, I want to share with you how your professional association is responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) in relation to the upcoming NACE20 conference.
We recognize that, while many of our members are currently in low-risk areas, we have seen how the coronavirus has impacted our member organizations. Several university member organizations in high-risk areas have moved their classes online and restricted international travel. Several employer members have also restricted travel as well as engagement at large events, and some have asked their employees to work from home. Whereas not all our members work in high-risk areas, we want to emphasize our commitment to the safety and well-being of our community.
NACE20, scheduled for June 2 – 5, in Minneapolis, promises to be yet another excellent opportunity to gather, learn, share, and celebrate, but we need to ensure that we support our community and each other by taking sensible and appropriate action to make our time together successful. We are closely monitoring the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for guidance. As of now, the CDC has not issued guidance limiting domestic travel or public gatherings, but we will continue to monitor the CDC and other credible sources and will keep you apprised.
In addition, we are working to ensure robust and effective health and safety standards as part of planning for our annual gathering, and I want to assure you that we are working closely with the Minneapolis Convention Center, hotels, and our other partners in Minneapolis to ensure all appropriate measures will be in place both behind the scenes and out in front. Hand sanitizers are standard at most gatherings these days, but we will also implement sensible policies, such as “no hugs, no handshakes.”
Because we recognize that this is a very fluid situation, we have made a number of modifications and taken a number of steps to support our community:
We will keep you apprised of developments, but please reach out to me, the Board, or the NACE staff if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Christopher Carlson
2019-20 NACE President
Northrop Grumman
