A Campus Wide Approach to Developing a Career Mindset: Dean Career Advantage

Career Level: Basic-, intermediate-, and advanced-level career services professionals
Competency: Consulting - faculty/campus community
Fee: $49 (member); $69 (nonmember);

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Summary
Beginning with the end in mind, learn how a small liberal arts college is transforming students’ career preparation through its Dean Career Advantage (DCA) approach. Panelists representing academic affairs, student affairs, and career services will focus on the why, the what, and the how of this campus-wide holistic approach to preparing students for their careers. Supported by a three-year grant from the Davis Educational Foundation, Dean College designed and implemented a holistic approach to improving students’ career preparation, known as the Dean Career Advantage (DCA). Dean used a full-campus model to design the DCA approach. An advising team was redesigned from a more traditional academic adviser model to a success and career adviser model, incorporating career coaching, mentorship, and career mindset development within the advising relationship with students. Individualized career guides were developed for students to suggest activities as well as clubs and organizations to participate in that would work toward future career goals and leadership development.

A revised series of career-focused courses beginning in the first year continuing through to graduation was developed and implemented. The career mindset learning goal was also incorporated in designated general education and major-specific courses. In addition, co-curricular programs were redesigned to emphasize the relationship between involvement and career preparation. Through this curricular and co-curricular strategy, students will be better able to connect their skills, what they need to know/do in their desired careers, and how to gain any needed knowledge and skills to be prepared for their "what’s next."

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Learn tips on how to gain the knowledge and skills needed to improve students’ career preparation;
- Prepare helpful strategies to prepare students for their post-graduation life; and
- Provide effective ways to assess student competencies in the career mindset learning goal at the foundational, mid-, and capstone levels.
Presenters

Wendy Adler, Associate Vice President, Dean College
Wendy Adler has spent the past 30 years helping students achieve their potential. In her current role as associate vice president for student success programs, she has direct responsibility for programs within advising and career planning and the Learning Center. Areas she has developed are academic advising, career planning and internships, retention, academic coaching, and tutoring (including peer, faculty and professional), and she is the co-chair of the Dean Career Advantage initiative. Higher education has given her so much personal satisfaction guiding students to develop a career mindset that allows them to be competitive in the global market achieving so much more than their first job.

Thea Cerio, Director of Career Planning and Internships, Dean College
In her career, Thea Cerio has worked with students in varying stages of their career development. Her focus has been on career counseling, exploration, and development of career readiness skills with high school, vocational, and college-level students. At Dean, she develops employer relationships, works with current students connecting them to internship opportunities, and works with soon-to-be graduates to secure post-graduation plans. Along with Dean’s success and career adviswrs, she works to ensure each Dean graduate is prepared to both find and maintain employment. She is a marathon runner, with a passion for seeing things through to the end.

Dawn Poirier, Director of the RSCIT, Dean College
Dr. Dawn Poirier is the inaugural director of the Rooney Shaw Center for Innovation in Teaching at Dean College and associate professor of biology in the School of Liberal Arts. Her focus with both students and faculty has been on improving student learning outcomes. She encourages active, learning-centered pedagogies to ensure students can apply their learning to new, unscripted problems. She provides faculty support on all facets of the teaching process through professional development events, faculty book groups, pedagogy workshops, training on conducting educational research with students, new faculty orientations, and, most recently, course redesign support for remote teaching.

Melissa Read, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dean College
Melissa Read is currently Dean College’s assistant vice president for academic affairs and assistant professor of social sciences in the School of Liberal Arts. Throughout her career, she has created innovative, holistic programs to serve a diverse array of students, meeting them where they are and preparing them for what’s next in their journey. As an administrator, she has designed new majors and general education programs, advising and academic support services, first-year and senior seminars, and training workshops.  As a professor, she uses a holistic approach to teach not only course content but also how to learn that content, incorporating mindfulness and mindset strategies to help students achieve success.