4,000+ students assess NACE skills at Orientation; First-Years Grow Through Social Capital Building

• Summary

  Join us for a two-part education session.

  Part 1: Building Buy-In and Engaging Students Early

  Robin Huston, executive director of career services at the University of Oklahoma, will share how and why their team secured collaboration with New Student Orientation to have more than 4,000 students complete the NACE Career Readiness Inventory+ during orientation.

  You’ll also hear from Katy Powers, adjunct instructor and director of outreach, who helped facilitate the NACE Career Readiness Inventory+ sessions, along with a student participant. Together, they’ll reflect on the experience and the impact of communicating that skill development matters at OU—not just to new students, but to the parents and guardians who attended as well.

  Part 2: Embedding Career Readiness Through Shared Governance

  Leaders from Mount Saint Mary’s University will discuss how they navigated shared governance committees and senates to adopt Career Launch’s flexible immersive curriculum focused on agency and social capital development.

  Dr. Elizabeth Sturgeon, interim associate vice provost and professor of English; Dr. Amanda Romero, interim associate provost and professor of social work; Dr. Christian Teeter, professor of Business; and Leezel Ramos, executive director of career and professional development, will share how they collaborated to create MPower—a signature initiative that positions the Launch Your Career immersive experience curriculum and faculty/staff training as core components of the university’s career readiness strategy.

  Following this program, you will be able to:

  • Understand strategies for campus-wide integration of career readiness assessments, including how OU secured cross-departmental buy-in and engaged students and families during orientation;
  • Explore effective facilitation practices for career readiness programming, featuring firsthand perspectives from educators and students on implementing the NACE Career Readiness Inventory+; and
  • Learn how shared governance can support curricular innovation through Mount Saint Mary’s example of adopting immersive, agency- and social-capital–building experiences within academic programs.

• Presenters

  

  Robin Huston, Executive Director, The University of Oklahoma

  OU Career Center - Executive Director - University of Oklahoma Career Center Executive Director - University of Oklahoma Career. People-focused leader with responsibility for the strategic planning, development, technology management and leadership of all activities associated with the University’s centralized career center. Challenged to identify, collect, analyze and report data critical to long-term institutional planning to ensure that the Career Center is responsive to the needs of the students and stakeholders of the University. Routinely interface with the college president, vice presidents, deans, faculty chairs, faculty, student government leadership, IT staff and others through the college community.People-focused leader with responsibility for the strategic planning, development, technology management and leadership of all activities associated with the University’s centralized career center. Challenged to identify, collect, analyze and report data critical to long-term institutional planning to ensure that the Career Center is responsive to the needs of the students and stakeholders of the University. Routinely interface with the college president, vice presidents, deans, faculty chairs, faculty, student government leadership, IT staff and others through the college community

  

  Elizabeth Sturgeon, Interim Assistant Provost, Mount Saint Mary's University

  

  Destiny O'Rourke, Director of Partner Engagement, Career Launch

  Destiny O’Rourke serves as Director of Partner Engagement at Career Launch. She is a first-generation college graduate from Bowling Green, KY who learned the power of building professional relationships early in her career. She has worked in college access as well as student success with populations across a diverse range of demographics. Immediately prior to joining the Career Launch team, Destiny was the Director of TRIO Student Support Services at Western Kentucky University, where she first partnered with Career Launch by bringing the Immersive Experience to her participants. Destiny earned her bachelors degree in Corporate and Organizational Communication and her masters degree in Public Administration, both from Western Kentucky University.

  

  Leezel Ramos, Executive Director, Mount Saint Mary's University

  Leezel Ramos serves as Executive Director of Career and Professional Development at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. She is passionate about educating the whole person and empowering leaders for a more just and humane world. Leezel has led initiatives that embed career development throughout the student experience, from college access programs to community engagement to the curriculum. Prior to joining Mount Saint Mary’s, she worked in career development and social justice education at institutions including the University of California Santa Cruz, Seattle University, Duke University, the University of Washington, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Leezel earned her bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from California State University Fullerton and her master's degree in Student Development Administration from Seattle University.

  

  Katy Powers, Director of Outreach, The University of Oklahoma

  Katy serves OU in the Division of Student Affairs as the Outreach Director for the Behavior Intervention Team. She has been working at OU since 2012 and became an adjunct instructor for First-Year Learning for the University in 2018. In her campus roles, she has a passion for listening to students and helping them find their own paths to personal success.

  

  Christian Teeter Ed.D, Professor of Business Administration, Mount Saint Mary's University

  Christian B. Teeter teaches as Professor of Business Administration at Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles. He graduated from Colgate University with Phi Beta Kappa honors and completed Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Southern California. He has been teaching undergraduates in Business Administration since 2004.

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