A WSU program is helping students gain career-oriented skills while they are completing their college assignments. Known as Core to Career, the workshop-based program trains faculty how to infuse coursework with exercises that teach students skills beyond their major—and which resonate with hiring managers.
Since its inception in 2021, 51 faculty fellows in 23 disciplines at WSU Pullman and WSU Vancouver have completed program and collectively reached more than 9,000 students through their teaching.
“The idea to build a program to help faculty help students become more career-ready beyond their majors began about five years and it has developed into an impactful initiative benefitting both students and the faculty who teach University Common Requirement (UCORE) classes,” said Clif Stratton, WSU Pullman vice chancellor for academic engagement, associate history professor, and former UCORE director.
The WSU Core to Career program uses the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career-readiness framework to integrate career-readiness skills into coursework:
- Career- and self-development
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Equity and inclusion
- Leadership
- Professionalism
- Teamwork, and
- Technology
Promoting student skill-building
Eugene Smelyansky, history professor and part of the teaching team for the university-wide Roots of Contemporary Issues UCORE courses, participated in the original Core to Career cohort in 2021–22 and developed exercises that promote professionalism.
Three times during a semester, he has students self-assess their goals and progress and ultimately suggest what they believe their grade should be. Students reflect on and evaluate their attendance, class participation, note-taking, active listening, and more. At semester’s end, they describe what they struggled with and improved on in the class.
“First-year students might grumble that history is not their favorite subject, but beyond that subject matter, they come to see that the skill of professionalism — setting goals and assessing their progress toward them — is a valuable asset to have in college and, importantly, beyond,” said Smelyansky.
Department of English Associate Professor Rachel Sanchez is a 2023–24 Core to Career faculty fellow. She began weaving career-development and self-development skills into her Research and Writing course (English 201) last spring. Her student’s final assignment was to write a professional cover letter to a professional touting their writing development throughout the semester.
“It was fascinating to see how well they responded to the exercise, reflecting on their growth and strengths to advocate for themselves,” said Sanchez.
A 2022–23 fellow, Tammy Crawford, assistant chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Sport Management, strives to incorporate aspects of all NACE career skills into her sport and popular culture course (SPMGT 101) which is one of the UCORE Inquiry into Equity and Justice courses.
Although it’s a large-course section, Crawford creates small teams of five or so students who share common career interests and assigns them weekly topics. Students take turns facilitating their 25-minute group discussions by presenting podcasts, scholarly or popular articles, documentaries, or other resources.
“Using sports as a basis to examine issues of equity and inclusion, race, gender, abilities, politics, and socioeconomic differences taps into biases, or brings out stereotypes,” said Crawford. “Students slow down, and consider ‘How does this all apply to me?’ and what do other people think about different topics.”
Benefitting faculty, as well
Learning and applying Core to Career concepts also benefits faculty in ways they never expected. Crawford, who was the head WSU Women’s Rowing Coach prior to teaching, says she has become a better mentor to other teachers, helping them to develop new skills and be more aware they are part of a community. Smelyansky said he has become a more “effective, efficient, and intentional” teacher and worked on his own self-assessment. Sanchez said she appreciated learning career-readiness skill-building with professionals from many disciplines The program also helped her “think about obstacles and opportunities in my own English classes and become a more intentional teacher.”
This fall, the fourth cohort welcomed 23 faculty fellows who are eager to begin their Core to Career training. They will spend several sessions learning and strategizing how to incorporate career-ready skills into their unique courses with the goal of implementing in spring semester.
Erica Sawyer coordinates the Introduction to Statistical Methods course (Stats 212) in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, one of the popular UCORE quantitiative reasoning courses. She wants to “boost my arsenal of teaching tools” and hear how those in other disciplines will infuse career skills into classes.
Alma Rocha teaches Introduction to Art (Art 101) in the Department of Art. She is most looking forward to taking a “fresh look at UCORE criteria, getting innovative ideas from others and sharing my own, and expanding my focus. I’m anticipating a great experience. As educators, we, ourselves, are always learning, too.”
Adapted from WSU News