“I applied to this because I knew the pressing importance of career readiness for students, but personally felt at a loss about what to present to them, particularly as someone in academia (not industries where most students will end up). This gave me the tools for teaching them, but also the realization that I don’t need to know all the latest trends about industries or markets, but can teach about the most important skills that will always be important, which are particularly relevant in our department of Communication.” – Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, Department of Communication
About the 2025 Faculty Fellow Institute
The Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills is recruiting for a 2025 faculty fellowship. In effort to ensure that all UConn students have the skills, tools, and resources needed for post-graduation success, this fellowship offers the opportunity for faculty to think strategically about how they transparently and intentionally connect their curriculum and instruction to career readiness. The intentional infusion of career readiness into the UConn experience provides access and equity to career development for all students.
Program Objectives
- Engage with career resources available through the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills to support career conversations and create meaningful connections that positively impact students
- Demonstrate understanding and significance of NACE Career Competencies through integration in course curriculum, syllabus, assignments, activities, and/or assessments
- Reflect on critical nature of career readiness and opportunities for further integration in supporting students
Program Outcomes
- Engage with a community of faculty and staff to integrate career readiness that supports student success
- Connect career competencies within your course curriculum by:
- Integrating NACE Career Competencies into at least one classroom assignment
- Creating opportunities for students to articulate their competency development
- Collecting data to support the growth of students’ career competencies as it relates to a course or broader awareness of career readiness
- Assess impact of career assignment as beneficial to students’ understanding of career readiness through a written report
Commitment & Compensation
The time commitment for this fellowship includes up to 15 hours of scheduled meetings such as workshops, peer reviews, and a 1:1 consultation. Workshops will take place in May, late August, and before the start of the Spring Semester, along with a 30-minute individual consultation and a peer review session. In addition to the required meetings, participants should expect to spend time on research, survey completion, and two poster presentations. The amount of additional time will vary and can be determined by the participants based on their project needs to meet the program outcomes outlined above.
A stipend of $750 will be awarded upon successful completion of the fellowship, which can be used for research or professional development.
Workshop Dates
The required meeting dates and times are outlined below.
- May 19: 9AM – 3PM; In-person (Storrs)
- May 20: 9AM – 12PM; In-person (Storrs)
Some of the topics covered during these sessions will include:
- Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills – Services and Resources
- NACE Career Competency – Data, Implementation Strategies, and Assessment
- Connecting career to classroom through authentic assessment
Between the dates of May 21-May 23, you will engage in a 30-minute 1:1 consultation (virtual or in-person) with a member of our staff. During the months of June and July, you will work with a peer or small group to advance each other’s work.
- Late August (Target date: August 20): 2 Hours In-person (location TBD) Poster Presentation #1
- January (Target date: January 13): 2 Hours In-person (location TBD) Poster Presentation #2
Faculty Fellows’ Testimonials:
“My experience collaborating with [the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills] through the Career Summer Institute was truly eye-opening—it reinforced just how impactful career-integrated learning can be for students. Seeing firsthand how our efforts helped students bridge classroom concepts with real-world applications gave me even more confidence to apply for this award. I truly believe this kind of collaboration has been a great success, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from you and incorporate career readiness principles into my teaching.” – Tianxu Chen, Department of Economics
“The institute was helpful in a variety of ways. I enjoyed the chance to learn more about the Career Center and spend time thinking specifically about how to bolster career readiness in my course. Additionally, it was great to get to know and work alongside faculty from different departments!” – Danielle DeRosa, Department of Sport Management
Meet the 2024 Faculty Fellows!
Student Testimonial of Summer Institute work:
“Before, I wasn’t aware of the eight career competencies and taking this class showed me how I can build relevant career skills in each of those important categories. I see throughout my classes how the work and discussions we do relate to the various competencies, which now lets me intentionally try to improve my abilities. Also, creating the resume bullet points based on those competencies showed me how to turn the work I do in my classes into actual action points in the competencies that professionals and possible jobs will want to see/look for. – ANTH 1500 student
“I just wanted to say thank you! I spent most of my winter break applying to and interviewing for digital marketing and advertising internships. I was able to reference topics from COMM 4640W, like social media data analytics, measuring engagement, and identifying target audiences time and time again. I also used the blog posts I wrote for class as writing samples, and they worked really well for the roles I was applying to because they were about my thoughts on social media and the digital space.” – COMM 4640W student
Conference Presentations stemming from 2024 Faculty Fellow Summer Institute
- NACE competency Symposium, Virtual
- A Faculty Fellow Summer Institute: Integrating NACE Career Competencies into the Curriculum; Anderson, K., DeRosa, D, and Roy, M.
- AAC&U: Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS)
- Preparing a Career Ready Workforce through Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaborations; Anderson, K. and Bilmes, N.
- Poster Presentation; Ramos, A.
- Career Leadership Collective Conference
- A Faculty Fellow Summer Institute: Transparent and Intentional Integration of Career Readiness; Anderson, K. and Bilmes, N.
- Ready, Set, Career: Integrating Career Readiness into the Classroom; Ramos, A.
- NACE 2025
- From Soup to Nuts: Constructing a Faculty Fellow Summer Institute; Anderson, K., Bilmes, N., and DeRosa, D.
Contact Kaitlyn Anderson at kaitlyn.anderson@uconn.edu if you have any questions.
