This session explores UT Austin's innovative approach to scaling the life design framework across all 16 undergraduate colleges and schools. I will cover best practices for socializing life design to senior academic leadership. I will also share pragmatic strategies that address the many barriers and challenges to curriculum reform. We will discuss what is best centralized in a decentralized implementation of a curricular initiative and how strategy, instructional design, training, and assessment are key to campus-wide alignment. Finally, I will share the methodology for our assessment strategy, which measures the initiative's effectiveness by collecting data on career confidence, career anxiety, and career resilience. This data helps us reframe the conversation around career success.

Our presentation showcases how Austin Community College (ACC) revolutionized its career services with a big vision, small (but agile) team, and a modest budget by leveraging creativity and strategic collaboration. From the launch of our contemporary job search programming to our reimagined job readiness and student employment services, ACC’s Career Services is pioneering an approach that redefines the way students prepare for and achieve career success. This initiative, grounded in the strategic repurposing of limited resources and a mission-driven mindset, serves as an adaptable model that colleges nationwide can learn from to maximize the value of existing resources and provide life-changing outcomes for students. Attendees will gain insights into how we navigate administrative, staffing, and budgetary challenges, and learn about specific strategies for building high-impact programs with limited resources. We’ll illustrate how ACC navigates these obstacles by applying design thinking, creativity, persistence, and a collaborative approach to repurpose existing resources, meeting career development needs despite budget constraints. We will share examples where we functioned as Design Team Zero, a predecessor to the college’s Theory of Change Design Teams. The session will share examples of impact through college culture change and student experiences which has been unfolding over multiple years while the ACC career services ecosystem is emerging. Participants will leave with inspiration to make transformative improvements in their own institutions. From strategic planning and maximizing resources, attendees will be equipped with insights and strategies to bring similar evolution to their own institutions. This session is an invitation to embrace innovation and drive change in higher education career services.

As Smith College's career center restructured and doubled in size, a key part of our internal team work was to shift from an advising-dominant mindset to an ecosystem mindset. We faced a healthy about of resistance and our change process wasn't easy! This session explores the group process, pain points, and decisions that we used to shift our mindset to an ecosystem-based approach. Outcomes included a 50% increase in faculty partner engagement, a 30% increase in alum volunteer engagment, and a 40% increase in career center engagement in year one. This is intended as an interactive leadership workshop for others who are facing road blocks or challenges to shifting approach, with practical takeaways to build buy-in on your campus community.

This session delves into the innovative Transfer Envisioning Network (TEN) program, a 10-week initiative that combines gamified learning, financial incentives, and persistence-based rewards to address the unique needs of transfer students. Attendees will learn how to replicate this model on their campuses, integrating academic support and career readiness activities to enhance student engagement, retention, and success. The presentation will offer practical insights on designing a gamified framework and using data to track student progress, including a 12% increase in engagement. Participants will gain strategies for implementing similar initiatives, focusing on adaptability, student motivation, and overcoming challenges such as time constraints. By sharing our outcomes and lessons learned, this session provides a roadmap for creating a dynamic, adaptable, and holistic support system that enhances transfer student success. The presentation will include preliminary data on the program's effectiveness, highlighting student engagement levels, retention rates, and successful career placements. The session will also explore the broader implications of integrating these strategies within higher education institutions.

Expanding access to paid experiential learning opportunities is essential for scaling career services and meeting the needs of both students and employers. Since 1980, UMBC has been a leader in developing scalable and replicable experiential learning models that other institutions can adopt. This session will explore UMBC's strategic approach to increasing paid experiential learning through state funding, employer partnerships, and support from alumni and university departments. A key example is the Maryland Technology Internship Program (MTIP), which has facilitated over 1,200 paid internships since 2018 in industries like biohealth, engineering, and cybersecurity, supported by over $1 million in annual state funding. MTIP incentivizes businesses and agencies to expand internships by providing matching funds and has demonstrated measurable success: 83% of participants remain in Maryland post-graduation, and 81% of employer partners are small businesses. Complementary initiatives, like the Intern and Service Fund and the Shattuck Family Internship Program for Entrepreneurship, ensure equitable access to unpaid internships in underserved fields and start-ups by compensating students. Participants will gain actionable strategies to replicate these initiatives, use data to scale career services, and increase student access to experiential learning while addressing employer needs. Unexpected outcomes, such as fostering stronger DEI efforts and expanding academic and admissions partnerships, will also be discussed, offering a comprehensive framework for addressing the growing demand for internships.

In my career services experience, I continue to champion the integration of career preparation into the curriculum because it offers the most equitable and sustainable pathway to reach all students. I have experience shifting culture toward effective curricular integration at small schools, but this session will explore practical ways diverse institutions can begin embedding (or leveling up) career preparation into the curriculum. Our team within Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences has seen early success in adopting a holistic approach to curricular integration: we recently reworked our staff/faculty workshop request process, created an intentional grant process for faculty to access funding for career-related initiatives, developed grab-and-go career LMS content for instructors, and implemented a communication strategy that keeps our Career Success team abreast of departmental engagement. I am prepared to share the data and analyses that led us toward the recalibration of all these initiatives because they can be customized to the needs of a variety of institutional types. We have also just completed the proposal and Curriculum Committee approval process for four, new Career Design courses; these courses, which center life design and skills-based learning, are developmentally scaffolded and focused on helping students plan for, prepare for, upskill, and launch into fields of interest. Two of the four courses are on the schedule for Spring Semester, and both sections are currently filled, with a waitlist of students begging to enroll! By the time the Career Leadership Collective conference arrives, we will have analyzed enrollment data, along with student and instructor feedback, so we can share it with participants in a practical, engaging session where they will: Identify tactics for curricular integration of career development content that may be applicable to their institution, college, or department; engage with data related to one aspect of curricular integration, our new courses, to assess efficacy and determine opportunities for enhancement and applicability to their institution, college, or department; and brainstorm with peers around scalable, high-impact curricular integration tactics that might be possible for their institution, college, or department.

How can career services transform a single course into a cornerstone of the career ecosystem? At Utah State University, USU 1400: Exploring Majors and Careers has evolved into a dynamic, scalable offering that integrates design thinking principles, collaborative partnerships, and strategic adaptability to meet the needs of diverse student populations. This session will showcase how USU 1400 has extended its reach to almost all statewide locations and providing a scalable model for concurrent enrollment and tailored campus needs. By engaging exploratory academic advisors as co-instructors and other staff such as Director of Students, we’ve managed growth strategically, ensuring personalized student support while expanding capacity. 
We’ll discuss the data on the course's impact, including retention rates and how it strengthens connections across academic and career services. Attendees will learn practical strategies for fostering similar collaborations and adapting course content to fit their institutional contexts. USU 1400 brings together stakeholders and resources to craft futures for students across Utah. Join us to explore how your career services can grow a course into a movement that empowers students and elevates career development campus-wide. Participants will learn how to integrate design thinking in to career exploration curricula, understand strategies for scaling courses across campuses/populations, gain insights into leveraging academic partnerships for sustainable growth, and leave with a syllabus/sample assignments.

How does a career office grow from a one-person operation into a team delivering high-impact support to thousands of students and postdocs? This session unpacks the strategies that drove this transformation, including redesigning advising into scalable programs, repurposing content to extend accessibility, and leveraging social media to secure institutional buy-in. Along the way, these efforts not only expanded capacity but also strengthened the office’s visibility and influence within the university. Attendees will learn practical approaches to scaling services, tackling common challenges like limited resources or staff, and building sustainable systems that balance efficiency with personalized support—all while addressing the diverse needs of their student populations.

In this session, Aurora University Career Services will showcase how we have integrated AI-powered tools, including ChatGPT, VirtualSpeech AI roleplays, and VMock, into our programming to elevate students’ career readiness. By leveraging these technologies, we have enhanced students’ ability to practice interview skills, build confidence, and refine resumes with measurable results. Attendees will learn how we designed and implemented these initiatives, highlighting collaboration with academic departments and grant-funded innovation to scale these efforts effectively. Metrics demonstrating our success include increased student participation in mock interviews, improved resume scores via VMock, and positive feedback from post-interview evaluations. We will share actionable insights, replicable strategies, and lessons learned, ensuring participants leave equipped to bring these advancements to their campuses. Our presentation will also explore unexpected outcomes, such as enhanced accessibility for neurodiverse and first-gen students, further aligning with DEI goals. Attendees will leave with practical tools, templates, and access to resources to implement similar strategies at their institutions.

Have you ever wondered who your top employers are and how to engage with them effectively? Do you have a clear definition of what top employers mean at your campus? Even having a clear strategy and metrics for your employer outreach? Join us at Bridgewater State University as we unveil our transformative journey in revamping our employer engagement strategy to align with our institution’s mission and priorities. In this session, we will dive into how we leverage existing data to guide our decisions, share valuable lessons learned, and provide actionable tips for implementing this model on your campus.

This presentation examines the role of career services in improving student retention and graduation rates. Using data and case studies, we highlight how career support—through internships, mentoring, and counseling—keeps students engaged and motivated. Attendees will gain insights into best practices for integrating career services into student success strategies. This presentation explores the critical role of career services in enhancing student retention and graduation rates, showcasing how career development initiatives contribute to student success. Higher education institutions increasingly recognize the importance of connecting academic experiences with professional pathways, and career services play a crucial role in helping students envision and achieve their post-graduation goals. 
Study focused on both degree and non-degree students from Fall 2020-Spring 2024.

This panel discussion will provide attendees wi th the opportunity to learn about Wofford College's strategy for creating an equitable career center. During the 2019 academic year, the Wofford Career Center saw 46% of the student population in meetings, events, and professional document reviews. In 2023, the Wofford Career Center saw over 72% of the student body. How was this accomplished? Through a focus on what they call the 3 P's: Presence, Partnership, and Population-Based Programming.

In an effort to increase access to career resources and to remove the structural barriers that often silo disciplinary learning and career education, our career team collaborated with biology faculty at Lyman Briggs College (a residential college at Michigan State University) to create the In Real Life (IRL) curriculum. Taking into account the importance of developing students’ sense of purpose, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations, this curriculum is embedded into the core curriculum of the college and takes place within the intro bio course. This unique approach allows students to engage in career work within the context of a course that is relevant, and important, to their major, thereby increasing engagement and commitment to the course material. Over the last two years, we have conducted surveys, interviews, and focus groups with students in the course and analyzed the data to assess the impact of the work, ultimately leading to a publication the Journal of Microbiology Education. More importantly, we discovered that integrating career exploration and skills articulation into the core curriculum increases students’ sense of belonging, improves their career-related self-efficacy, and positively impacts their STEM career identity. We are excited to share this work with other institutions, providing data and resources that can help others to pursue faculty collaborations that can increase students’ access to, and use of, career resources.

Recognizing that faculty are a primary source of career advice for students, UConn’s Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills (Career Center) aimed to enhance career equity by increasing faculty engagement with the creation of a Faculty Fellow Summer Institute. Through the strategic vision of the Center’s Director, Nancy Bilmes began by reimagining the allocation of resources within the department to provide opportunity for a charge on faculty engagement. The established Career Champions program, Faculty Subcommittee, and semester-long Faculty Fellowships facilitated a valuable connection with faculty, promoting the desire to further embed career readiness into the classroom. A restructuring of department positions created the opportunity to hire a staff member (Kaitlyn Anderson) with curriculum and instruction experience to connect with faculty from a pedagogical perspective. These intentional actions contributed to the development of a Faculty Fellow Summer Institute. The institute’s goal was to connect NACE career competencies within curricula and create opportunities for students to articulate their competency development. Kaitlyn collaborated with the Spring 2024 Faculty Fellow, Danielle DeRosa, to build the framework for a Faculty Fellow Summer Institute. They designed a series of workshops that supported 14 faculty from varied academic departments in developing assignments and activities that transparently and intentionally infused career readiness strategies. This session will detail the development of the Faculty Fellow Summer Institute including the building blocks, overview, key players, and logistics. Data from pre- and post-program surveys will be shared that demonstrates the program’s positive impact on faculty instruction, student learning, and departmental outcomes. Additionally, unexpected outcomes, such as faculty requests for letters of support, and improvements for future institutes will be included. The audience will identify and decipher how to leverage faculty engagement structures and partnerships to strengthen the bridge between academics and career. Our session will ask participants to discuss existing faculty engagement structures, opportunities and barriers for scaling a Faculty Fellow program.

What would you do with a million dollars? We all dream about this, but it actually happened at Metro State. We received legislative funding to expand workplace-based learning opportunities and build employer partnerships. Working closely with Faculty Champions, the Career Center has developed 5 apprenticeship pilots -- paid experiential learning opportunities -- with area employers in high demand fields: nursing (Children’s Minnesota), mental health practitioner (Touchstone and Fraser), accounting (KPMG), and cybersecurity (Securian). Urban Education is working with Minneapolis Public Schools to start their apprenticeship program fall 2025.
Apprenticeships are longer than internships, typically 6 months up to two years; grant funds cover up to 12 credits of spring semester tuition and fees; and all parties want the experience to end with a permanent position.

This session explores how Gies College of Business integrates career competencies into both academic courses and student employment programs, creating a scalable model for career readiness. While faculty introduce career readiness competencies in a four-course curriculum, deeper reinforcement occurs through trained student employees who act as peer influencers and career coaches. By equipping these student employees with the tools to set personal goals, design peer-relevant activities, and provide grounded career advice, the initiative amplifies its impact across the college. Pre- and post-assessments reveal significant growth in students’ ability to articulate their skills, with faculty and student affairs colleagues noting increased collaboration and impact. Participants will leave with actionable strategies and resources to implement similar programs on their campuses.

LMU’s Career and Professional Development Office needed a re-brand post-COVID. We had a brand-new team and leadership, expanded services, reintroduced in-person engagements, and to strengthen connections across the campus community. We hired new student Marketing Specialists to help us craft a strategic rebranding plan that boosted student engagement, enhanced faculty and staff impressions, and re-engaged employer partners. In addition, we engaged a fractional assistant to increase our alumni and employer impact on LinkedIn. This session will share best practices, actionable strategies, lessons learned, and innovative approaches to branding that can help career centers grow their impact and visibility on campus and beyond for a more engaged campus community and increased funding opportunities. 
 
Strategies We Will Share:
• Utilizing LinkedIn as a platform to consistently connect with university stakeholders such as alumni, parents, employers, and potential career center donors
• Developing unique, relevant, Gen Z content for the new Handshake Feed, all led by students
• Pitching “newsy” stories to central Marketing and Communications for highlights on university social media channels and published stories in “LMU This Week”
• Launching our Casual Career Conversations employer event during LMU’s weekly campus gathering on Wellness Wednesday
 
Intended Outcomes: 
1. Walk away with a marketing and communications road map with feasible milestones
2. Develop brand engagement goals for Fall 2025
3. Set a financial goal to reach for utilizing campus fundraising days

This session, "Reimagining Employer Relations through Strategic Collaborations and Social Media," equips participants with the insights and strategies to enhance employer engagement and improve student outcomes. We’ll explore the disconnects that often exist between students and employers, the necessity for innovation, and actionable strategies for success. Using Austin Community College (ACC) as a case study, we will discuss how we identified gaps in employer relations and reimagined our approach to raise all career services up through creative employer engagement. Participants will learn how to build strategic partnerships with local businesses, alumni networks, and industry leaders, and leverage innovative branding strategies to expand their reach. We will also examine the power of social media, focusing on platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram, to build a digital brand that connects employers and students. Additionally, we’ll cover metrics and tools to measure success, share lessons learned from overcoming challenges, and provide guidance on continuously adapting strategies. Join us to explore how to transform employer relations and elevate career services through creative employer engagement in today’s digital landscape.

As international students increasingly pursue U.S. higher education for career development, UMBC has developed a comprehensive support system to address the over 51% of graduate student population and their unique challenges. This session will highlight UMBC’s strategies to increase international student access to experiential learning, on-campus employment, and essential resources. UMBC has done this by creating a hybrid staff position, International Student Career Advisor, to align immigration compliance in the office of International Student Success with career services which has expanded the support, alignment, and resources offered to this population. We have also partnered and continue to partner with employers through The International Career Collective and other external partnerships which has increased opportunities for international student employment while on campus and post grad. Additionally, the On-Campus Employment Expos initiative has expanded and aligned departments across the university to offer job opportunities for students who are limited to working on campus during their first two semesters. And finally, programs including the Clothing Closet and Retrievers Essentials address students' basic needs for clothing, food, and housing. These initiatives have fostered a sense of belonging for international students and enable them to thrive both on and off campus- leading to high programming engagement and an impressive career outcome rate of 88% within 6 months of graduation. Attendees of this session will learn actionable strategies for creating inclusive and holistic career support systems for international students at their institutions.

This session will showcase how the University of Connecticut Regional Campus Career Centers have developed holistic, equity-focused initiatives to address the unique challenges faced by commuter and first-generation students, who often balance financial hardships, multiple jobs, and family responsibilities. Through strategic partnerships with departments, faculty, and staff, the career centers have implemented innovative programs, including Pop-Up and Drop-In Career Programming, a Professional Clothing Closet, Part-Time Job Fairs, Summer On-Campus Micro Internships, and Career Treks to local businesses. These initiatives are tailored to meet the specific needs of regional campus students, emphasizing access and inclusion. Success was measured using metrics such as program attendance, participant feedback, and on-campus internship participation. We hope to inspire similar efforts nationwide so that we can collectively create a more inclusive and equitable future for all students. Session attendees will: -Discover how to gain buy-in and foster partnerships with departments, staff, and faculty to build a shared commitment to career equity, ensuring career support is embedded throughout the campus community. 
-Gain knowledge and tools to actively champion career equity by addressing the needs of diverse students including implementing initiatives such as professional clothing closets and creative pop-up and drop-in career programs. 
-Develop creative approaches to scale career education and increase student engagement through high-touch career programming, making career services more accessible.

This session aims to help teaching faculty integrate the NACE Career Competencies into their courses. I will share the changes I have implemented in my course, AH 4242: Counseling & Teaching for the Health Professional, which have enhanced students' career readiness through seamless integration of the NACE Career Competencies with course content. I will a) outline my collaboration with UConn’s Center for Career Readiness & Life Skills, which helped incorporate career-focused activities and assessments into my curriculum; b) review the 8 NACE Career Competencies, supported by research showing the benefits of integrating them into coursework for post-graduation success, c) highlight the revisions made to my syllabus that explicitly align the course objectives with NACE Career Competencies; d) provide examples of classroom activities, assessments, and reflections that promoted students' career competency development professional growth; e) share survey data that I collected from my class of 69 students, which demonstrates a self-reported increase in their familiarity and awareness of the NACE Career Competencies as a result of the changes implemented. This approach ensures that career readiness is central to academic learning, equipping students with the competencies that employers value.

At Bowling Green State University, we are using a design thinking approach to scaling career education. With two endowed centers focused on life design, the Radbill Center and Kuhlin Career Hub, life design anchors our campus-wide student success strategies. In the Radbill Center, students are introduced to design thinking and how to apply it to academics, connections, well-being, career, and purpose through life design courses and 1-on-1 coaching. This lays a foundation for students to interact with the Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections more effectively and proactively. Rather than waiting until later in their academic career, students design and prototype work-integrated learning throughout their experience. Incorporating custom career milestones, students better understand the steps from career exploration to securing full-time employment. Over the next year, it will allow us to leverage our network of faculty and staff Life Design Affiliates as another data collection source, allowing the Kuhlin Career Hub to make data-informed decisions and provide specific solutions for students at various milestones. With a hybrid centralized and decentralized approach, the Kuhlin Hub has teams focused on corporate engagement, career design, and student employment in our student union along with satellite Career Design Coaches embedded within academic colleges. This innovative approach is designed to empower Bowling Green State University to close the gap between college and career. The main outcome for this session is learning about a comprehensive life design strategy for career education on a campus-wide scale.

"This session explores the need to shift beyond traditional internship models to a broader spectrum of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) opportunities. Drawing on recent findings and actionable strategies, it presents a compelling case for diversifying experiential learning pathways to meet student needs and institutional goals. Participants will leave with innovative approaches to scaling WIL programs and actionable steps to foster equitable career readiness.
 
Identifying the Challenge:
Research reveals a significant gap between the availability of internships and the growing demand from students. This overreliance on internships as the primary model of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) creates systemic barriers, disproportionately affecting underrepresented student populations who may lack access to these opportunities.
 
Building the Case for Diversification:
Expanding WIL options beyond traditional internships is essential to meet diverse student needs. Alternative models, such as project-based learning, on-campus employment, micro-internships, and community-engaged projects, offer more inclusive, flexible, and scalable pathways for career development. These approaches ensure students from varied backgrounds can gain meaningful, real-world experience.
 
Learning Outcomes:
Understand the limitations of internship-centric models and the need for scalable WIL solutions.
Learn practical strategies for diversifying experiential learning options.
Gain actionable insights into creating equity-driven, institution-wide career readiness initiatives."

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As a primarily two-year college, UC Clermont faced the unique challenge of providing meaningful, hands-on experience within a limited timeframe, while also addressing financial and scheduling constraints faced by both students and community partners. In response, I launched the Cronin Career Scholars program, an innovative approach supported by a generous donor to secure paid internships that meet the needs of our associate degree students. Through partnerships with non-profits and small businesses that often have limited budgets, we were able to create flexible part-time roles where students can apply classroom knowledge in real-world settings. This model provides a solution to the high cost of unpaid internships by offering students competitive wages and flexible schedules, reducing the need for additional part-time jobs. By thinking outside the box, we have empowered students to build professional skills, contribute to the local community, and gain a competitive edge as they transition into four-year programs. As a result, we've developed two courses specifically designed to prepare students for internships and co-ops and to support their on-the-job experience. Furthermore, we have a pipeline of 25 businesses that request our students each semester to co-op. 
 
Context: We've had a two-person team serving a campus with 3,000 students, 60% of them are online, for three years, and under my leadership (and an amazing team) this is our growth from Fall 2021 - Spring 2024. Career Program Attendance 138% growth, New Business Connections Annually 26% increase, Coaching Appointments 203% growth, DIY Online Course 90% increase in student activity, and Classroom Presentations 25% decrease because we made videos and modules for faculty to use. I have so many topics to discuss on how to scale career services on a tight budget with a small shop. Please let me know how I can help. Thanks!

Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, transitioned from a traditional Career Services model (of 30+ years) to an innovative Career and Life Design framework in August 2023 to address students’ growing uncertainties in decision making and career readiness. This session will share key milestones, strategies, and outcomes from our journey into the Career Ecosystem Era. Participants will learn about five critical themes driving this transformation: 1) integrating life design strategies into campus culture through workshops, programs, and strategic initiatives (Mapping Your Journey Workshop, Career Studio Programming with faculty, Freshmen Exploration Program, submission of design thinking curriculum to General Education Reform Committee, Strategic Plan 2030); 2) building a co-located model within Academic Affairs with shared funding; 3) leveraging big data and dashboards for campus-wide collaborations (Post-Graduation Outcome Dashboard, Internship RSS Feeds, NACM Dashboards for strategic discussions); 4) leading a university-wide Experiential Learning & Internship Council for student success through initiatives like The OU Pledge; and 5) engaging in university-wide committees to align career education with institutional goals (Strategic Planning Committee, Strategic Enrollment Management, Community Engagement Steering Committee, OU-Pontiac Initiative, Baldridge Performance Excellence Committee). Each theme will include actionable steps, key stakeholder engagement, and implementation strategies, offering practical insights for institutions aiming to scale career education and foster a career-ready culture.

In today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape, effective collaboration between faculty and career services is crucial for preparing students for post-graduate success. Yet, many institutions struggle to create sustainable and meaningful partnerships. This presentation explores how career services professionals can serve as effective liaisons, fostering strategic collaborations with faculty through a proactive, service-oriented approach. Drawing from our experience as Assistant Directors of Career Services at public institutions, this session will equip attendees with a framework for building and maintaining faculty relationships and integrating career development into curriculum. Presenters will touch on how to report student success outcomes to create a ripple effect for faculty engagement.

Career planning is a crucial element for students navigating their professional journey, but traditional models are often viewed as a rigid checklist that students follow to complete tasks like resume writing, internships, and job applications and frequently lack inclusivity, adaptability, and innovation. In response, UConn is leading a transformative approach to career planning, sparked by insights from the National Alumni Career Mobility (NACM) survey. This data-driven survey identified creating a career plan as one of the high-impact career practices that significantly improve alumni career mobility and satisfaction. Yet only 36% of UConn alumni engaged in career planning, compared to 40% nationally. The UConn Career Center convened a committee of faculty and staff advisors from across the University to create a career plan accessible to all undergraduate students, regardless of major, year, or campus. Searching for an innovative solution that resonated with UConn’s student population, UConn partnered with Canva, a disruptive industry leader in user-friendly digital content creation. Together, they developed a packaged suite of interactive lessons and activities that allow for exploration, goal setting, planning, reflection, and action. This collaboration offers students—both at UConn and globally—free access to a comprehensive career planning toolkit.

In this session, we will share how the Office of Career Connections at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) transformed career education by integrating the Symplicity Career Services Management (CSM) platform, fostering strategic partnerships, and prioritizing personalized advising. We will demonstrate the innovative use of technology to streamline services, enhance engagement, and deliver tailored resources to diverse student populations. Through case studies and real-time interactive tools, we will showcase how we cultivated partnerships with top healthcare employers and organizations to create pipelines for internships, fellowships, and employment opportunities. Attendees will gain insights into our data-driven approach to scaling career education, including strategies to address equity and accessibility challenges. Outcomes included a 40% increase in student participation in career events, a 25% growth in employer engagement, and improved placement rates for graduates in high-impact roles. The session will conclude with actionable takeaways and resources to help attendees replicate these successes at their institutions.