Career Ready Fellows: Using Course Learning Experiences to Prepare Students for Careers

Ahmad Almomani, Department of Mathematics

Travis Bailey, Department of Biology

Justin Behrend, Department of History

Hanna Brant, Department of Political Science & International Relations

Whitney Brown, Department of Psychology

Byeong-Hak Choe, School of Business

Claire Gravelin, Department of Pyschology

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Jennifer Guzmán, Department of Anthropology

"As the coordinator for the interdisciplinary programs in sociomedical sciences and linguistics and a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology I teach and advise students who have clear career goals and others who are uncertain how to translate their college experiences into a profession. All of these students benefit from opportunities to advance their career preparation and expand their skill sets. I am looking forward to participating in the Career Ready Fellows program and working closely with other dedicated colleagues to expand Geneseo's resources for students who are preparing for careers in such important areas as health care, public health, and social services."

Jyothsna Harithsa, School of Business

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Shawn Harnish, School of Business

"Knowledge without application is a lot like a bobble head. Big head is bouncing all around but it isn't going anywhere. Putting knowledge to work provides the traction to go down a pathway that leads to  success. I always strive to create this bridge in my classrooms." 

Li Lu, School of Business

Kathleen Mapes, Department of History

Brenna McCaffrey, Department of Anthropology

Sam Newberry, Department of Biology

Lytton Smith, Department of English

• Opportunity to develop new course materials that support student needs and interests
• Work with a cohort of faculty and professionals who are interested in connecting course activities with career readiness competencies
• $600 stipend 

• Incorporating a new activity that directly connects critical thinking done in a course activity with how the students would use that skill after they leave college.
• A syllabus reorganization or redesign that emphasizes and highlights teamwork and leadership skills that are necessary for successful employment and already a part of your course.
• Designing a mock interview in which students prepare statements on how their coursework prepared them to be more capable in using technology and being more professional.
• Incorporating regular reflections throughout the semester that ask students to make connections between equity and inclusion topics in your coursework and how students could talk about these in job applications and job settings.
• A project that serves a local community or simulates a task someone in a professional career would do that includes a reflection on how the students would talk about this project during an interview.
• A series of guest presentations that explore and connect your course material with professional practice and communication.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is a professional association of college career service professionals. They use a framework of eight competencies and behaviors for addressing career-related goals, which they define as “a foundation from which to demonstrate requisite core competencies that broadly prepare the college educated for success in the workplace and lifelong career management.” The eight career readiness competencies identified by NACE are:

• Professionalism
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Teamwork
• Technology
• Leadership
• Equity & Inclusion
• Career & Self Development

As our campus endeavors to expand student access to experiential learning opportunities, aligning these experiences with the NACE Competencies gives us a framework and uniform language to empower students to talk about their experiences. 

A recently released report called, “Integrating Academic and Career Development: Strategies to Scale Experiential Learning and Reflection Across the Curriculum,” identified practices that encourage ongoing reflection and narration for students. This helps them transition from “I took” and “I learned” statements towards “I did" and "I can do” assertions. Faculty members in this cohort will be integrating teaching practices that encourage students to reflect and assist them with incorporating course competencies into the development of their professional persona. Throughout students’ SUNY Geneseo experience they collect assignments, experiences, and new competencies; one of the goals of this project is to help students articulate how they will be able to leverage their experience to themselves and others. Students could be saving class assignments in a portfolio to share later, taking time in the moment to reflect on growth and goals, or doing mock interviews and practicing how they will talk about connecting their classwork with skills for a potential job.

Submit the Career Ready Fellowship application by Tuesday, March 24, 2026.