Bringing Career Development to the Classroom: Balancing Faculty Support

Nicole McDavid, UAH College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Career and Internship Coordinator

Students increasingly request faculty to incorporate career development initiatives into their curriculum, seeking a seamless integration of professional growth opportunities within the classroom setting (NACE). In a recent NACE study, 92% of faculty reported that students approached them requesting career advice during the academic year. Navigating this need without further burdening faculty members is the challenge that career coaches, coordinators, and advisors must address. Faculty at universities are already stretched to their limits. According to a 2023 survey (Inside Higher Ed) over 50% of respondents reported feeling some level of burnout. Burnout is a multi-faceted problem within higher education connected to consistent issues like pay scale, campus unrest, and upward mobility, and newer issues like the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in the same survey faculty most valued the ability to just “do their job” and the benefits that come from an academic career (flexibility in work schedule, autonomy, and serving the next generation of scholars are just a few benefits that were listed). Career Services has to find innovative ways to reach both the needs of students and faculty in bringing career awareness into the classroom without adding to faculty members’ plates.?

“It should come as no surprise that students are going to be consulting with many different people about their career path.” (NACE, 2019)

A series of interviews with Career Service Representatives in the state of Alabama drew insightful conclusions about simple career implementations within the classroom that will take little to zero faculty effort. While there are larger-scale integrations that can be done (Career Champions is one that has effectively been done on several campuses across the nation), starting small supports faculty and students at the current status and also provides room for future growth.?Below are some ways that career service professionals can begin connecting with faculty on career development.

1. Build content that faculty can implement seamlessly into already-created courses.?This can include syllabus statements, activities, featured talks, or complete modules compatible with the integration system used at your University. Provide handouts on the content of the modules to raise faculty awareness and include quick guides for easy implementation to courses. Some popular topics include resume writing, mock interviewing, networking basics, brand building, and career pathways.?
2. Support faculty that are already incorporating career elements into their courses and raise awareness.?Performing a quick (and short!) survey of faculty to see what types of career incorporation is already taking place provides guidance on where career support is needed. Many faculty are already bringing in guest speakers from the career field, having students participate in career connected activities, or even holding job shadowing opportunities. In the realm of higher education silos can easily be created just based on work schedules, so it is important to have an idea of what faculty are already doing. Once there is a knowledge base of current faculty career connections, reach out for support. An already scheduled talk from an industry professional for one class could potentially be advertised to the entire major by the career coordinator. It requires no extra work for the faculty member, besides sharing the knowledge of the talk with the career coordinator.?
3. Recognize and share the career efforts of faculty members.?Making sure faculty members receive recognition for their efforts fosters not only a sense of connection among faculty and career services, but encourages a continuation of efforts going forward. The obvious immediate recognition is sending a tailored email to the faculty member thanking them for their time and contributions. However, if career departments have budgets to do so, having a small gift, gift card, or personalized items to give faculty members with a handwritten note builds that recognition further and reinforces the value of the faculty member within the college.?

“A culture of genuine recognition—one that goes beyond the bulk email—moves the needle on people’s sense of fulfillment and success at work.” (Chessman, 2023)

Overall, having knowledge and understanding of your college’s dynamic is an integral part of implementing career connections within the classroom. This is not a one size fits all approach. Career services representatives should have an understanding of who the faculty is and how they can best support their efforts within each department. Once an approach is decided on, career services representatives need to stay involved and provide updates to any and all materials and continue to foster the relationship with faculty the same way that they foster relationships with industry professionals. Both are an important element in building students’ knowledge of careers throughout their college experience.?

Articles Mentioned

Chessman, H.M. (2023). Effective strategies for combating faculty burnout. Higher Education Today. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2023/05/18/effective-strategies-for-combating-faculty-burnout/

Gatta, M., Finley, A., & Green, P. (2024). Faculty attitudes and behaviors: The integration of career readiness into the curriculum. National Association of Colleges and Employers. https://naceweb.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2024/publication/free-report/nace-2024-faculty-attitudes-and-behaviors.pdf?sfvrsn=5bbadc40_3

McCandless, S., McDonald, B., & Rinfret, S. (2023). Walking faculty back from the cliff. Institution of Higher Education. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2023/08/21/institutions-must-take-faculty-burnout-seriously-opinion

White, A.B. (2019). Creating a Culture of Collaboration With Career Champions. National Association of Colleges and Employers. https://www.naceweb.org/career-development/best-practices/creating-a-culture-of-collaboration-with-career-champions/

Special Thanks

Brandon Wright, Ph.D. , UAB, Rachel Gentry , Calhoun Community College, Tonya Jenkins, University of Alabama, Addie Roberds , Auburn University?