Faculty Resources

A Call to Action 

With the merger of the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts and the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, the Center for Professional Success needed to determine how career readiness would be defined for future Ric Edelman College graduates. The selected avenue to direct career development and job placement services for all Ric Edelman majors involved organizing and establishing Career Learning Outcomes for the new college. 

Career Learning Outcomes are statements that enumerate the competencies, skills, and knowledge students should possess upon graduating from an institution. These statements articulate the outcomes institutions seek to provide for each student as they progress throughout their academic journey. Similar to how professors outline learning objectives that are fulfilled through lectures and assignments, Career Learning Outcomes define what career readiness and job placement will entail for Ric Edelman College students.

Ric Edelman College: Career Learning Outcomes

Through a semester-long initiative, Career Learning Outcomes were established through collaboration and input from Ric Edelman faculty, as well as representation from the Ric Edelman College’s Employer Advisory Board. Contributions from faculty who will implement this instruction, as well as from organizations that most frequently employ Ric Edelman graduates, were critical to ensuring that all key stakeholders were represented in establishing these directives.

Establishing the following Career Learning Outcomes will empower faculty and academic departments to infuse career readiness and job placement content into their classroom lectures and academic coursework:

1st Year & Sophomore Year Program Goal: RU Exploring?

• Student Learning Goal (End Result of Intervention): 
• Students will begin proactively exploring their major, extracurricular opportunities, and possible career pathways.
• Student Learning Outcome (How the Goal will be Accomplished):
  • Students will research, reflect on, and identify their own academic interests, as well as learning about possible pathways through their major
  • Students will investigate careers and potential job titles that relate to their program of study.
  • Students will explore extracurricular opportunities, including on-campus jobs, clubs and athletics, internal and external internships, and other activities in their home departments, as well as across the wider campus.
  • Building on their ongoing exploration, students will develop an individual development plan that maps out their academic, extracurricular, and professional development intentions for their first and sophomore years.

Mid-Collegiate (Sophomore & Junior) Program Goal: RU Engaged?

• Student Learning Goal (End Result of Intervention): 
• Students will develop the confidence, career competencies, and knowledge needed to distinguish themselves for viable experiential learning (internship, leadership, professional development, research, etc.) opportunities to fulfill their experiential learning graduation requirement.
• Student Learning Outcomes (How the Goal will be Accomplished):
  • Students will demonstrate understanding of the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) career competencies and identify how their coursework is empowering them to develop these aptitudes.
  • Students will learn how to effectively communicate their marketability and transferable experiences through developing the initial drafts of their resumes and cover letters, and beginning a LinkedIn profile.
  • Supported by guidance from the department and/or the Center for Professional Success (CPS), students will become active members of their departments and the wider university community through participating in extracurricular activities such as clubs, athletics, internal internships, research experiences, on-campus jobs, career fairs, etc.
  • Supported by guidance from their department and/or CPS, students will seek external internships, volunteer opportunities, and/or professional development to clarify their potential career path.
  • Students will conduct a mid-career assessment in which they reflect on their individual development plan, making adjustments as needed for their junior and senior years.

Capstone/Senior Year: RU Embarking?

• Student Learning Goal (End Result of Intervention): 
  • Students will intentionally launch a plan of action to secure their goals upon graduation.
• Student Learning Outcomes (How the Goal will be Accomplished):
  • Students will conduct independent research into next steps after graduation, including graduate school programs, potential job prospects, and other desired life outcomes.
  • Students will practice describing the skills they have acquired in their major, extracurricular activities, and professional development relating them (where applicable) to the NACE competencies, and applying them to specific job descriptions and qualifications.
  • Students will refine their application materials (resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, graduate school personal statement, letters of recommendation, etc.) and recognize that they will need to tailor them for each application.
  • Supported by their department and/or CPS, students will create a plan of action that includes a strategy for managing time during the application process, networking, targeted searching or graduate school preparation.
  • Students will begin envisioning their goals after graduation, using frameworks such as “Odyssey Plans” and other contemporary life-planning frameworks offered by CPS.

Any questions regarding the Career Learning Outcomes can be directed to Patrick Massaro (massaro@rowan.edu).