OPENING KEYNOTE: A Moderated Discussion with Dr. Cornel West

An interactive moderated keynote presentation on the intersectionality of the workforce, higher education and diversity. 

"Dr. West is truly a gift. He was thoughtful, real and inspiring and should speak at every conference related to higher education!"

"Excellent!!! Loved every minute about it. Dr. West was phenomenal and spoke to my experiences, thought process and my heart."

Dr. Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual. He is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. Cornel West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton.  

He has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, "Race Matters" and "Democracy Matters," and for his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." His most recent book, "Black Prophetic Fire," offers an unflinching look at nineteenth and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies.

Dr. West is a frequent guest on the Bill Maher Show, CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of publics in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. 
  

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One Company’s Approach to Inclusion and Tips for Employer Relations Sponsored by Vector Marketing Corporation

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"PPL Corp. was a great example of a company setting a high standard for corporate diversity and inclusion. The information they provided will be helpful as I offer my employer partners insight about best practices for corporate diversity and inclusion."

Description: As a FORTUNE 500 company and one of the ten largest investor-owned utility companies in the United States, we are committed to providing essential energy in extraordinary ways, and we deliver. We are also committed to a diverse and inclusive culture. Inclusion goes beyond the numbers. We have been on a continuous journey to build an inclusive culture at PPL Corporation. While there is more work to do, we believe we have had some success. You may learn some employer relations tips and best practices we have experimented with along with our university partners. We are happy to share our story and our approach.

Learning Objectives:

• Top leadership support
• Strategies that work
• Employer relations tips

Presenter: Brian Case, Manager - Corporate Talent Management, PPL Corporation

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#GetHiredUp - The Student Influencer Model for Career Centers

"I was very inspired after this session and had several takeaways. The presenter was great and did well with maintaining engagement and covering the material in detail. I am hoping to continue this dialogue with the presenter and establish new programs at our university. Great job!"

"Very good. Although we have a similar model, I found a lot to enhance our current model. Excellent job."

Description: Career Centers have to react to the fact that less than 20% of Generation Z students will utilize email for their academic lives (Campaign Monitor, 2019) and we have to learn to meet students where they are at - on social media. Imagine what can happen when you further engage current undergraduate students in spreading brand awareness for you, your goals, and promoting your events. What does active recognition of and engagement with the Career Center events look like for students? During the Summer of 2018, Merrimack College developed a student-based program designed to fill this need. The Get Hired Up Student Campaign allows for our students to develop necessary skills across any discipline: digital technology, critical thinking, oral communication, and professionalism. They become leaders among their peers through the growth in knowledge and experience of working with our professional staff. Students build their skills while doing grassroots marketing for the career center and our services - resulting in a win for all. Within this session, we will highlight what went into the inaugural year of the campaign, how we managed our resources wisely, and what year two transformed our program into. Year three started amid covid and a hybrid campus which changed the overall look of the program but maintained its traditions in the purest sense. This is applicable to campuses of any size and can align well with current Peer Career Advising models.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify avenues for highly effective student participation and leadership in the office's marketing strategy which can increase the social media presence of the Career Center across campus.
• Take away examples of how student ambassadors can become campus social media influencers within just one academic year by learning more about Generation Z.
• Acknowledge the cross-over between various formats of Student Ambassador programs within the Career Services world and which format will be the best development opportunity for students on your campus.

Presenter: Shannon Zelek, Assistant Director, Employer Engagement, Merrimack College

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An Innovative Approach to Integrating Career Preparation into the Academic Curriculum

"The content was fantastic in this session and prompted a lot of ideas to consider in the future; The presenters were great with detailing all phases of the program, along with advice for others."

"Very good, informative and walked away with strategies."

Description: Distinct from general education programs that either offers a menu of area requirements or, at the other extreme, rely on an open curriculum, Connecticut College's Connections program guides students through a 4-year developmental process of enhanced integrative thinking and interdisciplinary problem-solving. Within Connections, students learn to craft a personalized research inquiry that draws on courses across the curriculum, off-campus engagement in study away and/or internships and culminates in a capstone presentation at an All-College Symposium in their senior year. Woven into Connections, the Hale Center for Career Development created a 4-year developmental model for career exploration - the Career Action Program (CAP). Right from the start, students work with a career adviser in their first-year seminars and explore the linkages between their developing academic interests and relevant career pursuits. They also take a for-credit 7-week Career Preparation Course that teaches students the basics of career exploration, networking, storytelling, and professionalism. They then proceed to Advanced Career Engagement (ACE) opportunities with alumni, employers, and community partners. As they complete each aspect of CAP, they unlock flexible funding options to support job shadowing, internships, and skill development. CAP contrasts with more traditional funded internship programs that only release funds after the junior year. In this way, it allows students to build increasingly sophisticated career skills through accumulated knowledge and experience in conjunction with their academic development. At each juncture of CAP, students are expected to reflect on their career learning and its relationship to their academic study.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, participants will:

• Learn an innovative approach to general education that applies a developmental model to cultivate integrative thinking and interdisciplinary problem-solving.
• Learn how to partner with stakeholders to create an innovative approach to designing a 4-year developmental model to career development
• Hear how a credit-bearing course can be engaging and challenging for students.
• Hear examples of how targeted career support can lead to successful outcomes.

Presenter: Persephone Hall, Hale Family Director, Hale Center for Career Development, Connecticut College

Co-Presenters: 

• Loretta "Lori" Balantic, Director, Hale Center for Career Development, Connecticut College
• Jefferson Singer, Dean of the College, Connecticut College

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Growing Up Chaim: the Impact of Ethnic Names on Employment and Education

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"Growing up Chaim. A name seems so simple, but Chaim provided such an in depth explanation of the importance of saying a name correctly. He also discussed historical importance of a name."

Description: Names are fundamental to our identities. English American Poet W H Auden once said, "Proper names are poetry in the raw. Like all poetry they are untranslatable." Either a name is pronounced correctly or it is not. There is no middle ground. Imagine growing up with a name that no one can pronounce. Think of that kind of name that people stare at, trying to decipher on your conference badge. You can feel their discomfort as they hope that you will just come out and say it before they are forced to venture a try. But what happens if even that does not help, as they struggle to process what they heard and try to use some facsimile thereof? There is no English equivalent to the first letter of my name. Even when I come out and say it, the vast majority of people still can't pronounce "Chaim." Normally ethnic names are understood and commonplace within one's own ethnic community. Perhaps I am unique in that my middle name, Zorach, is rare enough that it elicits blank stares and quizzical looks from other Orthodox Jews. Names are one of the most fundamental things. Imagine feeling the need to explain, offer assistance and eventually excuse people who are just trying to say your name, and then imagine the need to do so every day of your life! Growing up "Chaim," I often just gave up and told people an easier-to-pronounce, albeit incorrect, version of my name. To this day I frequently come across people who assume I misspelled my own name, assuming the correct version is "Chain." We recognize that diversity is one of the greatest strengths in our multicultural society, and we have made great strides. The United States elected and reelected a President named Barack Hussein Obama. We certainly encounter more ethnic names than ever before and we must endeavor to ensure that we all do our best to correctly pronounce that most basic part of our identities: our names. This session will explore the challenges involved with living with an ethnic name and the impact it has on education and employment. We will explore case studies and engage in role-playing exercises to help us understand the challenges faced by people with ethnic names. Finally, we will suggest practical solutions so that we can approach our first interactions with colleagues and students with ethnic names with sensitivity.

Learning Objectives:

• Construct an effective and sensitive methodology to approaching first interactions with students and colleagues with ethnic names
• Empower Career Services and Human Resources professionals to assist students with ethnic names to minimize professional and workplace challenges and achieve career success
• Facilitate discussions and dialogue to incorporate the challenges posed by ethnic names into college and employer diversity training programs.

Presenter: Chaim Shapiro, Director, Touro College

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Queer Connect - Bridging the Gap Between LGBTQIA+ Students and Workforce

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

“This was my favorite sessions. She did an excellent job presenting and the material was
relevant and informative. I learned so much during this presentation!”

“Queer Connect session was fantastic, thank you for all of the great information and terrific presentation!”

Description: While campus climates have gotten warmer for LGBTQIA+ students, it's important to recognize how their overall life experiences may impact their confidence levels, ability to showcase their skills and hinder their cultural capital. This program provides a holistic view of how the Temple University Career Center developed initiatives to support and empower the LGBTQIA+ student population by collaborating with campus and employer partners. Gain tangible strategies for starting and building LGBTQIA+ career-related resources!

Learning Objectives:

• Better understand the employment and personal barriers that affect LGBTQIA+ students relating to the workforce.
• Learn how to build the best university partnerships focused on helping LGBTQIA+ students succeed.
• Learn methods and best practices for empowering LGBTQIA+ students interested in joining the workforce.
• Discover companies, organizations and tangible resources focused on empowering and employing LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Presenter: Samantha Munsch, Assistant Director of Internships and Experiential Education, Temple University

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Attract, Recruit, and Retain Top International Talent

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"'Attract, Recruit, Retain..' was the most practical session I have ever attended at a conference. I left with knowledge and resources to share with international students and employers recruiting at my university."

"Great info that I need to hear again and again, since they keep changing the regulations for international students."

Description: Do employers need to sponsor international students? Under OPT, STEM OPT extension, and CPT, the hiring process for international students is no different than for domestic students. During this session, the presenters will walk employers and career services offices through the process of hiring international students. From CPT and OPT to H-1B and green cards, employers and career services administrators will understand in-depth the options available to them. There is an abundance of top-notch international talent in the market- employers should take advantage of the opportunity to diversify their workforce. Career services, on the other hand, need to better educate employers on the process and logistics of hiring international students.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:

• Understand the process and logistics of hiring and retaining international students with minimal effort
• Build a proactive strategy to hire international students as part of your diversity initiatives
• Learn all the benefits and drawbacks of hiring international students
• Learn what a streamlined higher-ed infrastructure for international student looks like

Presenter: Nitin Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO, Interstride

Co-Presenter: Aaron Blumberg, Partner Attorney, Fragomen

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How To Make Partners Love Your Organization Through Virtual Community Building

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

Description: Looking forward to recruiting at SNHU even more now! I wish I had such good connections in all of my schools as I do with SNHU! These sentiments come from the Peace Corp, a valued employer partner of SNHU. How do you make partners love your organization? Through intentional virtual community building. The same principles applied in learning communities as it relates to student engagement are transferable to employer relations within Career Services. SNHU Career Services sought to develop a new community of employers and learners through a recurring exchange series in the mid-Atlantic region. Those that would benefit from virtual community building would be the learners, employers, and the institution through the creation of partnerships for strategic initiatives. Join Angelique Kim, mid-Atlantic Employer Relations Partner for SNHU and Megan Keil, Regional Recruiter - Extreme Northeast for the Peace Corps, as they share lessons learned, best practices, examples, and outcomes of virtual community building.

Learning Objectives:

By attending the session, attendees will:

• Gain lessons learned and best practices in creating virtual communities
• Be provided with examples of virtual community building and outcomes
• Gain an understanding of community building theories as applied in employer relations.

Presenter: Angelique Kim, Mid-Atlantic Employer Relations Partner, Southern New Hampshire University

Co-Presenter: Megan Keil, Regional Recruiter - Extreme Northeast, Peace Corps

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Applying Design Thinking to Your Career Fairs During COVID - Why We Hosted a Hybrid Career Fair?

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

Description: This presentation will provide the audience with a quick review of the Design Thinking Process and how staff applied it to the ODU Career Fair. The presenter will:

• Provide an overview of ODU career fairs, host an interactive discussion on the pros and cons of a face-to-face event during COVID
• Lead the audience through a design thinking exercise using the career fair as the focus
• Showcase visuals, review data, and demo tools used to host the events
• Review the developmental needs of students attending career events
• Provide feedback on the experience and share recommendations on what we would change
• Spark a group discussion for the remainder of the time that should result in ideas for future events and programs for the participant

Learning Objectives: 

• This session aims to introduce a hybrid model for hosting an in-person and virtual career fair for students.
• Attendees will get the opportunity to review other options regarding career events.
• The examples that will be given should help attendees understand the practical applications of the Design Thinking Process.

Presenter: Saranette Williams, Associate Director of Employer Programs and Development, Old Dominion University

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Ugh!?! Not Another Diversity Presentation: When Multicultural Competence Meets A Real Reality!

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"A fun and informative session."

"This was the session that had me forgetting it was virtual due to the energy, the participation ... in addition to good information. Excellent all around."

"Wonderful speaker who was extremely engaging and thought provoking!"

Description: Based on the popular book: Ugh!?! Not Another Diversity Book: When Multicultural Competence Meets A Real Reality, this training will shift your paradigms regarding racism, prejudices, stereotypes, women's issues, differences in gender, inequity, intersectionality, and media. Designed for diverse institutions or organizations, this fully engaging and interactive session is facilitated using games, activities, role-plays, and social experiments that will help challenge and develop the participant's mind and soul. Nothing is taboo. It pulls no punches and puts anything and everything on the table. This session will address anyone who desires to experience life through the eyes of others. Come to enjoy, share and experience D.A.P.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will:

• Engage in experiential learning in the domains of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation, language, age, and social class towards an analysis of equity
• Explore challenges that surface amidst interactions between people of different backgrounds, world views, environmental opportunities, and how social contexts exacerbate or reduce those challenges.
• Participate in thought-provoking, fun activities in large and small groups that will challenge thinking, understanding, society views and personal experiences.
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of relationships in diversity, inequality, and social, economic, and political power both in the United States and globally.

Presenter: Justin Brown, CEO and President, Diversity Awareness Program

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Shift from ’What You Know’ to ’How You Act’ - Assessing the 8 NACE Competencies—and the Ability to Work Remotely

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

Description: Stevens Institute of Technology, along with 180 higher education institutions, have participated in the Career Readiness Project (as of submission) resulting in 40,000 comprehensive Career Readiness Reports focusing on students’ work-related behaviors, the 8 NACE competencies, the Ability to Work Remotely—and how students rate themselves compared to their evaluators.

Learning Objectives: 

• Identify competencies employers deem ‘most essential’ and compare with student proficiency levels based on evaluator ratings—and student self-assessment ratings
• Explore how Stevens Institute of Technology students compare to a national sample of students and 87,000 job candidates rated on the same behaviors—and how they compare to engineering students nationally
• Discuss findings of the new measurement developed by SkillSurvey I/O Psychologists in Spring 2020 as the pandemic permanently changed work experiences: the ability to work remotely

Presenter: Randy Bitting, Head and Co-Founder of Career Readiness, SkillSurvey

Co-Presenter: Jill Milon, EACE President-Elect

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State of the Profession: Trends and Predictions Sponsored by Symplicity

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"Helpful to understand the recent trends. Looking forward to even more data related to the continuing pandemic in 2021."

Description: The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) leadership will provide insight into the career development and early career talent acquisition space by exploring the lessons learned and research conducted over the past six months, trends that are emerging and predictions for what's next.

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand recent trends impacting career services and university recruiting
• Leverage NACE research results to inform student and candidate engagement strategy
• Knowledge about emerging practices impacting collaboration between colleges and employers

Presenter: Shawn VanDerziel, Executive Director, NACE

Co-Presenter: David Ong, NACE President and Senior Director, Talent Acquisition for MAXIMUS Inc.

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Supporting Unpaid Internships in Social Impact Careers & How to Create a Fellowship Program

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"We have a similar program at our institution through a generous grant. Makes a difference to lots of students.
Good presentation."

Description: Unpaid internships. These opportunities are highly valued and - for many industries - the only opportunity to get experience as a student. However, unpaid internships create a plethora of issues, particularly around equity and inclusion. Students from low-income families may not be able to afford to take an unpaid internship. International students may not be able to get credit for their unpaid internships through CPT. Students from marginalized communities often want to continue working with these groups but are shown that there is no monetary value in this work. As diversity, equity, inclusion, and access become an area of focus for many universities across the country, how are career centers supporting these missions? Experiential learning often has been viewed as something that does not need to correspond to pay because of the inherent value of the opportunity and its impact on a student's long-term career goals. However, there are steps that we can take to ensure students find these opportunities and receive the compensation - and support - they deserve. In this session, we will address the complexities around unpaid internships and look at the creation of the NYU Changemaker Fellowship, a $5000 summer grant created for undergraduate students pursuing internships addressing social impact issues of economic and/or racial inequality. Attendees will walk away from this session with data to advocate for the creation of grants, guidelines for student programming to support their experiences, and an outline for steps to take in getting support from university leadership.

Learning Objectives: 

• Learn relevant data for use in advocating for the creation of funds
• Understand steps to create grant application and program syllabus
• Identify steps to take in obtaining buy-in from leadership

Presenter: Sarah Rosenthal, Manager, Experiential Learning Programs, New York University, Wasserman Center for Career Development

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Bridging Gaps: Creating Equitable Career Programming for Underrepresented Students at Predominantly White Institutions

"Temple University Career Center did an excellent job presenting Bridging the Gaps."

Description: Let's look at creative ways to engage and serve students of color and ethnically diverse student populations by looking at academic sources and national statistics. Let's talk about why a focus on underrepresented students, primarily students of color, is necessary in career services. In this session, Temple University's team of inclusive career service professionals will highlight the new and sustained career programming and practices at Temple University to address these needs- highlighting our Careers In Color Series and Newsletter as well as other selected programming and initiatives. We will show how we work to connect and involve students with our programming through partnerships with employers, alumni, faculty, staff, student organizations, and individual students. We will also highlight how we are marketing our team by sharing our backgrounds and lived experiences, to become more approachable helping us reach and serve more students. We will share lessons we have learned along the way and recommendations on how to prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programming working at a predominantly white institution. The session will conclude with a discussion of strategies and approaches other institutions are using.

Learning Objectives:

• Achieve a shared understanding of why university career services should allocate time and resources to programming for underrepresented college students
• Hear strategies and approaches for engaging underrepresented students with career programming on college campuses.
• Learn about alternative ideas to build connections.
• Brainstorm and connect with professionals from other institutions on how to support underrepresented college students on your campus

Presenter: Calista Condo, Outreach Specialist, Employer Partnerships, Temple University Career Center

Co-Presenters:

• Mark Kaloko, Senior Career Coach, Temple University Career Center
• Erin Lemons, Associate Director of Employer Partnerships, Temple University Career Center

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Uncovering Implicit Bias in the Student Employment Hiring Process

This program is valid for 1.00 PDC for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. 

"Great materials were provided and the discussion was incredibly relevant."

Description: Implicit bias inhibits the diversification of the workforce and reduces efforts of inclusion and equity in the hiring, onboarding, and training processes. How do we unpack implicit bias to ensure that our student employee talent pool is not only diverse but also thrives under fair work practices? This session will provide an overview of common biases that occur in the recruitment and hiring processes, and offer various practical strategies that can be used to combat them. Participants will also gain a better understanding of how to recognize their own biases in order to advance inclusion in the hiring process of student employees.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain awareness of what implicit bias is and how it shows up in our everyday lives
• Understand the different types of biases that may prevent hiring managers from being objective in the hiring process
• Learn how to implement simple and effective techniques to the entire hiring cycle (posting jobs, interviewing, candidate selection, onboarding and training)

Presenter: Diana Mendez, Senior Assistant Director/Manager, New York University Wasserman Center for Career Development

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Closing Panel Discussion Sponsored by Enterprise: Our Stories, Our Communities, Our Strength 

In order to truly be all in, we need to examine not only the diverse identities within ourselves but the culture of our organization. Through their stories, Dr. Daniel Agular and Dr. Annie Nguyen converse about how their experiences have shaped their identities and communities. Part of that is understanding the challenges and opportunities for students and professionals to navigate their careers and leadership in ways that build and rebuild their communities. In the face of an uncertain global economic and social justice environment, they offer perspectives on the frameworks and strategies for engaging our communities with renewed strength. 

Presenters:

• Dr. Annie Nguyen, Coordinator of Study Abroad and Global Education, York College of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Daniel Pascoe Aguilar, Associate Provost for Immersive Learning and Career Design, Drew University

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