Storytelling through Strategic Planning: Uplifting Career Mobility for High-Priority Students

Career Level: Intermediate- and advanced-level career services and university relations and recruiting professionals
Competency: Working with diverse populations
Fee: $69 (member); $89 (nonmember);

Summary
After the murder of George Floyd, many corporations, organizations, and institutions established elaborate diversity statements that indicate a new or renewed commitment to dismantling systems of oppression. Career services professionals have expressed interest in collaborating with recruiters on creating thoughtful hiring pipelines that connect students from historically excluded backgrounds to these diversity-minded companies. Yet, the guidance on how best to do that has been limited, and likely due to The Great Resignation and general pandemic fatigue, the motivation to develop these strong, intentional connections has waned.

Kalamazoo College completed a year-long strategic planning process that sought to transform post-graduate outcomes for students from underserved populations. We analyzed longitudinal data; identified gaps in knowledge; and facilitated focus groups with students, faculty, staff, and community partners in an effort to find avenues for better preparing marginalized students for life after college.

The result of this process is a newly unveiled, three-year, six-goal strategic plan, focused entirely on uplifting career readiness and mobility for high-priority students, specifically first-generation, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, international students, and students with disabilities. The data indicate that these populations have historically received less intentional engagement in conversations about post-graduate success; and yet we know from research that deliberate intervention with these students can impact their college and post-college success in life-changing ways. The plan is designed to flip the career center’s efforts from an “if you build it, they will come” approach to one that is purposefully integrative.

This session will walk participants through the strategic planning process that K-College undertook to develop each of our six student-focused goals. Participants will be provided with "stories" that include data samples, student quotes, and community partner feedback so they can engage with the information and learn more about the justification behind and development of each strategic goal. The end of the session will allow attendees to share their own DEI efforts and ideas for adapting K-College’s framework to the unique missions, objectives, and needs of their institutional communities.

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Identify DEI-related challenges that exist on campuses, in an effort to use them as a foundation for learning in this session;
- Engage with real data to develop well-written problem statements, SMART goals, and action plans that seek to provide thoughtful solutions as part of a comprehensive strategic planning process; and
- Share their own strategic planning/DEI efforts and learn from others in an attempt to adapt multiple institutional practices to the needs of their institutions.
Presenters

Tricia Zelaya-Leon, Assistant Dean for Career Success, The Ohio State University - ASC Center for Career and Professional Success
For more than 20 years, Tricia Zelaya-Leon has served students and the field of higher education in multiple capacities. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, she earned her B.S. in Spanish education and her M.A. in higher education, both from Ohio University. She began her professional career in housing at The Ohio State University, during which time she also completed her Ph.D. in higher education and student affairs. From there, Zelaya-Leon took her leadership to large and small institutions across the country, holding positions in graduate education, student development and assessment, and student success. Most noteworthy have been her contributions to the field of career services, where she has dedicated herself to implementing intentional initiatives that better prepare today's college graduates for meaningful and productive career success. She is an active contributor to the field through her scholarship and engagement within NACE and local and regional executive boards. She just recently rejoined the OSU community and currently serves the College of Arts and Sciences as assistant dean for career and professional success.