How to Get Started with the NACE Competency Assessment Tool: Workshop for Higher Ed. Professionals

Career Level: Basic-, intermediate-, and advanced-level career services professionals
Competency: Measurement and analysis
Fee: FREE (member); FREE (nonmember);

Summary
Imagine if your students understood from the very start what competencies they needed to focus on and learn throughout their journey in higher education to be career ready. Integrating the NACE Career Readiness Competencies at an institutional level can make this a reality, and the NACE Competency Assessment Tool can help you measure whether students on your campus are accomplishing this goal over time.

In this workshop, we will share several models for using this assessment at multiple layers and for a variety of stakeholders in higher education—staff, faculty, and administrators. We will work with you to consider the uses of this assessment in various divisions or offices, for program review processes, and for assessments required by accreditors. You will also explore methods for integrating this assessment with other assessments used on your campus.

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Begin using the NACE Competency Assessment Tool as a critical mechanism for measuring and improving the career readiness of students, job candidates, interns, and new hires;
- Learn how to get started off on the right foot; and
- Build a clear and cohesive plan for piloting the NACE Competency Assessment Tool in a way that meets the needs of all your stakeholders.
Presenters

Niesha Taylor PhD, Director of Career Readiness, NACE
Niesha Taylor, Ph.D., is NACE's first director of career readiness and leads the association's career readiness strategy and initiatives. Previously, she served as senior director for career pathways at the New York Jobs CEO Council and as dean for academic innovation and career success at Guttman Community College. She earned her doctorate in linguistics from the CUNY Graduate Center and her master's in education from the New School for Social Research.

Jessica Perez, Director Career Services, LaGuardia Community College - Career Services
Jessica Perez, Ed.D., is the director of the Center for Career & Professional Development at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York; she is a certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator practitioner with 20+ years of experience in career and professional development and employer partnership building. Dr. Perez oversees the SOAR Experiential Learning Program, Elmezzi Foundation Career Fellows Program, CUNY Career Launch, Spring Forward, and several other internship programs at the college. She previously served as the co-president of the Career Services Association of CUNY for four years, co-chair of the NACE Career Readiness Task Force from 2022-2023, and co-lead for the NACE Two-Year and Community College Affinity Group from 2019-2021. Dr. Perez’s diverse expertise is instrumental in helping her to guide and empower students to flourish in their chosen careers. She earned a doctorate in education from the University of Southern Mississippi’s higher education administration program, and her research is focused on first-generation students and how career services impact retention and graduation rates. She earned her master’s in public administration from Metropolitan College of New York and her bachelor’s degree in English and sociology from Binghamton University. In June 2013, she completed the New York City Management Academy, a selective leadership training program for City of New York managers and executives.