Leadership and staff from Vanderbilt’s Center for Student Professional Development shared some of their innovative practices with industry peers at two of the nation’s leading career development conferences this summer and hosted a peer school internship consortium on campus.
Center director Cindy Funk, associate director Jim Bellar and organizational effectiveness consultant Stephanie Brodtrick appeared at the National Career Development Conference in Long Beach, California, where they discussed how they used the book Blue Ocean Strategy to design a professional development model that promotes resilience in Vanderbilt students. The group outlined the positive outcomes the Vanderbilt center has realized as a result of making these changes.
Anne Reed, coordinator of student engagement, also spoke at the conference on “Promoting Resilience in Freshmen Students Using the Five Pillars and Chaos Theory.” She highlighted work the Vanderbilt center has done with students at The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons to develop professional competencies, explore opportunities and understand change.
Center for Student Professional Development coaches Dorrie Presson and Heather Lefkowitz presented “Connecting with Students Using Informal Assessments” at the National Association of Colleges and Employers conference in San Antonio, Texas. They discussed how this emerging approach helps students explore opportunities by understanding themes and patterns in their lives.
The University Career Action Network, a consortium of 21 universities including Harvard, Princeton, Brown and Duke, held its annual meeting on the Vanderbilt campus in June to discuss internship strategies and coordination. The Center for Student Professional Development hosted the event.
Contact:
Angie Beason, (615) 322-2750
angie.beason@vanderbilt.edu