Here’s what participants had to say: Highlights from Working Groups

2018 #CloseEdGaps Student Success Symposium

The 2018 Student Success Symposium, presented by Strada Education Network and InsideTrack, brought together nearly 70 higher education leaders to network, share ideas, analyze data and take meaningful action to advance college and career outcomes for underrepresented students. What happens when university administrators, nonprofit professionals and policymakers put their heads together? You get an innovative set of approaches to preparing students for choice-filled lives.

We’ve boiled down the insights, examples and cheerful debates emerging from the symposium’s working sessions into the following ten themes.

Enhancing career readiness

The expectation that students will choose a major and choose a career soon upon starting college may not be in line with the evolving nature of today’s marketplace, in which many individuals will have several careers over a lifetime.
It can be challenging for institutions to build a career exploration process into the student journey while still supporting students in making timely progress toward their degree.
The definition of “career readiness” may differ among various student populations or institution types.
Likewise, methods of assessing career readiness can also vary greatly.

Supporting underrepresented students

Financial pressures and other obligations may limit underrepresented students’ access to unpaid internships and other extracurricular career development opportunities.
Institutional resources and programs are often the primary source of career mentorship and guidance for underrepresented students.
Normalizing financial literacy training and the utilization of support resources can help underrepresented students succeed.

Fostering partnerships

At most institutions, no single department or program is responsible for teaching career readiness or financial literacy skills.
Faculty, alumni and community networks can be leveraged to enhance students’ career opportunities.
Industry partnerships can also be leveraged to broaden access to internships and other career preparation activities.

For the complete report from the working group sessions, go here.

Jim Jablowski

VP Enrollment, and 2017 Attendee

[this is an ideal place to provide testimonials. Ideas like someone from ECSU, Jose the keynote, Krystal Clark, I can go on]
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WHO

Senior leaders from across higher education, industry, philanthropy and government gathering to share ideas, analyze data and take meaningful action to advance college and career outcomes for underrepresented students.

WHAT

The symposium features inspiring speakers, informative discussions and engaging working sessions designed to produce actionable results. A virtual student panel will infuse the program with diverse student voices to connect us with the individuals our work impacts.

WHY

We gather to #CloseEDGaps. We know that higher education isn't perfect, but it's transformative. And together, we can make it even better – more accessible, more career-forward, more diverse, more equitable. And most importantly, we can create more graduates.

Here’s what participants had to say: Highlights from Working Groups