Meet the Career Faculty Fellows

As a teacher, I’m here to support students’ educational journeys toward their post-graduation lives.  That’s not just helping them down one specific segment of one particular path.  It’s helping them make informed decisions about which paths they want to pursue in the first place, and that means mapping out where different paths branch, evaluating the demands and rewards along them, and recognizing where each ultimately leads.  It also means intentionally preparing students for what comes next, and a large part of that is their post-graduation career.  So helping students along their educational journeys means integrating elements of career preparation into my time with them – into my courses.

We are living in a more integrated and interconnected global environment, where the world of work is changing so rapidly, as emerging smart technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation change job requirements in almost every field in a revolutionary way.  there’s still so much uncertainty and ambiguity around the future of work regardless of industry or job function. Many jobs and skills that were commonplace in the past are likely to disappear or no longer needed in the near future. Staying relevant in this unprecedented time in human history becomes the most important challenge for every college to address.

Many of our students enter college undecided about their future career. As faculty, we can help prepare them for the world of work by making our classrooms and the “real world” not mutually exclusive. There are many practical skills and experiences from our professional experiences that we can share with our students to inspire them in their career search, but I believe the first and foremost skill they must acquire in today’s ever-changing work environment is the ability to learn independently and continuously. The possession of this skill is key to adaptability and flexibility that can help them survive and succeed in the new world of work. Encouraging our students to embrace the lifelong learning mindset should make assimilating new skills for their twenty-first century career more exciting and less stressful.

Environmental Science inspires hands-on learning. Whether this is standing knee-deep in a river to measure stream velocity, hiking the side of a mountain to map geologic strata, or digging in a meadow to measure soil acidity, I have found that the best way to learn is often by doing. Similarly, connecting students with internships and research fellowships in the Environmental field allows them to learn the job by actually doing it for themselves. I integrate career exposure and internship opportunities into my courses by hosting alumni panels and visits by working professionals, holding field trips to local Environmental Field Offices, and organizing conference sessions for research classes. For me, there is no greater reward as an educator than seeing my students engaged and excited about a career in a field they love.

As a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, a major with strong ties to jobs in speech-language pathology and audiology, career development and mentoring is an important part of my responsibilities as an instructor and advisor.  I put great importance on helping students think creatively about their career choices and how they align with their own passions and interests.   I believe a liberal art education (history, math, philosophy, art, physics, etc.…) establishes a foundation of knowledge that allows you to make career decision and engage in the world in meaningful ways. This knowledge helps students develop basic professional skills like the ability to engage with others, knowing how to identify and solve problems, and being willing to take risks and make mistakes.

A path has led students to University of Redlands.  We have the responsibility and privilege of walking alongside them for their time at the University and to help them see and prepare for the various paths beyond. One of the biggest joys in this profession is seeing the successes of students after graduation.

College years are the best, but they fly by and can be stressful when one has no idea what is next or how to face the ‘real world’ out there. It can be daunting for students to navigate finding a career path that feels meaningful and right for them, but also pays the bills. Having a mentor and OCPD team to assist in career development, that is, learning how to reach out to others, explore options, take chances, utilize resources, and keep up a positive mindset, can make all the difference in having ‘doors open,’ finding and seizing those significant, life-altering opportunities.

In the Sociology and Anthropology department, where I teach, students cross boundaries and learn to apply skills of critical analysis to understand and counter social inequality everywhere. I love watching the places my students go in their lives after graduation, being a part of their journey, and feel inspired by the creative, impactful work they do!

Let’s come together to imagine and identify all kinds of purposeful paths that lie ahead, internships and post-graduation options, careers that not only build on your academic skills and interests, but also deeply motivate and excite you to realize your potential and the many meaningful opportunities in front of you.

As a student and early career professor, I was firmly in the camp that declared, “Liberal arts education is not job training!” and left the career advising to others. But as time has gone on, I’ve found that I’m doing career advising without even thinking about it: I’m telling math majors what else they can do with their mathematical training; including med school, law school, and laboratory work. I’m telling other students how adding even a little mathematical background to their resumes can open many more opportunities for them. The liberal arts education Redlands provides isn’t job training, but it is a fundamental part of building each student’s future, which may find them bouncing from one field to another, or combining fields in ways that haven’t been done before. My goal now is to make students aware of these opportunities, and to help them recognize how their experiences here have given them marketable skills to use once they leave us.

Teaching in a field, philosophy, that is usually regarded as divorced from the practical world of career development, I think it is critical to try to change that impression.  The more I can do to make it transparent how the lessons we are exploring translate to career and beyond, the better prepared students will be.  It shouldn’t be a mystery how the work we are doing will contribute to a student’s future.  Finding new ways to make those connections clear is critical, and so is recognizing that those connections have always been there.  Our job isn’t done until students can take that step of connecting the story of their education to the rest of their life.

I had the best mentors in undergraduate and graduate school who alerted me to great opportunities, taught me success mindset and how to reach my goals, and gently guided me to make the best choices for graduate school and my career. It is really important to utilize your community and resources as you navigate life. I am very grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the Office of Career and Professional Development community and to give back as a mentor.

It is important for students to have a career goal. As one who has been blessed by “doors” that open at opportune times in my life, I feel it is of paramount importance to share my career path with students. Work hard, be patient and keep your eyes toward the future, all the while being willing to take chances and explore opportunities that will present themselves to you. I still haven’t arrived at the goal I set out to accomplish as an undergraduate.  Ask me about it!

My personal history has shaped these interests. Though I began performing at an early age, when I sought professional training in my 20s, I was refused training due to my disability. Remember that the first disability civil rights law was not passed until 1973 and was not implemented until 1977 and then only after radical nation-wide protests. So in the beginning my path to what became a decades-long career as a theatre artist was through the back door, a circuitous journey which left me with two lessons. First, if you are working at a disadvantage due to institutional discrimination in the performing arts you will need the best training available to break through. So everyone deserves a chance to train. Everyone is welcome. Further your longevity might be extended if you have engaged in some critical study about bias in your desired profession and how other artists have come together to fight that exclusion. Second, my journey, precisely because it was circuitous (mime classes here, Jane Fonda’s Workout there, teen mother’s creating a play in LA’s South Central circa the Rodney King uprising) taught me that the forms and uses of theatre are multiple—stage, screen and television of course but also health and healing, community-building, education, government, law, writing, management, gaming, politics, religion, cooking, etc.!

I remember college as both an incredibly exciting time to explore what I loved and as a terrifying time because I didn’t know what steps to take to find a career that would be meaningful to me. No matter what your major, you can use your time in college to build towards the career you want. Our job is to help you get on that path. I teach in REST, where we prepare students to understand the complex world we live in and to build more socially justice communities. You can use those skills in any career path and industry. Now is the time to explore how!

I happen to think chemistry is one of the most exciting fields one can go into.  You can unlock the mysteries of life, or save the planet, depending on your inclination.  But the path isn’t always obvious. Learning to listen to what brings you joy is something I both practice and preach.

Myth 1: Students are supposed to know what they want to do after college.

Myth 2: Most students have a well defined career plan-they know where they can best  contribute and the path for getting there.

Myth 3: Students know the value of their academic skills, and their work and volunteer experiences for the world of work.

None of these myths tend to be true.

Career development, whether one on one with a professor, through our OCPD team or integrated into the curriculum allows students to identify opportunities for meaningful and interesting careers that build on their skills.

Career development allows us to work together as a community in addressing these myths and fostering all kinds of possibilities for our students.

For Studio Art Majors it can be especially challenging to imagine a career in a creative industry or how to get there. I try to demonstrate how studying something you love can open up many career paths. Studio Arts can take graduates into many areas including Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Advertising, Film and Animation, Education, and Therapy, to name a few.

I have been both incentivized and inspired to expand the ways that I can help my students thrive in co-curricular positions, workplaces, and in careers beyond UofR. I’ll continue to do so at a “higher level,” thanks to this program. I also appreciate the way this group has completely normalized career preparation.

Although I’m naturally inclined to get students thinking about possible post-graduation paths, this year I found many more reasons to push, prod, nudge, poke, and encourage students at all levels to plan their careers more intentionally by reconsidering their interests, goals, and programs of study; to consider a wider range of post-graduate options; to encourage them to step into internship and fellowship roles; and to take advantage of the invaluable services such as alumni-connecting apps and “open studio hours” that OCPD now offers.

I love to help students think through the question: “What doors do you want open when you complete your degree?” Do you have a specific career in mind? Are you considering a graduate degree? Is travel a priority? Are you interested in public service? In Johnston, I help students design unique educational paths that lead to possibilities as well as concrete goals. Preparing for the future is usually a mix of professional skills, academic depth, and broad exploration. When I work with seniors, I ask them to find 3 intriguing job listings or graduate programs. As they review the requirements, skills, and qualifications, students are able to match up their experiences in classes, projects, and internships with their professional goals.

“I like history, but I don’t want to teach high school.” I hear this a lot from students in my classes who wonder about how their interest in history might translate into a career. My response to them is that the skills they acquire in research, communication, and critical analysis are coveted by employers in a wide range of fields, many of which they may not even be aware of. I see my role as a guide to help students recognize and express how their liberal arts education has prepared them for meaningful, rewarding work after graduation.