Careers

Careers Initiative Goals, Targets & Actions

Goals:

• Lead the nation’s selective liberal arts & sciences institutions in applied learning opportunities for every student.
• Cultivate and retain exceptional talent for our commonwealth, our nation and world.
• Mobilize W&M’s worldwide network of alumni, employer and parent partners to broaden learning experiences and career pathways for graduates and support a lifetime of professional success.
• Create innovative curricular pathways to credentials in high demand skills and fields, such as summer “jump start” minors.
• Provide a funded internship or other applied learning experience for every undergraduate.

Targets:

• At graduation, 85% of undergraduate students record an internship or other hands-on learning opportunity by 2026:
  • Identify and establish solutions to address any applied learning gaps related to student demographics by 2023. Show measurable progress in closing those gaps by 2026.
  • Identify percentage of Virginia and Washington, D.C. “first post-graduate landing points” by 2023; show measurable progress in increasing that percentage by 2026.
  • Seventy-five percent of the sophomore class takes a summer semester by 2026.
• One hundred percent of W&M undergraduate programs offer a credit-bearing internship opportunity (currently ~2/3 of undergraduate programs have such offerings on the books).
• Three to five jump-start minors offered every summer by 2026.
• Triple Washington Center applied-learning placements by 2026.
• Triple W&M VET partner companies by 2026.
• By 2023, set philanthropic and progress goals for funded internships:
  • # of employers with parent or alumni connections who hire W&M graduates.
  • # of alumni-led mentoring programs and certificate offerings.
  • % of repeat employer partners.
  • % of international employer partners.
  • % of Virginia employer partners (small, medium and large businesses).
  • Positive net promoter score from employer partners over life of the partnership.

Actions:

• Create an enterprise-wide internship (experiential learning) program at scale, providing early and academically integrated support for all students — with special focus on outcome gaps for first-generation, low-income, veteran and other under-represented students.
  • Establish a pre-major, credit-bearing internship course to ensure professional exploration early and often.
  • Address workforce skills gaps via summer “jump-start” minors, W&M VET career transition programs and other credentialing.
  • Increase volunteer engagement for career support, to scale programs and services.
  • Incorporate high-impact practices for employing organizations; track and report employer net promoter scores and outcomes.
  • Track and report student progress, including learning and first destination outcomes to include analysis focused on underrepresented and marginalized groups in high-demand professions.
• Launch a fundraising initiative to support internships and other applied learning opportunities for every student.
• Partner with peer Virginia public universities to seek Talent Pathways legislation supporting paid internships in high-need areas such as teaching, data analytics, small business development, etc.
• Create an integrated, one-stop W&M website for students and hiring organizations, calling in all those at W&M who support internships and applied learning.
• Establish a faculty immersion program that embeds faculty members in leading and emerging industries around the commonwealth as a way to enhance teaching and mentorship, expand internship opportunities and inspire entrepreneurial initiatives.
• Create a program that trains faculty to help advise and mentor students in their educational and career pursuits.
• Develop a long-term strategy for a lifetime of career engagement with our graduates:
  • Increase access to the full complement of the W&M network to grow talent pathways and enhance engagement by streamlining volunteer and mentorship support.
  • Deploy leading-edge platforms that support experiential learning, constituent engagement and credentialing aligned with talent pathways.
  • Implement a staffing plan to support our students and alumni in the full life cycle of career development and professional engagement.