Speaker: Jamie Shaw, Executive Director of Career Programs & Employer Relations, Dominican University
Please state your full name, title, organization, and the award name.
Jamie Shaw: Hi, my name is Jamie Shaw. I'm the Executive Director of Career Programs and Employer Relations at Dominican University. I'm very happy and proud to say that Dominican was selected for the Small School Career Services Excellence Award.
Talk briefly about your program and what sparked you to develop it.
Jamie Shaw: Knowing that only half of college students will visit their career center before they graduate, Dominican wanted to create an equitable career development program that started beginning freshman year. So we developed four different one credit hour career development courses. We have an executives and experts in residence program where C-Suite executives provide one on one career mentoring and advising to our students. We also have a required internship, and we engage with employers throughout the curriculum.
What were you trying to achieve? Did you achieve what you expected?
Jamie Shaw: When we created the program, we were trying to increase our job outcomes at graduation. Our first cohort that went through the required career development courses and a required internship with the support of our executives and residents. Their job outcomes skyrocketed by 35%. Since then, we began to expand the career development courses and a required internship into our core curriculum. And by 2024-25, all incoming freshmen, regardless of major, will engage with the program.
Were there any surprises—any results you weren’t expecting?
Jamie Shaw: Regarding any surprises or results that we weren't expecting when we created the career development program, I have to say that I'm not sure there were too many. I will say though, creating a required career development program for all students across campus is no small feat, and I'm very grateful for all of my partners across the university for helping to make it happen.
How did you develop this program? What processes did you use?
Jamie Shaw: We needed to keep our student population in mind—and front and center—as we developed the program. Dominican is a federally-designated HSI. Almost 70% of our students commute to campus, and 40% of our students are the first in their family to go to college. Many of our students work full time, and so we needed to create a program in which they could access the resources that we know are crucial to success post-graduation.
From your perspective, what was the single most important outcome of this program?
Jamie Shaw: From my perspective, the most important outcome as a result of our program has been to see our students get amazing jobs at amazing companies and to literally be a part of changing their lives. Our social mobility of our students continues to increase, and to be a part of that has been incredibly rewarding and keeps us all going.
If someone wants to replicate your program, what do they need to know upfront (the first steps to take, potential pitfalls to watch for)?
Jamie Shaw: If someone wanted to replicate Dominican's career development program, the first thing I would tell anyone is to make sure that you're engaging with all of your stakeholders across the university. You need to have your leadership bought in and happy to be champions for you. You need to also have your faculty committed and supportive of your efforts, and you need to have staff that are excited and ready to support you all the way through.
