Appalachian State University
Business Career Services Annual Report | 2023
Service. Connection. Inclusivity. Harnessing relationships with community partners to provide access, promote opportunities and enhance experiential education amongst Walker College of Business students at Appalachian State University.
Message from the Executive Director Dear partners and valued supporters, The hallways have cleared and the celebration begins for many graduates as another year concludes in Business Career Services. 2023 brought a renewed sense of urgency to connect on a deeper level to make up for lost time and rekindle relationships among all stakeholders. Students often vote with their feet to let you know what they value. They shared loud and clear this year with their attendance at the 2023 Walker Business Connections career fair with an overwhelming 1200 students attending. Students are eager to engage and Business Career Services is excited to deliver quality programming that fits the needs of our ever-changing student population. Both in Boone and beyond on our Hickory campus. We are now in year two of the 2022-2027 strategic plan for the Walker College of Business. Business Career Services has taken great strides to ensure our team is supporting that plan; specifically the call to increase experiential learning and educational opportunities for our students. There is a direct impact on post graduation success for students who complete one or more experiential education interaction. According to NACE, 66 % of students secure a full time job after their internship and have a higher salary offer than those who did not do an internship. What better place to start in seeking out and developing those opportunities than within our own community. Throughout this report you will find innovative approaches our team has taken to harness the power of partnerships both locally and regionally to support our students, our college and our campus. With gratitude,
Amy H Odom Executive Director, Business Career Services
ANNUAL DONATION IMPACT
49% Career Services Staff Salaries 15% Professional Skills Program Support 10% Staff Professional Development 5% Center & Program Branding page
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Amy Odom Executive Director
First Destination Data Report | 2022-2023
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Business Career Services Mission, Vision, & Values Mission Business Career Services exists to prepare future leaders through transformational career education and professional development.
Vision We aspire to guide students to have access to and leverage the tools and resources they need and are equipped and empowered to independently seek future opportunities and work that is fulfilling.
We are here to change lives, whatever the next step.
SERVICE
We value our relationships as the foundation of our work.
CONNECTEDNESS
We pursue and inspire exploration, learning and growth.
DISCOVERY
We provide equitable access; we welcome, respect and appreciate all individuals’ unique identities.
INCLUSIVITY
We seek to continually improve through strategic problem-solving and creative adaptation.
INNOVATION
We strive to exceed expectations and set an exemplary standard.
EXCELLENCE
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Walker College of Business
Strategic Plan 2022 - 2027
Mission The Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University delivers transformational educational experiences that prepare and inspire students to be ethical, innovative, and engaged business leaders who positively impact our communities both locally and globally.
Vision The Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University aspires to use business as a positive force for social and economic impacts in our community, our state, our region, and our world. We commit to support our students through a strong faculty, staff, facilities, and technology infrastructure, to provide innovative academic programs, scholarship and creative opportunities, and offer meaningful, real-world experiences that take place beyond the classroom, beyond our campus, and beyond our borders. We strive for inclusiveness across all dimensions and endeavor to foster a global mindset.
ENGAGEMENT
Establish new opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage with industry and business communities by strengthening existing and building new philanthropic relationships.
SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE
Integrate sustainability and resilience theories and practice throughout infrastructure, academic programming, scholarly and creative work, service activities, and experiential learning.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Create connections between diverse groups and broaden support for transformational teaching, learning, service, and professional development opportunities.
Develop a global mindset necessary to practice empathy, appreciate all people, raise self-awareness, inspire growth, and empower learners in the business of building a better world.
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Career Coaching
Undergraduate and graduate students from all business majors received career coaching in resume and cover letter development, interview skills, job and internship search strategies, salary negotiation, and career exploration.
Type of Engagement
190
Students Served
1:1 Coaching
564
Class presentations
1628
Workshops
489
Total
2681
Appointments are available for students to schedule career coaching throughout the week as well as designated drop-in hours where students are able to meet with a career coach or graduate assistant without an appointment. Along with one on one meetings, students have the opportunity to upload resumes and cover letters for digital review, and faculty regularly welcome coaching staff into the classroom to host workshops and presentations on career related topics.
College to Career (C2C) connections made
Professional Development Workshops are offered each semester based on assessed needs of our student population. Several new workshops were offered this year including entrepreneurship, financial wellness and local/regional internships.
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Topics include: Career Fair Insights Work Like an Entrepreneur What is Personal Branding Landing a Local & Regional Internship Financial Wellness
Leadership Development We exist to prepare future leaders through transformational career education and professional development.
Emerging Leaders
Career & Personal Assessments
Students in the Executive Skills graduate course participated in the Truist Emerging Leader Certification and reported that this experience is one of the most beneficial and professionally applicable aspects of their program.
A new initiative in Business Career Services is to offer FOCUS 2 and MBTI self-assessment inventories to students who are unclear about their career plans. This has resulted in the ability to offer more comprehensive career decision making and planning services to students.
60 Certifications Awarded
79 Assessments Completed
Walker Fellows The Walker Fellows are student ambassadors of the Walker College of Business who manage and marshal all signature events such as Business Club Expo, the Boyles Distinguished Lecture Series, C2C: College 2 Career Workshop series, Prospective Student Open House, and individual visits to the Walker College of Business. This position allows students the opportunity to network and engage with prospective families, employers, and potential donors. Along with their job commitments, the Fellows value service to their community and their College. Every academic year, they design College of Business apparel and host a fundraiser to support two signature scholarships along with completing multiple service projects within the local community.
37 Events 258 Service Hours $1455 Raised for Scholarships
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Career Curriculum
Business Career Development (BUS 2001)
Five-year growth
YEAR
Students Enrolled
2018
366
990
2019
2020
1243
2021
1144
1174
2022
BUS 2001 is a leadership course required for admission to the Walker College of Business. The course assists students with major selection, job research, and professional development and exercises students’ skills in creating a professional online presence and connecting with employers.
BUS 2001 at App State - Hickory Campus In Fall 2023, Appalachian State expanded its footprint from the High Country to Hickory, NC. With this, ASU enrolled over 500 new students and nearly 80 students in the Walker College of Business. Almost 60 of these students completed BUS 2001 through our online curriculum. In this curriculum, our instructor was able to alter exercises to the career needs of this student population. In addition, the BUS 2001 team has started collecting survey data regarding Hickory student career experience, professional development needs, and desired programming. This information will be used in best serving this particular student population with future events, career curriculum, and employer relations.
I just wanted to say thank you for making BUS2001 great! Your weekly emails helped me stay on track and I appreciate all of your valuable feedback on the assignments. I feel more informed after taking this class... - Ava Breemes
This class helped me get a better understanding for creating job opportunities online. - Cory Adams
1414
2023
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I feel it is very underrated material we are going to go over in this course. I am looking forward to comparing what I do on a daily basis in the professional working world to what we will learn in this course. - Caleb Watson
Career Curriculum Executive Skills, Graduate Level
The graduate career coach partners with MBA faculty to develop a dynamic syllabus for business graduate students each semester. The Executive Skills class focuses on soft skills needed in management and leadership roles in business settings. Students are immersed in a variety of professional development opportunities including workshops, employer information panels, career fairs, and networking events. Professional development workshops include: resume building networking online presence salary negotiation etiquette personality assessment
Graduate Lunch and Learns Lunch and Learn sessions were a new initiative to offer graduate students an opportunity to connect with employers (often local/regional or App State alumni) in a casual setting to gain knowledge about internship and job opportunities and the companies’ recruiting process. This successful employer collaboration resulted in maxed out student attendance with a waitlist for most sessions.
Presenters: Tresata | Hanes Companies | Hagerty | Sunrise Technologies | Pike Corporation
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Experiential Education Feature Programs Building Futures, Together
This year, Business Career Services, the Career Development Center and the Office of Sustainability partnered on multiple events to align with the College’s strategic goals for engagement, sustainability, and resilience. The partnership established new opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage with local business and build new philanthropic relationships.
Clothing Drive Five local companies and countless community members donated items at two separate drives to promote student access to professional clothing.
263 items donated
Pop-up Closet As our student population grows, the need for consistent career clothing assistance has increased. The Pop-up Clothing Closet filled with donated items provides students the opportunity to gain access to professional clothing for free.
81 students served
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Experiential Education Feature Programs (cont.) Business Casual Fashion Show The inaugural fashion show was designed to introduce students to business casual terminology and fashion standards in the workplace. The event also provided students with the resources necessary to present themselves during the job search process, networking events, professional development activities and on internship sites.
105 student audience
Virtual Practice Interviews Virtual practice interviews provided an opportunity for students to practice their digital interview skills with a real recruiter. Students were able to network with employers during the recruitment season and it also provided additional opportunities for employers to pre-screen candidates for potential jobs and internships.
316 students | 59 recruiters
Quick Connect Quick Connect was a "come as you are" career fair with the purpose of connecting seniors with employers hiring closer to their graduation date. Students and recruiters were invited to dress down to create a more relaxed and comfortable environment for all.
50+ students | 12 companies
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Business Career Services Open House Events At the beginning of each semester the Business Career Services team hosts an open house to kick-off the semester and share more about available services and events with students. The Spring semester is a “winterfest” theme; the fall is a “carnival” theme. At these open houses students can meet the career coaches and support staff, enjoy popcorn and sweet treats, as well as play games and win prizes. This event was an engaging way to get students involved with the office, invite them to career fairs, employer engagements and meetings with coaches.
305 student connections
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Career Events Each academic year, two multiday signature events are held: Walker Business Connections in the fall and Walker Spring Connect. The programs provide employers and students with numerous opportunities to connect through networking socials, career fairs, and on-campus interviews. VIP Networking Social
Each career fair boasts a VIP Networking Social, an exclusive event for top performing students to network with recruiters from the sponsoring companies.
Fairs by the Numbers
Students
1859
Headshots
450
Employers
209
Networking Students
313
Formal Interviews
163
Networking Recruiters
85
“These events gave me a chance to learn more about and interact with different companies [and] helped me become more prepared for internship and other opportunity search for next summer.” “This event is better than events at other universities. This career fair was a great success for us and the students were prepared and professional!” Jennifer Casselli, Grand Bohemian Charlotte “At both the VIP Networking and the Walker Business Connections events I liked how friendly and helpful all of the company representatives were. They gave me so much useful information on how to apply for their specific internship programs as well as useful tips for how to stand out as an applicant.” “The organization of your events is above and beyond the other universities we have been to. Overall, your students come prepared with resumes and wearing business casual.” - Ali Hay, Hanes Companies
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Women of Walker Women of Walker is a student program that helps female business majors at Appalachian State University develop professional and leadership skills. Members are selected based on faculty recommendations and factors that may define them as traditionally underrepresented. In 2023, the 15-week program hosted 28 students who participated in a professional mentor program, speed interviewing, an ideation workshop with the Entrepreneurship Center, and an overnight trip to Charlotte, NC with site visits to Dimensional Fund Advisors and the Hilton Charlotte Uptown.
2023 Cohort
28 10 Students
Majors
57% First-generation
10 Year Impact Since its founding in 2014, Women of Walker has mentored nearly 300 under-represented female students and prepared them for success as they transition from student to industry professional.
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Watauga Women in Leadership The Power of Partnerships was harnessed through the marriage of Watauga Women in Leadership (WWIL) and Women of Walker (WOW) programs. WWIL falls under the umbrella of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce and empowers High Country women business leaders throughout all stages of their careers. Women of Walker is an experiential program that provides professional development opportunities exposing students directly to business leadership practices through workshops and networking events. The mission of WWIL and WOW parallel one another, striving for similar personal and professional outcomes. Aligning the efforts of both organizations created a synergy amongst participants that benefits the local community and future female business leaders. 2023 was marked as the inaugural year for the Watauga Women in Leadership Mentor Program with 56 participants.
56 Participants | 500 Program Hours Delivered | 44% diversity representation
"I enjoyed getting to know my mentee and relating to her culturally. We have similar backgrounds and grew up very similarly so it was nice to connect with someone about that and share stories and experiences. I wish, at her age, that I would have had a mentor or a program like this as some of my choices may have been different." - Alex Morales, Cabarrus CVB
Non-Profit
Education
Real Estate
Finance
Insurance
Hospitality
Industries Represented
Other
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Community Engagement Business Career Services aims to provide opportunities for students to make a societal impact beginning at the local level. To serve as role models for the students we lead, we actively engage in connecting with and giving back to our community.
Watauga Habitat for Humanity | Business Career Services Build Day Part of a global, nonprofit housing organization, Watauga Habitat for Humanity works to eliminate barriers to a better, healthier, and more financially stable life by providing homebuyers with a decent and affordable place to call home. Homebuyers partner with Habitat, helping build their own homes alongside volunteers. Habitat offers zero interest mortgages to the homeowners. Since 1987, Watauga Habitat for Humanity has built 33 homes and supported families facing challenges. The Business Career Services team volunteered for the day to help build the Winebarger home. Team members worked together to install windows in the home and invested valuable time building trust among each other while making a positive impact for a local family in need. The home was completed for the family in October 2023.
Watauga High School Senior Symposium Watauga High School hosted the fourth annual Senior Symposium in November of 2023. This day-long event is designed to benefit seniors with a career and college expo, guest speakers, self care sessions and a speed interviewing workshop. Graduate career coach, Michelle Brown, kicked off each session with an overview of interview strategies to prepare students with helpful tips and tricks to execute a successful interview. Interviewers from Business Career Services and Career Development Center provided practice questions and feedback over four different sessions.
Senior Attendees: 240 Event Duration: 5 hours Number of Sessions: 4 Total App State Interviewers: 12 Total Interviewers: 24
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Student Spotlights
Francisca Campos-Galeas & Mohit Dhungana Francisca ‘26 Major: Marketing As a second-year student, I have had the opportunity to attend 3 career fairs, and each time it has been a wonderful learning experience. The very first career fair was a time when I broke the ice and overcame my anxiety about talking to new people. I met so many recruiters, students, and alumni and it truly set me up for success. This year, I got a new perspective on the career fair in which I worked behind the scenes and met recruiters before and after the career fair. I have gained incredible networking skills, connections, and wonderful memories both as an attendee of the career fair and as a student employee.
Mohit ‘23 Master of Science in Applied Data Analytics I reached out to Business Career Services for my resume review where we worked together to recreate my resume from scratch. Later, I also worked with them on how to effectively search for jobs. The interview preparation was particularly helpful because I always felt like I was bad at interviewing. With the help of Business Career Services, I learned handy tips on answering regular interview questions and dealing with unexpected questions. Furthermore, with additional practice sessions before my job interview, I felt fully prepared. Annual Report
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Business Career Services Team Amy Odom
Executive Director
Jackie Garner
Michelle Brown
Employer Relations
Veronica L. Toub
Colt Jensen
Laura Pell
Instructor
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Graduate Coach
Amanda Merritt Student Programs
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Annie Love
Curriculum, Data & Technology
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Instructor
Instructor
Contact Us Phone 828.262.8119
Email Businesscareers@appstate.edu
Website businesscareers.appstate.edu
Address 416 Howard St, Boone, NC 28608