AVP OF CAREER READINESS A MESSAGE FROM THE

The Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) is a vital resource connecting Georgia Southern students and alumni to the global workforce. I am proud to provide this annual report highlighting the impact of our professional staff, teaching assistants, graduate students, and student ambassadors.

More than two years ago the OCPD set a bold new direction - to reinvent career services at Georgia Southern Why reinvent? Despite ongoing accolades from students, faculty, and employers about the positive impact of working with the OCPD team, our analysis showed that only one-third of students connected with our staff during the course of their Georgia Southern experience The solution wasn’t more resources, better marketing, or enhanced technology Reaching every student required a new vision of weaving career readiness into the fabric of the Georgia Southern student experience and elevating the importance of “career” throughout the academy During the 2022-2023 academic year, we rolled out our solution - Ready Day 1

Ready Day 1 is the umbrella program for career development at Georgia Southern that incorporates career readiness into the academic experience from freshman year through graduation. In this annual report, you will see the impact of these efforts and the creation of new programs such as Career Champions, Eagle Mentoring, and Ready Day 1 Certification, along with the expansion of existing programs like our Internship Scholarship Program. One of the most exciting initiatives is our Ready Day 1 academic partnership with the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS). During AY23 every CBSS student completed at least one career readiness learning module embedded into pre-selected CBSS courses covering topics such as career assessment, networking and professionalism, interviewing skills, and job search fundamentals. Our end-of-year assessment showed significant increases in student confidence levels after completing each career readiness module. As the CBSS Ready Day 1 program continues into AY24 other Georgia Southern academic colleges are rolling out similar Ready Day 1 programs. My thanks and gratitude go out to the OCPD “Curriculum Crew” who developed each class module that included learning outcomes, lectures, and assignments

This year saw record numbers of employer engagement through job and internship postings as well as on-campus interviews Our Career and Internship Advisors received record-high student satisfaction scores and our Internship Scholarship Program continued to expand, providing over $100,000 in student scholarships in AY23 So what was our impact? At the end of the 2022-2023 academic year we saw student connections to our OCPD team increase to 65% - double the impact from AY22

None of this is possible without our talented and enthusiastic OCPD staff I am grateful for their dedication to our students and alumni Additional thanks are owed to Provost Carl Reiber and President Kyle Marrero for integrating OCPD into the Division of Academic Affairs and for championing our Ready Day 1 vision

I am proud of the success of our OCPD team We are committed to creating and supporting innovative programs that positively impact the lives of our students and alumni.

Vision and Mission

Strategic Initiative: Ready Day 1

Signature Programs

Student Success

Career Courses

Experiential Learning

Employer Engagement

Career Fairs & Networking Events

Employer Partner Program

Our Team

2023StaffRecognition

Diversity & Inclusive

Our Vision

All Georgia Southern graduates will be Ready Day 1.

Our Mission

The Office of Career and Professional Development supports Georgia Southern University’s commitment to preparing a global workforce by providing students and alumni with a broad range of personalized services to prepare them for professional success. Students will develop the skills, experiences, and connections needed to pursue meaningful careers throughout their lives.