Mark Peltz, the Daniel and Patricia Jipp Finkelman Dean of the Center for Careers, Life, and Service at Grinnell College, talks about how to improve equity and access to career services. 

In this episode, Mark walks through several specific strategies he and his team have implemented and how they used those strategies to achieve a 98% engagement rate for Grinnell’s Class of 2022.

The strategies include:

1. Proactive early outreach. Each incoming Grinnell student is assigned a career coach. During the summer, all coaches reach out to their students to introduce themselves. At new student orientation, the students meet with their career coaches in small groups to learn more about the career center, what kind of resources are offered, why they should use the career center, etc. Coaches then “assign” students the task of coming into the career center for a 1:1 appointment at least once during the fall semester. 
2. Need-based grants. Largely funded by donors, the Grinnell career center created a series of need-based grants to help students buy professional attire for job interviews, pay for medical school interview travel costs, attend relevant conferences, and more. “Your socioeconomic background shouldn't have an overly consequential influence on ultimately what you do with the rest of your life,” Mark says.
3. Service leadership work-study program. Mark describes this as a professional development program rooted in volunteering. Volunteering, working with local nonprofits, and getting involved in the community outside of Grinnell College are all important professional and personal development opportunities, but many students can’t afford to volunteer. This program, funded largely by donations (along with some federal work-study funds), pays students an hourly wage for their volunteer work.
4. Investing in a uConnect virtual career center platform. Knowing he wanted to make Grinnell’s career resources available to all students 24/7, Mark and his team purchased uConnect’s virtual career center platform. Grinnell’s new virtual career center also includes identity communities with curated content and resources created specifically for those student populations. Now, all Grinnell students can equally access career resources anywhere, anytime. 

In this episode, Mark also shares how his team tracks student engagement data, and how they use that data to measure success and adjust programming and outreach to make sure they’re reaching all students. 

Resources from the episode:

• Grinnell College’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• uConnect’s new Identity Kits product page
• Mark’s LinkedIn page
• Mark’s email: [email protected] 

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