Hardwire career experiences across the curriculum as a structured component of academic and co-curricular experience.
CSU’s Career Integration initiative is designed to ensure that every student graduates with meaningful experiential learning and documented career preparation. These KPIs align with the goals of the NISS Playbook, ASPIRE 2025, and Better Together 2030 by embedding career readiness within the curriculum through RIVR courses, coaching, and engagement platforms such as SteppingBlocks and Handshake.
Experiential Learning Participation
|
Year |
Target Participation Rate |
Incremental Increase (Target) |
Actual or Status |
|
Fall 2024 (Baseline) |
20.9% (1,658 students in 126 courses) |
— |
Baseline established through course coding of study abroad, undergraduate research, work-based learning, capstone, and service learning |
|
Fall 2025 |
50% |
+29.1% |
Growth expected through expansion of applied learning in RIVR 1101 and PERS 1506 |
|
Fall 2026 |
75% |
+25% |
Scaling through sophomore-level integration (RIVR 2101) and departmental partnerships |
|
Fall 2027 |
90% |
+15% |
Near-universal participation as experiential learning becomes a requirement within RIVR sequence |
|
Fall 2028 |
100% |
+10% |
Full institutional integration, with all students completing at least one experiential learning course or equivalent |
Handshake Utilization
|
Year |
Target Utilization Rate |
Incremental Increase (Target) or Actual |
Actual or Status |
|
Fall 2024 (Baseline) |
37% |
— |
Baseline established |
|
Fall 2025 |
60% |
43% |
Increased adoption through PERS 1506 modules and coaching assignments. Presently 43% of students have logged in to Handshake this fall so far-increase of 6%, far short of the target. |
|
Fall 2026 |
80% |
+20% |
Continued integration through RIVR 2101 and co-curricular programming |
|
Fall 2027 |
90% |
+10% |
Standardized use in all RIVR courses and career-focused interventions |
|
Fall 2028 |
100% |
+10% |
Full utilization achieved through required student participation in the RIVR sequence |
SteppingBlocks Engagement
|
Year |
Target Engagement Rate |
Incremental Increase (Target) |
Actual or Status |
|
Fall 2024 (Baseline) |
30% |
— |
Baseline established |
|
Fall 2025 |
60% |
+30% |
Expanded access and assignment integration in PERS 1506 |
|
Fall 2026 |
80% |
+20% |
Required use in RIVR 2101 for major-to-career pathway planning |
|
Fall 2027 |
90% |
+10% |
Widespread adoption across majors and career exploration activities |
|
Fall 2028 |
100% |
+10% |
Achieved through embedded assignments and assessment across the RIVR course sequence |
2025 Planned Activity:
CSU planned to embed career development across the curriculum as a structured and intentional part of the academic experience. This work aimed to ensure that every student, regardless of major, could connect academic choices to meaningful career outcomes and work directly with career success coaches aligned to their focus area.
To accomplish this, the Center for Career Design shifted toward an embedded and proactive coaching model that integrates career development into required first-year courses and key academic milestones. Career Success Coaches were positioned to teach career readiness content in PERS 1506, focusing on career exploration, resume development, goal setting, and major-to-career alignment.
Career Coaches engaged in ICF-aligned professional development to align their approach with Academic Success Coaches, establishing a unified, student-centered coaching framework. Planning also began scaffolding career experiences that would continue into sophomore, junior, and senior years supported by partnerships with employers and academic units.
2025 Status Update:
CSU made major strides toward integrating career development across the academic experience by aligning career content, coaching practices, and faculty partnerships.
- Career Integration in PERS 1506:
Career Success Coaches created career development modules which were embedded into PERS 1506, ensuring that all first-year students engage in structured career exploration and planning. Content includes major-to-career mapping, Handshake/Stepping Blocks, resume development, and goal-setting activities, delivered in collaboration with the Center for Career Design. - Joint ICF-Aligned Training (May 2025):
In May 2025, Academic and Career Success Coaches completed joint ICF-aligned training designed to create a unified coaching philosophy and consistent student experience. The training emphasized holistic engagement, active listening, and developmental goal setting, establishing a shared language and approach across both teams. - Student Success Summit (July 2025):
A Student Success Summit in July 2025 brought both coaching teams together for hands-on collaboration and service design. A substantial portion of the summit focused on aligning roles, delineating responsibilities, and refining the referral process between academic and career coaching. The summit served as an important step in solidifying cross-team communication and coordination.
Employer and Faculty Collaboration:
The Center for Career Design expanded partnerships with regional employers to strengthen internship pipelines and experiential learning opportunities. Career Coaches also collaborated with faculty to develop internship training and tracking to ensure that students are closing the loop on skill development and can articulate their progress as they develop their post-graduation resumes.
CSU’s efforts to embed career development across the curriculum have solidified career readiness as a defining element of the student experience. The integration of career modules in PERS 1506 ensures that all first-year students begin connecting their academic pathways to future goals from the start of their college journey. The joint ICF-aligned training in May 2025 and Student Success Summit in July 2025 were pivotal in establishing a cohesive coaching ecosystem, creating shared understanding between Academic and Career Success Coaches, and improving coordination of student support.
This alignment between coaching teams, faculty, and employers has deepened the connection between academic planning and professional development, while also strengthening CSU’s partnerships with industry. As career content continues to scale, CSU remains focused on maintaining consistency in delivery, expanding experiential opportunities, and ensuring that students can clearly articulate their skills and career readiness outcomes.
Next Steps:
- Continue delivering career development modules in PERS 1506, ensuring consistent integration and assessment across all sections.
- Assess the efficacy of those modules in course outcomes and post-graduate outcomes.
- Develop sophomore- and junior-year career pathway modules by academic focus area to extend career integration beyond the first year.
- Implement a tracking and reflection process for internships and experiential learning to document student skill development and application.
- Launch RIVR 2101 in Spring 2027 with embedded career and professional development content tailored to second-year persistence and exploration.
- Expand faculty and employer partnerships to increase access to internships, job shadowing, and experiential learning opportunities aligned with high-demand career fields.
- Establish an annual joint professional development series for Career and Academic Success Coaches to maintain alignment, share student outcomes, and continue refining hand-off processes.
- Evaluate student feedback and outcome data from PERS 1506 to guide ongoing improvement and scalability of career readiness integration.
CHALLENGES
As CSU continues to hardwire career experiences across the curriculum, several challenges may influence the pace and consistency of implementation:
- Scalability and Staffing:
Expanding embedded career content to reach all first-year and upper-division students will require additional instructional capacity and continued coordination between Career Coaches, faculty, and department chairs. - Consistency of Delivery:
While the career modules in PERS 1506 have been well received, ensuring that every section delivers the material with consistent depth and engagement will require ongoing training, monitoring, and faculty collaboration. Additionally, being cognizant of the course structure and credit hour (1), will require review and assessment. - Technology Integration:
Full adoption of tools such as Handshake and Stepping Blocks depends on continued student engagement and faculty reinforcement. Building these tools into the classroom and advising workflows remains an ongoing process. The Center for Career Design recently launched a virtual career center powered by the platform uConnect to drive student engagement. - Cross-Functional Coordination:
Aligning Academic and Career Coaching requires sustained communication, clearly defined referral processes, and shared accountability measures. Continued role clarity and collaboration are essential to maintain the unified coaching model established in 2025. - Employer and Experiential Learning Partnerships:
Strengthening internship and applied learning pipelines depends on deepening partnerships with employers, which can be resource intensive. Ongoing employer engagement and tracking mechanisms are necessary to ensure scalability and measurable outcomes.
SUPPORTS
To fully scale and sustain CSU’s embedded career development model, continued partnership and support from the University System Office and peer institutions would be valuable in several key areas:
- Statewide Career Readiness Frameworks:
System-level guidance or shared frameworks for embedding career competencies across the curriculum would help align institutional outcomes with state and workforce priorities while promoting consistency across USG institutions. - Professional Development and Shared Resources:
Access to system-sponsored training, shared module templates, or faculty development resources focused on integrating career readiness into academic programs would strengthen implementation quality and efficiency. - Technology Integration and Data Sharing:
Expanded access to systemwide platforms and data tools—particularly for tracking internships, experiential learning, and post-graduation outcomes—would enhance CSU’s ability to measure impact and close the loop between academic and career success. - Employer Engagement and Regional Partnerships:
System-level coordination to connect institutions with major state employers and regional workforce initiatives would expand internship and applied learning opportunities while supporting Georgia’s talent pipeline goals. - Innovation or Momentum Funding:
Targeted funding opportunities to support curricular integration, faculty partnerships, and employer engagement would accelerate the development of career pathway modules and experiential learning tracking systems.
