CLA Recognized Nationally for Career Readiness Innovation and Impact

The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at the University of Minnesota is proud to announce two national honors recognizing its leadership in advancing student career readiness.

CLA has been awarded the 2025 Innovation Award by the Career Leadership Collective for the development of MyCareerManagement, a personalized career development tool that helps students take targeted action in their career preparation journey. Additionally, the College has received the 2025 Career Readiness Excellence Award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) for its comprehensive Career Readiness Initiative.

“These national recognitions reflect our commitment to empowering CLA students with the skills, confidence, and clarity they need to thrive,” shares GerShun Avilez, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “We prepare students not just for their first job, but for a lifetime of meaningful work. Our innovative student success initiatives, like career readiness, are a testament to the dedication of our faculty, staff, and students who bring this vision to life.” 

These recognitions highlight CLA’s commitment to help students make an impact in their career and life beyond college. Through a focus on ten core career competencies—from analytical thinking and ethical decision making to communication and community engagement—CLA equips students with adaptable, in-demand skills. The College helps students align their strengths and interests with opportunities that meet the needs of a changing world.

Embedding Career Readiness Across the Undergraduate Experience

The Career Readiness Initiative began in 2015 as part of a college-wide strategic plan to embed career readiness throughout the liberal arts education. To date, CLA has:

• Integrated career competencies into the classroom through the Readiness Teaching Fellows program, reaching more than 70,000 students.

• Implemented RATE (Reflect-Articulate-Translate-Evaluate), a reflective learning and self-assessment tool, with over 83,000 assessments completed by more than 38,000 students, measuring development of key competencies.

• Added a required second year career management course in 2023, which is completed by over 2,000 students annually, and focused faculty conversations around career development.

“This sustained effort by the College of Liberal Arts has made career support inevitable,” says Judy Anderson, Director of Career Readiness. “Now more than ever, students need to articulate why their education matters for themselves and for their future careers. The college’s core competency framework empowers students to make those connections by bridging their coursework with the broad range of disciplines and opportunities available through a liberal arts education.” 

Post-graduation survey data shows a steady rise in students attributing their growth in competencies directly to their CLA education. With more than 165,000 alumni employed across industries and around the globe, students are encouraged to start building connections early. CLA offers a variety of ways to engage with alumni, including career events, mentorship opportunities, and the Maroon and Gold Network—an online platform for networking and career advice.

Scaling Personalized Career Support: MyCareerManagement

Launched in 2020, MyCareerManagement provides CLA’s 12,000+ undergraduates with a tailored career planning experience by asking a few quick questions and then recommending actionable "nudges"—such as attending an internship fair or updating a résumé. Since launch, students have acted on over 40,000 nudges.

The platform expanded University of Minnesota system-wide in 2024, giving career centers across the University of Minnesota access to this innovative resource. MyCareerManagement also connects students to their career fields of interest through monthly customized newsletters, achieving a 70% open rate on over 11,000 monthly targeted email sends. Future plans include building automated and timely email campaigns to deliver personalized support based on real-time student needs such as support with resumes, cover letters, interview preparation and connections to experiential learning opportunities.

Preparing Students for Their Post-Graduation Destination 

CLA Career Services further supports students through exploration and internship courses, career events, employer connections, peer and professional coaching, and resources available up to one-year post-graduation. Students are encouraged to engage early and often through internships, part-time jobs, and informational interviews to gain experience, develop skills, and build professional networks. 

Students are seeing the impact firsthand. Mallory Finch, a Strategic Communications, Advertising and Public Relations major in the class of 2027, recently completed CLA’s career management course and left feeling more prepared for the next steps in her career journey. 

“Over this semester, I’ve learned a lot about myself, what I enjoy doing, and how I want to move forward with my career,” says Finch. “We’ve worked on learning how to talk about past experiences, finding possible career paths, and making a plan for what’s next. This class helped me realize that I’m already doing things that connect to my future.”