Tacoma Liberal Arts Leadership Summit [Presentation] - Denny Meadows: Career Services Reboot_July 2018

1. Career Services
RE-BOOT
Presented by Denny Meadows
July 12, 2018

2. RE-BOOT:
restart,
revive,
give fresh
impetus to

3. Today there are DRIVING FORCES
that give FRESH ENERGY
to the role of CAREER SERVICES

4. Qualifications
Product of the Liberal Arts
Deep experience in finance &
business strategy
13 years in leadership roles at
Nordstrom HQ
Passion for helping young
adults discover their path
5 years serving colleges &
universities

5. This not a
passive
session!

6. EXERCISE #1:
What is the current
position of Career Services
on these three key
dimensions …

7. 1
Physical
Location on
Campus
Score 1-3
1 = At the central heartbeat of campus
2 = Not bad, could be better
3 = Peripheral, out of sight

8. 2
Reporting
Structure
Score 1-3
President
1. Direct Report to the President
2. One layer from the President
3. Two or more layers removed

9. 3
Strategic
Priority
Score 1-3
1 = Distinct pillar of strategic plan
2 = Explicit component of a pillar
3 = Buried in a component of a pillar
1
2
3

10. 1
Physical
Location on
Campus
2
Reporting
Structure
3
Strategic
Priority
Score: Score: Score:

11. Our Agenda
IMPETUS
Five Driving Forces
IMPLICATIONS
Fresh Energy
IMPERATIVE
The New Role of Career Services

12. EXERCISE #2:
1. Current mission
2. Recent progress
3. Biggest challenges

13. IMPETUS:
five driving forces for change

14. 1. Cost

15. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

16. Exceeds Credit Card
Debt
Exceeds $1 Trillion

17. A DECENT SOCIETY WOULDN’T
PUSH MILLIONS OF
STUDENTS
into
DEBTIT WOULD RECOGNIZE THAT
HIGHER EDUCATION ISN’T
MAINLY A PERSONAL INVESTMENT.
IT’S A PUBLIC GOOD.
ROBERT REICH

18. Cost invites Disruption

19. 2. Relevance

20. EXERCISE #3:
“ The PURPOSE of college
is _______________. ”

21. Mis-matched GOALS

22. Mis-matched OUTCOMES

23. Source http://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/are-college-graduates-career-ready, February 19, 2018.
Data from Job Outlook 2018 (N=201 employing organizations) and The Class of 2017 Student Survey Report (N=4,213 graduating seniors)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Cultural Fluency
Career Mgt
Digital Tech
Leadership
Teamwork
Critical Thinking
Communication
Work Ethic
College Graduates “Proficient” in NACE Competencies (% Agree)
Employer Perceptions

24. 3. Public Sentiment

26. Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/has-higher-education-lost-the-battle-of-public-perception_us_5a25bc42e4b087120d865e84
We’ll take $200,000 of your money;
in exchange, we’ll train your children
to hate our country . . .
We’ll make them unemployable
by teaching them courses in zombie studies,
underwater basket weaving
and, my personal favorite, tree climbing.

27. 4. Demographics

28. U.S. High School Graduates
2018
15 Years of
“Echo Boom”
through
2010
Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/12/06/high-school-graduates-drop-number-and-be-increasingly-diverse>

29. High School Graduates By Region2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
2022-23
2023-24
2024-25
2025-26
2026-27
2027-28
2028-29
2029-30
2030-31
2031-32
South +5.6%
West +3.7%
Midwest -0.8%
Northeast +0.3%
-8.0%
-9.1%
-8.9%
-8.8%
2018
2025
Source: raw data from Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School
Graduates, 2016. [https://knocking.wiche.edu/data/]

30. 5. Future Relevance

32. Artificial Intelligence

33. EXERCISE #4:
What current car model
best personifies …
1. the global pace of
change ?
2. your institution’s pace
of change?

35. IMPETUS:
five driving forces for
change
1. High Cost
2. Mis-matched Content
3. Waning Public Sentiment
4. Shifting Demographics
5. Global Pace of Change

36. IMPLICATIONS:
fresh energy for career services

37. Never let a crisis go to waste.
It’s an opportunity to do things
you didn’t think you could do before.

38. • Overhaul cost
structures
• Update learning
objectives
• Address new
“customer” mix
• Modernize
delivery models
Changes Coming to Higher Ed

39. Competition for new
students
• Enrollment
• Retention
• Transfers
Continued belt-
tightening
• Cost Control
• Tuition Discount Rate
Until Then:

40. EXERCISE #5:
How does your office
currently define success?

42. (That still doesn’t mean it’s easy to get students to engage.)
1. Career Outcomes Matter to Families

43. Career Services Improve College ROI2. Career Services Improve College ROI
(The question is how best to define & measure it.)

44. 3. Colleges Need Employer Relationships
(And guess who’s great at building them.)

45. You’re not
fighting for your
department
You’re offering
solutions to your
institution.

46. IMPLICATIONS:
fresh energy for career
services
1. Compete for new students
2. Improve College ROI
3. Promote experiential learning
4. Access employer partners
5. Contribute to institutional
solutions

47. IMPERATIVE:
the new work of career services

48. • more strategic
• more integrated
• more leveraged
• more networked
• more focused
• more accountable
• more branded
To thrive, Career Centers will become

49. strat-e-gy
NOUN
a strategy is a context-
driven plan to allocate
resources to achieve a
future goal

50. Today's students will
graduate into a global
workplace characterized
by increasing levels of:
• innovation
• automation
• competition
• complexity
• disruption

51. In this context, today’s
First Destination
metrics might
be missing
something
.

52. EXERCISE #6:
Considering the
Future of Work …
what might success
need to look like
for a Career Services
re-boot?

53. How to Re-Boot
In 10 (kind of) easy steps

54. 1. What’s the
problem
we’re trying
to solve?

55. “We live in an unbelievably exciting time,
and those who master the fine art
of controlling their own destiny
will rise to the inspiring new lifestyle category of
‘rogue commanders of the known universe.’”
- Thomas Frey, DaVinci Institute,
Google futurist thinker

56. The
Creative
Process
2. What does SUCCESS look
like?
3. What are the OBSTACLES?
(for students)
4. What are the CONSTRAINTS?
(for Career Services)
5. What are the ALTERNATIVES?

57. The
Analytical
Process
6. What’s your
RECCOMMENDATION?
7. What specific RESOURCES
are required?
8. How will you SELL it?
9. How will you MAKE IT
HAPPEN?

58. 10. Go!

59. EXERCISE #7:
What’s the problem YOU
would like to solve?

60. “We are protectors of
the future.”
Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University

61. A Few
Resources
Higher Ed Issues & Opportunities
• Future U Podcast, https://futureupodcast.wordpress.com/.
Student Demographics
• Grawe, Nathan. Demographics and the Demand for Higher
Education. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.
Student Success
• Great Jobs, Great Lives: The Gallup-Purdue Index Report.
2014. 2015. 2016.
• Wagner and Dintersmith. Most Likely to Succeed. Scribner,
2015.
• Meadows, Denny. “Time to Choose a College? Four Questions
to Ask Before You Decide.” LinkedIn.com. 2018.
Student Goals vs. Outcomes
• Almanac 2017: “A Profile of Freshmen at 4-Year Colleges.“
Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 13, 2017.
• Busteed, Brandon. “Higher Education’s Work Preparation
Paradox.” Gallup.com. 2014.
The Future of Work
• McKinsey & Company. What the future of work will mean for
jobs, skills, and wages. December 2017.
Creative Problem-Solving
• Say, My. “Creativity: How Constraints Drive Genius.”
Forbes.com. July 12, 2013.
• Rodriguez, Brandon. “The Power of Creative Constraints.”
ed.TED.com.

62. Let’s continue the conversation.
Denny@SilverFernAdvisory.com
www.LinkedIn.com/in/DennyMeadows
www.SilverFernAdvisory.com