Strategic Plan
Dear SDSU Stakeholders,
During my first 12 months with SDSU I launched a robust organizational assessment to better understand the department, the campus community and the greater San Diego metropolitan region. Through feedback by students, faculty/staff and employers, Career Services was able to identify areas where we can build bridges to work-based learning opportunities and careers for students and alumni. Through the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data we were able to ascertain priorities that serve as the new foundation and framework for preparing our students and alumni for the careers of today and tomorrow.
Career Services has undergone an empowering transformation. Our new vision for the future is innovative, aggressive and community oriented.
I am proud to present Career Services’ new three-year strategic plan. I am confident that this plan will serve as a starting point that will guide us from a post-pandemic era into a future workforce that harnesses technological advancements like artificial intelligence (AI), evolving workplace dynamics like remote and hybrid practices, and the enhancement and tracking of employment outcomes. This new plan embraces SDSU campus stakeholders while expanding our scope to include regional, national and global priorities that support students, alumni and industry. We will enhance campus partnerships, leverage community allies and infuse industry leaders into the career development process.
This vision helps establish Career Services as a regional, state and global leader. We look forward to working with our community to meet the goals laid out in this plan that were created to forge pathways to our students’ ambitions, equipping them to be leaders in an evolving and global workforce.
Regards,
Daniel Newell, MPA
To empower students, our community and industry leaders to pioneer new career pathways for today's workforce demands and tomorrow's possibilities.
- Student, Alumni and Campus Relations
- To meet students’ needs to prepare them for the workforce while providing flexible options for service and resource delivery.
- To integrate DEI activities into the student learning experience while ensuring students have access to diverse industry stakeholders and employers domestically and around the globe.
- To explore and identify global opportunities for Career Services participation and leadership.
- To design and deploy a custom approach to serve the unique needs of students and alumni in the Imperial County region.
- Industry, Community and External Relations
- To serve as an industry relations clearing house to maximize industry engagement throughout the SDSU Campuses.
- To be a campus and community leader in regional workforce and economic development activities, creating a community that supports students, employers, and the greater San Diego, metropolitan area and beyond.
- To expand the scope and accessibility of marketing, outreach, and communications through various modalities to increase stakeholder engagement, outputs, and outcomes.
- To deploy an entrepreneurship model, menu of services, and strategy to serve entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses.
- Innovation, Infrastructure and Outcomes
- To design and sustain systems and processes that support departmental operations with a focus on scaling, technology, finance, campus/regional impact, and identification and analysis of outcomes.
- To sustain and expand Career Services’ annual budget through diverse funding streams to support workforce and economic development activities.
- To implement a Research and Development (R&D) arm of the department to explore new ways to serve students, alumni, and industry stakeholders through technology.
- Institutional Alignment and Employee Relations
- To develop staff’s expertise, sustain employee satisfaction, and increase employee retention.
- To enhance staff’s skills, experience, and subject matter expertise.
- To align and contribute to institutional and regional goals, initiatives, and frameworks.
Students are our #1 priority. Career Services strives to meet student career needs to prepare them to enter employment while keeping them relevant to meet the needs of the workforce of today and tomorrow.
Goal: To meet students’ needs to prepare them for the workforce while providing flexible options for service and resource delivery.
☑ By January 31, 2024, CS will launch a new career development model and student menu of services that embrace student empowerment/options, technology/innovation, and virtual/in-person options.
☑ By January 31, 2024, Career Services will migrate away from Chronus and will adopt Graduway as its new mentoring platform in collaboration with the Alumni Association.
☑ By January 31, 2024, the department will reorganize the Career Management and Industry Relations teams to align with industry clusters.
☑ By April 30, 2024, Career Services will work with Associated Students to form a student advisory commission framework; student advisory committee would have hosted at least one meeting.
☑ By June 30, 2024, Career Services will have drafted a plan and MOU for closer collaboration with Associated Students; this MOU will be renewed annually and may include the formation of a student advisory commission, joint marketing/outreach efforts, industry mixers, job/internship development, space utilization, and other collaboration opportunities.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will identify new success outcomes; these metrics will focus on the obtainment of work opportunities and will include the CS’s success rate in helping students obtain employment; goals will be established annually to meet employment outcomes.
☐ By August 30, 2024, Career Services will form a new menu of services for alumni and have it active on the career services website.
☐ By June 30, 2026, Career Services would have explored the feasibility of establishing a universal career readiness course for students.
☐ By June 30, 2026, Career Services will identify and centralize all campus career fairs; Career Services will enter MOUs with campus partners to ensure alignment and that fairs are supported in some capacity by the department under one umbrella.
☐ By June 30, 2026, Career Services will work with SDSU Alumni to explore joint events and activities and will establish a timeline to coordinate activities that may include alumni/student mixers, job shadowing, and experiential learning activities.
☐ By June 30, 2026, a needs assessment will be completed for the Arts/Entertainment industry to identify specific career needs; a plan will be drafted and approved for strategic planning; this plan will include an analysis of potential subindustries including eSports and potential career pathways.
☐ By June 30, 2026, Career Services will form a menu of services for faculty and staff and have it available on the career services website.
The Imperial County region has its own unique workforce and economic development framework and needs. Career Services strives to tailor its approach to student success based on regional factors.
Goal: To design and deploy a custom approach to serve the unique needs of students and alumni in the Imperial County region.
☑ By December 31, 2023, CS will invest in one LAEP-funded intern for the IV campus to support career services personnel.
☑ By December 31, 2023, CS will lead its first career fair at the IV campus and will create a financial revenue source to support the coordination of two fairs annually; revenues raised will be reinvested to support IV students.
☑ By February 29, 2024, CS will launch a marketing campaign to IV students to get them engaged with Handshake, the institution's official job/internship database, and Career Services Management (CSM) system; Handshake outcome goals will be established to measure success.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will earmark LAEP funding to finance up to three interns each semester to support career development and industry relations activities exclusively for the Imperial Valley region.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will expand its marketing campaign for career outcomes to the IV campus; the survey instrument used will be able to disaggregate data based on IV campus enrollment.
☑ By January 31, 2025, IV campus will have a newly revamped career services website that aligns with the main campus models and menus of services.
☐ By June 30, 2025, CS will connect with potential employers in the Lithium industry to explore possible career paths and internship prospects for the region.
☐ By June 30, 2025, IV campus will offer select career-related materials in Spanish.
☑ By June 30, 2025, CS will have established community partners in the areas of education, workforce, and economic development throughout the Imperial County region; these partnerships will include the workforce development board, offices of economic development, community colleges, SBDC, and other community influencers.
☑ By June 30, 2026, CS will explore the feasibility of financing one additional FTE position, bringing career staff support to two FTEs.
☑ By June 30, 2026, CS will submit at least one external grant proposal to support IV students/alumni and/or employers throughout the region.
DEI is essential to serving a diverse student body and global economy. DEI ensures student growth and success while offering industry stakeholders access to diverse thoughts, solutions, and innovation.
Goal: To integrate DEI activities into the student learning experience while ensuring students have access to diverse industry stakeholders and employers domestically and around the globe.
☑ By December 2024, CS will form a DEI committee to address related activities and to determine disproportionate impact; this committee will have an objective or purpose statement; this committee will form a DEI statement for the department.
☐ By June 30, 2025, CS will identify student demographics who are disproportionately impacted who are not meeting career outcomes at 80% of the general student population; these populations will be named “priority populations.”
☐ By September 30, 2025, CS will identify possible interventions to support priority populations; these interventions will be enforced and monitored annually to track progress.
☐ By June 30, 2026, CS will offer at least one ally training activity for students, alumni, campus partners, or employers in collaboration with an identity center on a topic related to career development.
Global Impact entails the expanse of the SDSU brand to foreign economies to offer students and alumni a global learning experience that offers them skills, expertise, and experience to prepare them for the workforce.
Goal: To explore and identify global opportunities for Career Services participation and leadership; to generate a feasibility analysis that includes the identification of potential nations, fiscal impact, and next steps.
☐ By June 30, 2025, CS will complete a feasibility study on the topic of exploring an international presence; this study will assess through a SWOT analysis or other model, the department’s ability to expand services and activities to foreign economies; foreign nations may include Mexico, India, and/or China.
☐ By June 30, 2026, CS will explore offering international students experiential learning opportunities through its staffing agency; CS will have completed a pilot with no fewer than five international student placements with off-campus employers.
Industry Relations is critical to the career development process and the hiring of students and alumni. Industry partners also utilize SDSU for other activities that include professional development, testing, research, and more.
Goal: To serve as an industry relation-clearing house to maximize industry engagement throughout the SDSU Campuses.
☑ By January 30, 2024, CS will unveil a new menu of services that includes in-person, remote, and hybrid service options that cater to all employer sizes while offering low-cost and no-cost options; all services will have established systems/processes in place for employer utilization.
☑ By January 30, 2024, CS will co-lead a joint industry engagement event with Global Campus to host industry stakeholders who are interested in continuing education; this joint effort will occur no less than twice a year.
☑ By June 30, 2024, to meet industry stakeholders' #1 request, select recruiting events will be open to the public that will include employer information sessions, career fairs, and other industry engagement events.
☑ By July 31, 2024, CS will have a digital learning library accessible by employers online on topics relevant to workforce development.
☐ By July 31, 2024, CS will have established workshops/webinars that will be presented on a monthly basis on topics related to workforce development; the IR team will have no fewer than four different workshops to be presented annually; this number will increase to 10 by June 30, 2025.
☐ By January 30, 2025, CS will have 15+ industry consultants on contract to take on student and alumni appointments remotely, in-person, during regular office hours, evenings, and weekends to support student and alumni career development; this number will increase to 30+ by June 30, 2026.
☑ By January 30, 2025, CS will procure an electric cart/campus approved vehicle to offer target employers campus tours and to help support other career related events on campus.
☐ By January 30, 2025, the IR team will launch a pilot program that simulates a staffing agency model; the program will establish systems/processes for the CS department to hire students on its payroll while charging employers a premium for the service; the pilot will consist of at least ten student employees and end by May 31, 2024; the program will be called SDSU Works!
☑ By June 30, 2025, CS will host a minimum of four boutique fairs and two micro- fairs annually.
☐ By July 31, 2025, CS will create an Industry Advisory Board to provide insight and expertise into departmental operations, provide insight on trends, and to provide advice on prospective projects; the board will consist of regional employers and stakeholders from various industries; the board will consist of at least 10+ employer representatives.
Workforce and economic development activities occur in geographic regions. These regions are communities of sectors and industries. SDSU must have a strong campus and community presence to facilitate collaboration and business activities among the university and community leaders.
Goal: To be a campus and community leader in regional workforce and economic development activities, creating a community that supports students, employers, and the greater San Diego, metropolitan area and beyond.
☑ By February 1, 2024, CS will have assigned liaisons to regional chambers, offices of economic development, business associations, SBDCs, and other industry related organizations; liaisons will correspond and collaborate with partners periodically throughout each FY; these partners will join our community partner advisory committee.
☑ By June 2024, Career Services will coordinate its external outreach activities with Research and Innovation, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs, and other campus partners to identify events, activities, and resources to support industry relations, job/internship development, and workforce/economic development.
☑ By July 30, 2024, CS will host its first community partner advisory committee meeting; this committee includes campus and community partners interested in workforce, and economic development; campus membership will include one representative from each of the following divisions: Students Affairs + Campus Diversity, Division of Research and Innovation, Academic Affairs, and University Relations and Development; external membership will include one representative from a local office of economic development, one labor union representative from a union or labor council, one chamber of commerce staff representative, one representative affiliated with an SBDC, and one member representing the workforce development board.
☐ By June 30, 2025, Career Services will have forged a relationship with the San Diego Workforce Partnership and will be collaborating on both career management and industry relations activities; success metrics will be developed and tracked annually.
Marketing, outreach, and communications is essential to identifying and attracting students, alumni, and industry stakeholders to services and resources.
Goal: To expand the scope and accessibility of marketing, outreach, and communications through various modalities to increase stakeholder engagement, outputs, and outcomes.
☑ By December 31, 2023, the department will adopt a new mission and vision statement that aligns with future aspirations and department values.
☑ By January 30, 2024, CS will revamp and launch a new department website that includes all new content (models, menus, staff contact info, resources, etc.).
☑ By July 1, 2024, CS will come up with a framework for annual marketing/communications strategies to increase student, alumni, and industry engagement; this will include the use of data, soundbites for sharing, accessibility, marketing mediums (social media, email, in-person opportunities, direct mailing, paid ads, TV, radio, etc.) and other relevant areas identified by the CS marketing committee.
☑ By July 31, 2024, CS will implement a marketing and graphic design internship program to replace the Social Media and Graphic Design Student Assistant position.
☑ By June 30, 2025, CS will create a student dashboard or visual representation of our annual outcomes to help tell our story; this data can be used for marketing and social media sharing; this will be created by our marketing team based on data collected and interpreted by our IO team.
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. SDSU Career Services will embrace pathways to self-employment and entrepreneurship for campus stakeholders and the Greater San Diego Metropolitan region.
Goal: To design an entrepreneurship model, menu of services, and strategy to serve entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small businesses.
☑ By January 30, 2025, CS will complete a feasibility assessment on the appropriateness of securing business coaches to support entrepreneurship advising.
☐ By June 30, 2025, CS will create a menu of services for entrepreneurs that includes services/resources offered by CS, ZIP Launch Pad, Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, Global Campus, and other appropriate campus partners; the menu will be available on the CS website.
☐ By June 30th, 2026, CS will identify a virtual platform to house gigs/contract opportunities for entrepreneurs.
☐ By June 30, 2025, CS will create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track entrepreneurship success; outcomes are tracked annually and goals are established each year.
Departmental operations and outcomes are essential to sustaining a successful operation. Career Services will leverage a new team to ensure departmental efficiency and sustainability while ensuring individuals, teams, and the department are meeting established goals.
Goal: To design and sustain systems and processes that support departmental operations with a focus on scaling, technology, finance, campus/regional impact, and identification and analysis of outcomes.
☑ By June 30, 2023, CS will identify individual and team goals (outputs and outcomes) using a Logic Model for tracking; goals are tracked, reviewed, and interpreted monthly and annually.
☑ By January 30, 2024, CS will implement tracking systems and processes to identify and analyze new success metrics that focus on employment outcomes; these tools will include questioning students after recruitment events/activities as well as one annual questionnaire.
☑ By May 31, 2024, CS will refine its annual survey instrument to track student outcomes; this report will align with university rankings outlets, reporting requirements, First Destination standards, and more; this tool will be used to calculate disproportionate impact.
☐ By August 30, 2024, CS will generate and make available online, an annual Career Services report that highlights departmental outputs, outcomes, and any noteworthy trends.
☑ By December 30, 2024, CS will explore the feasibility of hiring a student research team through LAEP to support the tracking of outcomes; this team may conduct activities such as call center, texting, email outreach, and more to increase participation in the CS annual outcomes questionnaire.
Career Services is committed to developing financial resources to finance career development and industry relations activities. Financial resources will include a combination of internal and external funding streams while diversifying the department’s revenues to augment the costs of operation.
Goal: Sustain and expand Career Services’ annual budget through diverse funding streams to support workforce and economic development activities.
☐ By January 30, 2024, Career Services will explore and design a 9-point plan that addresses revenue generation and cash flow; this plan will include new revenue goals, models, menus, and timelines.
☑ By June 30, 2024, Career Services will increase the number of its financial accounts to diversify funding streams making the department more financially competitive for external grant proposals; these accounts may include state funds, state reserves, foundation reserves/revenues, philanthropic funds, endowment finances, and/or other appropriate constructs to support cash-match requirements for external funders.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will have a financial framework in place to allow it to compete for external contracts/grants; this framework includes access, control, and transparency over its financial infrastructure.
☑ By Dec 30, 2025, CS will complete its first external grant proposal.
☐ By January 30, 2026, CS will create a process for staff to submit project ideas for financing; these ideas called “passion projects” should focus on serving students, alumni, or industry stakeholders.
SDSU Career Services embraces progression, innovation, and technology to support stakeholders through cutting edge approaches and concepts.
Goal: To design and sustain systems and processes that support departmental operations with a focus on scaling, technology, finance, campus/regional impact, and identification and analysis of outcomes.
☑ By January 31, 2024, CS will embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) and will offer services/resources on this topic to both students and employers.
☑ By January 31, 2024, CS will launch a pilot AI career co-pilot module through Handshake; this module will help support career advising.
☑ By January 31, 2024, Handshake employer and job posting approvals will become automated; the IO team will oversee a pilot term and will report on any necessary revisions/tweaks needed to the process.
☑ By June 30, 2024, Career Services will have established prompts using ChatGPT to support student career development; these prompts will be included into student workshops and may touch upon career exploration, resume, and cover letter design, and other relevant topics.
☑ By June 30, 2024, Career Services will have established prompts using ChatGPT to support industry relations that help employers through the job development and design process; prompts will also support lead generation for employer engagement.
☑ By January 31, 2025, CS will create a research and development (R&D) arm for its department; this team will create a process for identifying, exploring, procuring, and implementing new hardware or software technologies that support innovation in career development and industry relations; this process will include demos, pricing quotes, pilot programs, and implementation.
☐ By June 30, 2026, CS will create a framework for staff to initiate, participate, and lead in projects; this effort will focus on research projects that staff can contribute to that impact on the industry of career services in higher education, workforce, and economic development.
☑ By June 30, 2026, CS will have explored the practicality of infusing Virtual Reality (VR) and/or Augmented Reality (AR) technologies in the career development and/or industry relations experience; this exploration process will include ideas for services/resources, conversations with designers, obtainment of quotes/costs, considerations of hardware/software, and potential pilot programs.
Staff are our greatest asset to impacting students, employers, and the community. Career Services is committed to retaining and developing its personnel.
Goal: To develop staff expertise, sustain employee satisfaction, and increase employee retention.
☑ By July 31, 2023, CS will implement and adopt the New Public Management (NPM) model as its official leadership and management framework; NPM is integrated into future departmental operations across teams.
☑ By July 31, 2023, CS will embrace transparent decision-making and will have systems/processes established that allow staff and management to converse for future planning; these systems will include team meetings, open committee meetings, open budget discussions, and the implementation of workplace platforms/tools that include Discord and Trello.
☑ By September 30, 2023, CS will form a new team to help sustain departmental operations called Infrastructure and Outcomes; this team will consist of one associate director and no less than two additional full-time roles to support technology, research and and development, finance, HR, customer relations, systems/processes, reporting/outcomes, administration, operations, resources, special projects, facilities, contracts/grant management, policy, and risk management.
☑ By September 30, 2023, CS will create an internal virtual community using Discord, where all CS team members can connect and interact, including management, staff, student employees, and integrated campus team members.
☑ By December 31, 2023, CS will establish an “Employee Relations” committee and allocate an annual budget for team-building activities throughout the year to support staff morale, teamwork, and employee retention; this committee will come up with an objective or purpose statement, meet periodically and provide advice to department leadership.
☑ By December 31, 2023, CS will complete a re-organization; staff titles, teams, and Position Descriptions will be revised, and all staff revisions will be complete.
☐ By January 31, 2024, all internal committees will have an objective statement and clear bulleted items of role and responsibilities.
☑ By January 31, 2024, the career peer, front desk, graphic design, and Career Resource Room student positions will be reimagined as internship roles to expand the scope of the positions to increase student subject matter expertise, skills, experience, and learning outcomes.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will align its work culture to modern trends that include remote work options and scheduling.
☐ By June 30, 2024, CS will submit two PBAC requests to finance three career coordinator positions that support the colleges of Education, Health and Human Services, Professional Studies and Fine Arts, and Arts and Letters.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS will assign a career coordinator to support students from Global Campus.
☐ By June 30, 2024, the department will have a system/process in place that recognizes staff for positive work habits and goal obtainment.
For staff to succeed in supporting students and employers, they must have the tools necessary for success. Professional development is a life- long experience.
Goal: To enhance staff’s skills, experience, and subject matter expertise.
☑ By July 1, 2023, CS will implement department committees led by co-chairs to support transparency, decision-making, shared governance, professional development, and leadership.
☑ By September 30, 2023, CS will launch an annual staff retreat to support team building, trends identification, reviewing of outcomes, strategic planning, and future goal setting.
☐ By December 31, 2023, CS staff will identify no fewer than two professional development opportunities annually to participate in virtually or in-person and will be prepared to report on their learning outcomes; report outs may include soundbites, themes, and takeaways.
☑ By June 30, 2024, CS staff will be members of at least one professional association to help build their skills and professional network; affiliations may include the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges and Employers (MPACE), California Career Development Association (CCDA), California Workforce Association (CWA), and more.
☑ By July 31, 2024, CS will have a formal onboarding and orientation process for new staff and student employees; the process will include a checklist, resources, training activities and more.
☐ By July 31, 2024, CS personnel will participate in additional New Public Management (NPM) training activities and will review case studies to assess how to align activities to the management model.
☑ By July 31, 2024, CS staff assigned to industry clusters will identify at least one professional association within their assigned industry for membership.
☑ By December 31, 2025, CS staff will present at conferences and external professional development events at least once annually to convey subject matter expertise, skills, and experience while promoting the SDSU brand.
☑ By January 31, 2025, CS will have a formal department orientation and onboarding process for all new hires; the orientation will be the same for all new hires, but the onboarding process will vary based on role.
☐ By January 31, 2026, CS staff will identify “passion projects” to adopt that help support students, industry, or the team; these projects will be highlighted during staff retreats and findings can be presented at conferences or other professional development events.
☐ By June 30, 2026, CS will deploy a team professional development plan focused on structured team-building opportunities that include topics and timeframes; activities may include Strong Interest Inventory, MBTI, Insights, etc.).
☐ By June 30, 2026, CS management will work with staff to identify team research projects related to education, workforce, or economic development and will coordinate necessary strategies, systems, and processes to support research methodologies, data tracking/interpretation, and drawing conclusions; these findings will be submitted for publication consideration.
To ensure its commitment to student success and community impact, Career Services will be intentional to align with division, institutional, and regional initiatives, frameworks, and goals.
Goal: To align and contribute to institutional and regional goals, initiatives, and frameworks.
☑ By January 31, 2024, CS will align its industry clusters to regional needs and institutions, including the San Diego Workforce Partnership, Offices of Economic Development, Community Colleges (Guided Pathways), and other outlets.
☑ By January 31, 2024, CS will deploy annual action plans that align the department’s strategic plan to the university’s 5-year strategic plan; alignment activities will be reviewed annually.
☑ By July 30, 2024, CS will enhance its survey instrument to identify student career outcomes and will aim for data collection with a response rate of 25%.
☑ By January 30, 2025, CS will review and align its annual plans to regional partners that may include the workforce development board and offices of economic development; this plan may be presented annually at a CS partner meeting.