Core to Career

What Is “Core to Career”?

Core to Career is a professional development fellowship program at WSU that supports faculty members who are interested in intentionally incorporating career readiness into their UCORE general education courses.

UCORE remains committed to its central mission of providing WSU undergraduates with a broad general education to complement the depth of knowledge gained in their major areas of study. Too often though, students (and parents, and some faculty and advisors) fail to see the connections between this broad education and post-graduation employment prospects. However, employers repeatedly cite WSU’s undergraduate learning outcomes such as thinking critically, understanding diversity, and being adept at communication as among the most important qualities in potential hires.

To this end, UCORE aims to close this awareness gap by helping faculty to intentionally scaffold career-readiness competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) into course and assignment design. The first cohort of Core to Career faculty participants met throughout fall 2021 semester and members have plans to incorporate career-readiness skill-building into their spring 2022 courses.

Faculty attending virtually. — Retired faculty member Carl Hauser (bottom left) funded the initial Core to Career effort and attended final presentations virtually with participants Michael Thomas and AJ Miller.

Career Readiness Defined

Career readiness is a foundation from which to demonstrate requisite core competencies that broadly prepare the college educated for success in the workplace and lifelong career management. For new college graduates, career readiness is key to ensuring successful entrance into the workforce. Career readiness is the foundation upon which a successful career is launched. Career readiness is, quite simply, the new career currency.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

Read about NACE’s career readiness initiative on its website. Included are descriptions of career competencies and the observable behaviors that students may exhibit.

Additional Resources

Provost Office’s Teach page

Explore this content area of the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President’s website, which contains resources, tips, tools, and techniques to support excellence and innovation in teaching.

Assignment Design Resources

Read guidance from the Office of Assessment for Curricular Effectiveness on developing powerful, clear assignments to impact teaching, learning, and assessment.

Required Learning Outcomes

Depending on the designation, your UCORE course will carry additional learning outcomes requirements.

UCORE Policy

View departmental responsibilities for class size, graduate student instructors, shared syllabi, and more.

Library Instruction

Emphasize information literacy by scheduling with a librarian a session that is specifically tailored to your course.

Syllabus Website

Use this website to confirm required syllabus elements and recommended syllabus elements before teaching a course.

Core to Career Cohorts

Name	Course Subject & Number	Course Title	UCORE Designation
Mariana Amorim	SOC 102	Social Problems	[SSCI]
Mark Billings	SOE 110	The Environment, Human Life, and Sustainability	[PSCI]
Christopher Clarke	ECONS 102	Fundamentals of Macroeconomics	[SSCI]
Kristin Cutler	SOC 101	Introduction to Sociology	[SSCI]
Marlene Gaynair	HISTORY 111	American History Since 1877	[HUM]
Samantha Gizerian	NEUROSCI 105	Meet Your Brain	[BSCI]
Tomie Gowdy-Burke	HUMANITY 103	Mythology	[HUM]
Nanda Grow	ANTH 220	Perspectives on Race	[EQJS]
Shawna Herzog	HISTORY 271	Southeast Asian History: Vietnam to Indonesia	[DIVR]
William Kabasenche	PHIL 103	Introduction to Ethics	[HUM]
Laura Kuhlman	ENGLISH 210	Readings in American Literature	[HUM]
Xinmin Liu	CHINESE 121	Modern Chinese Culture	[HUM]
David Martin	ENGLISH 101	College Composition	[WRTG]
Brenna Miller	HISTORY 105	Roots of Contemporary Issues	[ROOT]
Iolanda Palmer	ART 103	3D Art and Design	[ARTS]
Catherine Perillo	SOIL_SCI 201	Soil: A Living System	[BSCI]
Alejandro Prera	ECONS 101	Fundamentals of Microeconomics	[SSCI]
Marsha Quinlan	ANTH 203	Global Cultural Diversity	[DIVR]
Rachel Sanchez	ENGLISH 101	College Composition	[WRTG]
Matt Stitcher	PHIL 103	Introduction to Ethics	[HUM]
Mandy Strey	H_D 205	Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills	[COMM]

Name	Course Subject & Number	Course Title	UCORE Designation
Tammy Crawford	SPMGT 101	Sport and Popular Culture: Trends and Issues	[DIVR]
Julian Dodson	HISTORY 105	Roots of Contemporary Issues	[ROOT]
David Hampson	MATH 140	Calculus for Life Scientists	[QUAN]
J. Gutierrez Illan	ENTOM 101	Insects and People: A Perspective	[BSCI]
Nik Overtoom	HISTORY 120	World History I	[DIVR]
Somava Pande	COM 101	Media and Society	[SSCI]
Mary Kay Patton	HD 205	Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills	[COMM]
Michael Ritter	POL_S 101	American National Government	[SSCI]
Emily Sablan	MATH 105	Exploring Mathematics	[QUAN]
Danhong Zhang	MATH 202	Calculus for Business and Economics	[QUAN]

First faculty cohort — Faculty members and organizers in the fall 2021 inaugural Core to Career cohort. Pictured in-person (l. to r.): Z. Rost, L. Tsui, T. Edwards, E. Smelyansky, K. Watts, A. Heile, E. Tomson (front, kneeling), C. Stratton, K. Whalen, C. Cooney, A. Whitehall, J. Martin, K. Faunce, M. Goldsby. *Faculty and organizers not pictured are D. Deford, J. Hewa, J. Martin, M. Thomas (attended virtually), A.J. Miller (attended virtually), and K. Phoenix.*

Name	Course Subject & Number	Course Title	UCORE Designation
Daryl Deford	STAT 212	Statistics	[QUAN]
Teena Edwards	COM 102	Public Speaking in the Digital Age	[COMM]
Ken Faunce	HISTORY 105	Roots of Contemporary Issues	[ROOT]
Michael Goldsby	PHIL 201	Psychology of Communication	[QUAN]
Amy Heile	ENGLISH 101	College Composition	[WRTG]
Jeanette Martin	MATH 171	Calculus I	[QUAN]
A.J. Miller	MUS 262	Rock Music: History and Social Analysis	[ARTS]
Eugene Smelyansky	HISTORY 105	Roots of Contemporary Issues	[ROOT]
Michael Thomas	ENGLISH 105	College Composition for Multilingual Writers	[WRTG]
Erin Tomson	COM 102	Public Speaking in the Digital Age	[COMM]
Lora Tsui	COM 102	Public Speaking in the Digital Age	[COMM]
Kate Watts	ENGLISH 101	College Composition for Multilingual Writers	[WRTG]
Katy Whalen	HISTORY 105	Roots of Contemporary Issues	[ROOT]
Anna Whitehall	HD 205	Developing Effective Communication and Life Skills	[COMM]

Organizers

Chris Cooney, Dept. of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship
Joe Hewa, Dept. of Human Development and Center for Transformational Learning and Leadership
Clif Stratton, DAESA/UCORE and Dept. of History
Zach Rost (staff)

An Awareness Gap

Public and private employers in Washington state and beyond demand that our graduates leave WSU with specialized, technical skills developed through major fields of study as well as transferrable skills, or core competencies. These are offered through WSU’s UCORE program and expanded through major fields of study and co-curricular activities.

These competencies help our graduates be adaptable in an ever-changing economy and society.

Undergraduates, and faculty and advisors who mentor and counsel them, are often unable to articulate “career readiness” to potential employers. The Core to Career initiative aims to close this awareness gap. It is not enough for undergraduates to encounter disparate opportunities to develop and apply transferrable skills; they must also be able to see connections among them, to development them coherently and consistently across WSU’s undergraduate curriculum, and advocate for themselves in career and life beyond WSU.

A Work in Progress

Core to Career began with a generous donation from long-time WSU faculty member Carl Hauser, who is committed to the ideals of a broad general education. The initiative takes as its inspiration several successful models at other institutions, including Georgia State University, University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts, and Clemson University.

Like each of these programs, WSU’s Core to Career aims to build faculty capacity to prepare graduates for growth within and adaptation to an ever-changing employment landscape.

At WSU, this multi-year process began in Fall 2021 with an invited inaugural faculty-fellows cohort. These educators will introduce students to career competencies in their First-Year Experience (ROOT) and Foundational Competencies (WRTG, COMM, QUAN) UCORE courses.

The intention is that the fellows program will expand to other lower-division UCORE courses and campuses beyond Pullman in subsequent cohorts. The goal is that by 2024, it would be relatively difficult for a four-year matriculating undergraduate not to engage the habits of mind and action that signal career readiness in their first two years.