Marissa Armitstead appointed Career Design Center assistant director for statewide campuses

Three years ago, Utah State University’s Career Design Center realized they were not serving statewide students as well as they could be, according to assistant director Marissa Armitstead.

“My role as assistant director of Career Design for statewide campuses came about recently as a necessity because statewide campuses recognized the need and desire to improve career readiness of their students but did not have enough support,” she said. 

According to Armitstead, 2020 was the first time a statewide campus reached out to the Career Design Center to collaborate in creating a statewide career position deliberately.

While the Career Design Center has always been charged with serving all USU students, its resources haven’t always been easily accessible to statewide students.

For a long time, the only way for a statewide student to have a one-on-one appointment was if they were to drive to Logan. 

Often this meant campuses furthest away had the least assistance and resources unless their staff was reaching out to Logan themselves, according to Armitstead.

“I’m hopeful my position will help bridge that,” Armitstead said. “Rather than bringing resources from Logan we hope to embed career design at each local campus or center so that the people closest to the work are equipped to support students and their unique needs.”

There are 30 USU campuses statewide. The variety in demographic and size of each campus affect students’ needs.

“The Blanding campus has their own center with student groups, so It’s a very on-campus feel,” Armitstead said. “Whereas Salt Lake Center students might only visit their center for a class session, or they might just join online.”

One of Armitstead’s top priorities is to support students with these differences in mind. Because each region is different, she is working to understand specific student needs and how she can collaborate with local leaders and staff to help design strategic career integration plans that make sense to them 

“One of the biggest pieces of this role is building really strong relationships with regional administration and staff,” she said.

Andrea Olding, assistant vice president of statewide campuses, said Armitstead has started to meet with statewide campus leadership to discuss their needs.

“She is meeting with statewide staff such as admissions specialists and advisors to help them better understand how the Career Design Center supports students,” Olding said.

The Career Design Center encourages all USU faculty and staff to be a “career champion.” A career champion is someone who wants to be actively engaged in student career development.

“When we talk about building equitable and accessible resources, in a perfect world, it isn’t coming from a career design center. It is a part of the institution,” Armitstead said.  

Professors can assist students in their career exploration by bringing professionals into the classrooms or advertising the resources USU has readily available. 

The Career Design Center has created faculty badges within USU’s Empowering Teaching Excellence pathway program to support faculty in this work.

The Career Design Center focuses on major and career exploration, experiential learning and career-launching. These classes include USU 1400, USU 2400 and USU 3400.

“They offer one credit, seven week career courses that align with each of these areas,” Armitstead said.

Major and career exploration often begins with knowing one’s strengths. FOCUS-2, USU’s online career and education planning system, is a great place to start, according to Armitstead.

It is a self-paced career guidance tool designed to help you select the right major, clarify your career goals and provide you with valuable occupation information.

Experiential learning is a hands-on way for students to be confident in their career choice and gain resume-building experience. 

Handshake and Parker Dewey are third-party resources designed to connect students with internship possibilities.

Students benefit from knowing how to conduct themselves in an interview, how to negotiate pay and what makes them stand out despite what campus they belong to.

“While the (students’) needs might be a little different, oftentimes, the tools needed are universal,” Armitstead said. 

To learn more about the career design center and how it can support you visit: https://www.usu.edu/career-design-center/.

-Andie.Allen@usu.edu

Photo from Utah State Today