OSU Career Services organizes career readiness summit to support student-facing staff

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Media Contact: Jordan Bishop | Editor, Department of Brand Management | 405-744-7193 | jordan.bishop@okstate.edu

Members of Oklahoma State University staff gathered at the Career Readiness Summit organized by OSU Career Services on Feb. 2 at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.

The summit provided staff with a broad range of career readiness information and allowed participants to discuss the content through interactive breakout sessions. Its goal was to allow OSU staff to consider how they can layer career readiness support into their student interactions with the tools and resources available through Career Services.

Kellie Ebert, director of OSU Career Services, said the summit was carefully planned by a committee to provide meaningful information for staff to incorporate into career conversations with students. 

“The committee worked for several months and very intentionally planned every presentation, breakout session and activity to ensure that it was impactful, but also fun and engaging,” Ebert said. 

While the summit was centered on student interaction, it also placed an emphasis on staff recognition and their ability to have a large impact on the experiences students have on campus. 

“We recognize how incredibly important the relationships are between students and student-facing staff. For many students, these relationships with academic advisors, prospective student coordinators, retention staff, etc., frame their entire OSU experience,” Ebert said. 

Alton Carter, OSU’s career exploration coordinator, was a guest speaker at the summit. Through sharing his life experiences, Carter emphasized that with the right tools, staff can have a major impact on the lives and future careers of the students they meet with. 

“I think the number one, overarching goal here is to create partnerships so we [staff] can help all students pursue their careers and provide them with as much information and tools as we can for them to be successful,” Carter said. 

OSU Career Services hopes to make the summit an annual event while also exploring other avenues to provide career readiness support to faculty and staff across campus. 

“This was our pilot event to see how it went and what the response was, and based on the feedback we received from attendees, we are very excited to grow this event and include more staff in the future,” Ebert said. 

More information on career readiness and development can be found at hireosugrads.com.

Story By: Sam Milek | smilek@okstate.edu