Grant to Prepare Students to Flourish after Graduating
A grant of nearly $100,000 from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) will fund a strategic, institution-wide Westmont program encouraging students to explore potential careers early in their college experience.
“Helping students develop vocationally takes a village,” says Lori Ann Banez, director of Westmont’s Career Resource Center (CRC). “The grant will fund the creation of a versatile, one-unit course delivered by qualified staff members outside of the CRC, expanding our reach and capacity to serve students.”
A collaborative team of Westmont faculty and staff will develop the course, which will equip all students to pursue meaningful roles after graduation. This curriculum development committee includes Banez, Araceli Espinoza, director of community and campus partnerships for admissions; Kailie Grinder, director of Intercultural Programs; Jonathan Hicks, assistant professor of theater arts; Christine Seibert, assistant director of environmental studies; Lesa Stern, professor of communication studies; and Nathan Snyder, associate director of the CRC.
The CRC will administer the project, which emerged from a data-driven analysis of the activities of recent alums. The center identified a meaningful correlation between engagement in career development activities, including assessments, career events, and internships, and increased vocational discernment, professional readiness and successful transitions beyond college.
“We want every student to discover who they are, what interests them, and what they value so they can explore their options and achieve clarity and confidence to pursue what’s next,” Banez said.
The customizable course allows different academic departments and co-curricular programs to integrate specific modules into their existing courses or programs. Faculty and staff who embed these elements will receive stipends, ensuring that vocational formation becomes a widespread institutional priority.
Two qualified staff partners will deliver the course, and other faculty and staff will earn specialized certifications in the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to expand the number of people guiding students through their self-discovery.
The initiative seeks to look beyond traditional employment metrics by measuring long-term student well-being. Westmont plans to incorporate questions from Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program into its annual First Destination Survey to formally evaluate how effectively the college shapes graduates for lives of purpose.
NetVUE, a program of the Council of Independent Colleges, supports and enriches vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students. Financial support of NetVUE comes from a combination of membership dues and the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc.