As we approach the new academic year in higher education, many of us are keenly aware of the seemingly intractable challenges facing our nation. Some of these are eroding our collective sense of well-being and our confidence in our abilities to achieve a range of goals for students. Thus, it seems more urgent than ever before to undergird the hopes of incoming and continuing students with curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities that will lead to better opportunities for themselves, their families, and their expanded communities.

Even though I have welcomed new and returning students to institutions of higher education for decades, this year, I especially look forward to constructing guided career pathways through faculty leadership at Florida Memorial University (FMU). Located in the extremely diverse South Florida, FMU, like many liberal arts universities, produces responsible and contributing citizens who will hopefully continue to strive throughout their lifetimes, while illustrating character, leadership, and commitment to lifelong learning.

What is particularly refreshing and transformational about this year is that there is an energized faculty movement to create guided career pathways through curriculum innovation, co-curricular activities (such as early internships and capstone experiences), and collaborations with business leaders to insure that the holistic collegiate experience of FMU’s students fulfills their academic interests and personal upward mobility needs. In order to design guided and intentional career pathways, faculty and institutional researchers are employing regional and national data to identify majors, minors, certifications, and graduate programs that are most likely to lead to gainful, professional employment––and then filling in the gaps.

Like most other institutions of higher education, FMU has its share of student success stories, like the student who, by the time of this posting, will probably have completed her doctorate in radiochemistry. There are also significant numbers of students pursuing graduate study at prestigious graduate schools or beginning their professional careers. However, the faculty-led guided career pathways movement seeks to expose students to more choices for emerging career areas, and expand options in existing areas, as supported by data. These careers are, and will be, important to the economy–careers such as digital communications, cybersecurity, forensics, construction management, and data analytics.

So, as students commence another academic year, it is difficult to not be stimulated intellectually and inspired by this faculty-led movement that is supported by the UNCF and funded by the Lily Endowment. The development of career pathways will also help faculty review and identify specific intellectual competencies and skills that they can measure and certify, as students transition to varied positions and a lifetime of learning to further refine their post baccalaureate competencies and assure their continued professional growth.

Alas, it is time to end this blog and resume preparations for a coming faculty/business leaders forum that will focus on competencies needed by various industries to both guide our renewal as an institution of higher education, and furnish the intellectual capital needed for regional economic development. By this continuous renewal and assessment, we assure our students that they will be ready for the future!