FloridaACE 2026

At New College of Florida, “Careers in Weeks” is a three-day micro-series that builds career readiness through immersive industry exposure and transferable skill development. Each short-format series focuses on a career field such as pre-health, finance and technology, education, or the arts, while pairing practical skill-building activities with reflective exercises that connect students’ academic pathways to professional opportunities. Developed collaboratively by career services staff, faculty, alumni, and local employers, these modules foster career confidence, expand access for underrepresented and international students, and reinforce the relevance of liberal arts education. By embedding career programming into existing campus rhythms, “Careers in Weeks” encourages participation from students who may not self-select into traditional career events. Attendees of this session will learn how to design and implement similar high-impact, equity-minded micro-series at their own institutions, leveraging limited resources while advancing student engagement, retention, and recruitment.

For many students, on-campus employment is viewed merely as a paycheck rather than a professional stepping stone. However, when intentionally structured, these roles serve as a primary laboratory for career readiness. This session explores Work+, an innovative, university-driven initiative at the University of Central Florida designed to bridge the gap between academic learning and hands-on work experience. Participants will go behind the scenes of a program that shifts the focus from task-based supervision to competency-based mentorship. By equipping supervisors with curated tools and pedagogical resources, Work+ empowers them to facilitate career-enriching environments that prioritize NACE Career Readiness Competencies. We will discuss the framework used to train supervisors within the Division of Student Success and Well-Being, where 90% of participants reported feeling better equipped to incorporate professional development into daily operations. Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies to scale supervisor training, enhance student self-efficacy, and turn every campus job into a high-impact experiential learning opportunity.

Career offices at any-sized school are often challenged by limited staff and resources, many of which we know will not increase in the future. Instead of pushing for outside resources, have we considered looking within our offices and colleges? This session challenges the idea that student employees serve only as front desk support or event staff, and instead positions them as strategic contributors to the work of career services. At Eckerd College, through intensive training and established trust, our student employees are tasked and run programs such as peer advising, industry research, job procurement, marketing and content creation, blog writing, professional headshots, and mentorship program support. This drastically increases the work of 3 full-time staff members to include a team of 10. Reimagining student employment as work-based learning, allows career services staff to develop critical skills for the workforce for their students, as well as letting career centers to expand capacity while empowering students as active partners in career development. This model not only enhances office operations but also creates meaningful professional development opportunities for our student staff.