Students seem less interested in formal workshop experiences, so this session will explore creative approaches to career education that are more informal. We’ll discuss innovative strategies such as club style meetings, pop-up advising, “coffee chat” networking, and collaborative events with student organizations. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas to increase participation and create a culture of career readiness without requiring large budgets or extensive planning.

Following this session, participants will…

• Learn how to incorporate career advising into students’ daily routines through informal settings.
• Discover creative programming ideas that require minimal resources but yield high engagement.

Presenter Bios

Julie Brannon (she/her), Assistant Director of Career Education, Union College

As Assistant Director of Career Education, Julie advises students 1:1 on a variety of topics ranging from document review to networking to interview prep. She brings her passion for helping others which stems from her previous career in the non-profit industry.

In this session, Doug will discuss one of the core components of the project management process – project review. He will explain the common reasons that people do not conduct a review, share the benefits of doing so, and provide an example of how he has applied it to his role in career development. The audience will be asked to reflect on their own experiences and how they have used project review in the past or, if they have not, use a handout template to complete one for a project they worked on recently.

Following this session, participants will …

• Recall the common reasons why people don’t do project reviews
• Summarize the benefits of a project review
• Apply what they learned to conduct a review of a project they’ve worked on

Presenter Bio

Doug Chatterton (he/him), Department Administrator, Brandeis University

Doug Chatterton serves as the Department Administrator for the Hiatt Career Center at Brandeis University, playing a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of the office. As the primary point of contact, Doug leverages substantial experience in customer service, leadership, and management to cultivate a thriving career development ecosystem. He collaborates closely with both the Career Development and External Relations teams, managing student appointments, coordinating programming, and overseeing daily office functions.
With a Master’s degree in Project and Program Management, Doug applies principles of strategic planning, process improvement, and stakeholder engagement to enhance the center’s effectiveness. In addition to consulting on numerous projects, he has led initiatives to refine goal-setting practices, implement project review processes, and improve meeting productivity. His ability to assess challenges and develop systematic solutions ensures that the career center operates smoothly while continuously evolving to meet the needs of students, alumni, and employers.

This session will walk through how the Center for Career Development at Holy Cross launched their own headshot program including the purchasing of equipment and training on photos and editing as well as how to utilize headshots for engagement.

Following this session, participants will…

• Have an understanding of the resources required to launch a headshot program and how to utilize headshots to engage students

Presenter Bios

Ben Cannon (he/him), Associate Director for Student Engagement, The College of the Holy Cross

Ben Cannon is the Associate Director for Student Engagement in the Center for Career Development at The College of the Holy Cross. He manages student engagement as a whole, manages a team of 3 Assistant Directors and provides direct student career counseling to students in arts, communications and media

A collective discussion about personal discovery and exploration fundamentals, frameworks, resources, and best practices and how appropriate and effective utilization informs and impacts coaching conversations across the career planning process including career/job discovery, opportunity targeting, individual search strategy, and effective personal marketing communication. Included in this session with be a dialogue about how these efforts align with and support life and career discussions beyond job titles and outcomes including individual purpose, vocation, and meaning.

Following this session, participants will…

• Have a shared awareness of the best practices employed by colleagues to help students and alumni holistically understand themselves, and leverage that collected knowledge for more informed, intentional, strategic, career/life decision-making.

Presenter Bio

Matt Casey (he series), Associate Director, Graduate Career Services, Tufts University

Matt Casey, MBA, CPC, CCC, is the Associate Director of Graduate Career Services at Tufts University. He provides career advising to graduate students in the School of Engineering, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in all phases of career readiness, including, but not limited to: identifying and articulating career interests/competencies/values, developing networking skills, and employing internship and job search strategies. He is also responsible for the design and delivery of innovative career and professional development programming to ensure that graduate students are prepared for careers after Tufts. Matt works closely with colleagues across campus to develop strategies and needs assessments to identify opportunities to grow our support of graduate students.

After 10+ years in business strategy, planning, and consulting roles across a variety of industries, Matt transitioned from industry in 2010 and launched a private career strategy and coaching business. In addition to private practice, he has worked as an Adjunct Professor teaching career planning and management, an executive search consultant, an executive function coach, a guest professor for a university Physician Assistant program, and a volunteer career coach for the Institute for Career Transitions.

We’ve created a career values, skills, and interest-based quiz for students to be used as a tool for our environmental careers advisor with students who don’t know what that landscape looks like and how they can fit into it. This tool identifies niche roles within the sector based upon our research into the type of person who would thrive in those positions. We will demonstrate our prototype of the tool and would appreciate feedback in addition to hosting a discussion on this approach to both this career path as well as it’s transferability to other career sectors.

Following this session, participants will…

• Gain insight into a resource tool for students to explore practical career applications for their interests and strengths

Presenter Bio

Leah Hodder (she/her), Assistant Director of Programming, Bowdoin College

As Assistant Director of Programming, Leah Hodder thrives at the intersection of creativity and “make it happen” magic on programs such as Sophomore Bootcamp, Career Treks, and Funded Internships. Leah grew up in a Bed & Breakfast on the coast of Maine. After earning her BA in Communications, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television development and production. After four years at network and production companies, she returned to “the way life should be” as a trusted member of the CXD team at Bowdoin, empowering students through career skills and exploration programming. Outside of work, Leah can be found binging TV shows with her cuddly cats, jumping from one art project to the next, and soaking up the sun on the beach as much as she can.

This hands-on session will focus on a key tool of Idea Generation. Based in the study of Life Design, aimed at rapidly generating ideas in quick uninhibited succession. The result of this session will be that participants will walk away with an understanding of how their past experiences provide highly useful skills in all industries.

Following this session, participants will …

• Be able to understand the benefits and reasoning behind Rapid Idea Generation
• Be able to bring this activity back to the communities they work in to teach how individuals can quickly connect their past experiences to desirable skills sought after by all industries

Presenter Bio

Nick Migliorino (he/him), Assistant Director of Career Education and Pre Law Advisor, Vassar College

Nick Migliorino has served as the Assistant Director for Career Education and Pre-Law advisor at Vassar College since 2023. His area of expertise lies in student advising, leadership, and education. He focuses primarily on running career-based educational workshops supporting a wide variety of student experiences. He loves cooking for his family and watching the NY Mets.

Azeeza Saafir (she/her), Administrative Fellow, Vassar College

Azeeza Saafir has served as the Administrative Fellow in the Center for Career Education since July 2024. In this role, she collaborates with students to create strong resumes and cover letters, while providing a sympathetic ear as they navigate excitements and challenges of their budding career journeys. Having an academic background in Human Development and Psychology, she is deeply interested in promoting student success from a holistic perspective and finding ways to support diverse student populations. She values spending time with her family and friends and rewinding with the occasional trip to the movie theater.

In today’s ever-changing recruiting landscape, the Holy Cross Center for Career Development took a thoughtful and strategic approach to how we define employer engagement. This session will focus on the creative ways we’ve engaged employers and alumni to meet their recruiting needs and the needs of our students. We will also highlight how we have used data to track our progress and better inform our employer outreach decisions going forward.

Following this session, participants will…

• Understand how the CCD redefined employer engagement
• Identify creative and strategic methods to strengthen existing employer relationships and engage new employers and alumni to support student career development
• Analyze how data can be used to track employer engagement efforts and inform future outreach strategies

Presenter Bios

Julie Draczynski (she/her), Director, Employer Engagement, The College of the Holy Cross

Julie directs a year-round external relations program for the Center for Career Development (CCD) focused on employer development, engagement, and recruiting. She cultivates long-term relationships with key advancement, alumni, parent and employer stakeholders to promote and develop opportunities for Holy Cross students. Previously, Julie served as the Associate Director of Student Engagement. She worked intensively with Holy Cross students in all phases of the career development process, supervised the student advising staff and provided oversight for the CCD student engagement strategy.

Prior to Holy Cross, she worked for 11 years at Fidelity Investments in Learning and Development. Julie graduated from Lesley University with a Master of Science in Training and Development and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at College of the Holy Cross. Julie lives in Westborough, MA with her husband and two children.

Paola Bytyqi (she/her), Employer Engagement Specialist & Data Lead, The College of the Holy Cross

Paola serves as the Employer Engagement Specialist and Data Lead for the Center for Career Development (CCD) at the College of the Holy Cross. She cultivates relationships with key employer partners, coordinates and responds to employer and alumni recruiting needs and provides oversight for CCD data collection and analysis. Paola also manages the Crusader Internship Fund process for students and employers.

Previously, she served as Assistant to the VP of Academic Affairs at Anna Maria College. Paola graduated from Emerson College with a Master’s in Communications Management and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Worcester State University. Paola lives in Rutland, MA with her husband, son and dog.

Join us to explore how Middlebury has seamlessly embedded career development and life design into the academic journey of first-year and sophomore students. This session will highlight the implementation of Middlebury’s First-Year Seminar Compass Labs and the Winter Term “College to Career” fully credited course. We’ll discuss strategies for scaling these initiatives and fostering early engagement through classroom-based experiences. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their own campus programs, exchange best practices, and collaborate on innovative approaches to career development for early college students.

Following this session, participants will…

• Understand Middlebury’s approach to integrating career development and life design into the academic curriculum for first-year and sophomore students
• Identify key strategies for scaling and adapting similar career development initiatives on their own campus
• Share insights, challenges, and best practices for embedding career education within academic programs

Presenter Bios

Ursula Olender (she/her), Executive Director, Middlebury College

Ursula Olender is the Executive Director of Middlebury College’s Center for Careers and Internships, where she has led career development initiatives for nine years. With 30 years of experience in career services, she has held senior leadership roles at several SCCA institutions, including Amherst College, Colgate University, and Dartmouth College. Ursula currently serves as the president of the Liberal Arts Career Network, championing career opportunities for liberal arts students.

Beyond her professional work, Ursula is an active volunteer with her large Girl Scout troop, enjoys spending time with her husband, Jon, and loves playing with her two dogs, Elsa (an English spring spaniel) and Tela (an English setter).

This session will cover the latest tools and functions of LinkedIn for career exploration mapped onto the life design framework. It is designed to leave the group with a set of actionable tools and strategies they can put to use with students right away, and share a simplified framework for life design that tends to resonate with students from a diverse variety of backgrounds.

Following this session, participants will…

• Utilize all of LinkedIn’s latest tools and functions for career exploration
• Present life design in a way that resonates with diverse populations of students
• Work with students starting from square 0 in the career exploration process

Presenter Bio

David DeGenova (he/him), Career Exploration Advisor, Colby College

David DeGenova is a career advisor at Colby College, where he has spent the last 4 years leading career exploration programming and designing initiatives for typically hard-to-reach populations (humanities majors, first-gen students, etc.).

We all understand that engaging first year students is important. But how do we get them in the door? What is developmentally appropriate? How can we help them embrace a liberal arts curriculum when they’re under pressure to pick a practical major and set specific career goals? This session will address Wesleyan’s attempts to answer these questions, drawing from the speaker’s experience teaching an interdisciplinary first year seminar called Success and Failure, the Gordon Career Center’s efforts to work closely with faculty in less-popular majors, and the office’s experience administering campus employment.

Following this session, participants will…

• Better understand the psychology behind Gen Z’s career decision-making
• Learn the pros and cons of administering campus employment out of the career center
• Have an understanding of how to address pain points of faculty in less-popular majors

Presenter Bio

Sharon Belden Castonguay (she/her), Executive Director, Gordon Career Center, Wesleyan University

Sharon Belden Castonguay is an adult developmental psychologist and career counselor with over 20 years of experience working with professionals at all levels of their careers. In addition to managing the Gordon Career Center at Wesleyan, she teaches CSPL 205: Success and Failure and CSPL 405: Ideals into Practice as well as Career Decisions: From Insight to Impact on Coursera. Her TEDx talk, The Psychology of Career Decisions, considers themes of identity, culture, and decision making. She has also produced and hosted two podcasts, Careers by Design: The Interviews and First Year Out. Her career advice has been featured on Oprah Daily/ Oprah Magazine, WalletHub, Forbes.com, Inc.com, and Apple News. She received her doctorate in human development & psychology from Harvard, where she also served as an assistant director for PhD career advising and a teaching fellow for graduate courses in adult development and cross-cultural counseling. She graduated from Smith College and holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Michigan.

For almost a decade, a strong liaison partnership between the Mount Holyoke College Career Development Center and the Athletic Department has served as a foundation for strengthening student-athlete career support & engagement. This session will explore how shared values and open communication have kept this partnership strong over the years – including through leadership changes – and provide practical examples of working together to empower student-athletes on and off the field. Three high impact program examples from the past year will be shared – including an alum panel, a team presentation series, and a coach’s workshop. Time will be set aside for additional group discussion and brainstorming.

Following this session, participants will…

• Have concrete ideas for developing and sustaining effective liaison relationships between career services and athletic programs

Presenter Bios

Kelly Woods (she/her), Associate Director, Career Advising, Mount Holyoke College

Kelly Woods serves as the Associate Director of Integrated Advising at Mount Holyoke College and has been on the Career Development Center team since 2015. Kelly has extensive experience supporting diverse learners across a wide range of industries. Her commitment to fostering integration and cross-campus collaboration, and student-centered approach to her work, has resulted in effective partnerships with campus colleagues in support of students. In addition to Kelly’s work on campus, she has been actively involved with the NCDA International Student Services Committee since 2016.

International students face unique challenges as they plan careers under complex and evolving immigration policies. This session highlights how intentional partnerships between Career Centers and International Advising can bridge knowledge gaps, support informed decision-making, and reduce uncertainty for students. Join us to gain a clearer understanding of key work authorization options and explore collaborative advising strategies that strengthen support, improve outcomes, and help international students thrive beyond the classroom.

Following this session, participants will…

• Understand key work authorization options (CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, H-1B)
• Recognize visa regulations that impact career planning
• Explore collaborative advising strategies to support international students
• Highlight the importance of communication and cross-departmental training

Presenter Bio

Robin Olinsky, Class Dean, International Advising, Union College

Robin Olinsky is the Head Class Dean at Union College. Robin supports students with all aspects of their academic and student life experience at Union. Working closely with students, faculty, campus partners, and families, she activates each student’s individualized support network to ensure they have the resources, guidance, and skills to make the most of their time at Union. Robin also oversees the International Advising Office as Union’s PDSO. She has learned more than she thought was possible in the last four years about visa regulations and now she can’t stop talking about it…just ask her coworkers. In addition to obsessively following the news and changes in immigration policies, Robin spends most of her time feeding students and signing very official documents. Prior to joining Union in December 2021, Robin served as an Associate Dean of Undergraduate Advising at Tufts University.

Tonie Cross, Assistant Director of Career Advising, Union College

Tonie Cross is a career advisor at Union College, where she also specializes in career readiness resource development. Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of working with a diverse range of jobseekers and has found her professional home in higher education, where she enthusiastically aims to empower young adults to identify the value in their experiences and become skilled self-advocates.

Last year, the ‘68 Center completely overhauled its summer funding program in an effort to remove bias, make the process more objective, and reach more students. To do this, we streamlined all aspects of the application, award, and post-award processes while also developing an intentional review rubric and funding formula that reflected our values. In this session, we’ll show how we plugged this all into our application platform, Airtable, and how reimagining the process and articulating our mission helped us grow from awarding 203 students to 275 students all while ultimately spending less time (and money) running the program.

Following this session, participants will …

• See examples of how strategic use of technology has been used to streamline processes, enhance programs, and automate communications at Williams
• Explore the idea of building organizational values into our rubric and funding formula to support more students, especially those who need it the most
• Connect and hear from peers regarding their current practices – and have fun!

Presenter Bios

Leigh Sylvia, Director of Operations & External Relations, Williams College

Leigh Sylvia is currently Director of Operations & External Relations at Williams College ‘68 Center for Career Exploration. In this role, Leigh serves on the Center’s leadership team and provides oversight of funding programs, employer/external relations, communications & events, data collection & analysis, and overall process improvement for the ‘68 Center team. After a brief stint in advertising, Leigh has worked in higher education career services for over 15 years across multiple institutions – her roles ranging from student/alumni advising, mentoring program development and management, and operational leadership. She is driven by finding creative solutions to streamline systems to foster the most impactful experiences for students. In real life, she is also way more fun than this bio sounds.

Janine Oliver (she/her), Director of Career Education, Williams College

Janine Oliver is an idealist who is driven by designing and implementing systemic solutions. Her background as a special education teacher, mental health counselor, experiential educator, and confused college student informs her daily work in advising students and in program innovation. During Janine’s time in higher ed, she has spent a year at Colgate working with Career Services and the Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education and 10 years at Hamilton, where she led the Career Center’s curriculum development and delivery and was part of a team that focused on integrating advising across the college through the ALEX program. In her current role as the Director of Career Education at Williams, Janine oversees the career advising, health professions advising, entrepreneurship, and peer advising teams.

Stephen Biegner (he/him), Assistant Director of Operations & Funding Programs, Williams College

Stephen Biegner isn’t entirely sure how he got here (but is glad he did). He started off in music as a total choral nerd specializing in early music before 1800. Eventually, his desire to make order from chaos, love of systems, and a strange affinity for Excel led him to the administrative world. Stephen was the assistant director of admissions at Manhattan School of Music where he oversaw their transition through three different application platforms culminating in a school-wide conversion to Slate for both the college and pre-college divisions. After that, he joined the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music as Program Manager where he used new technologies to streamline and automate outdated processes and systems. He’s now happily landed at his first non-music gig as the Assistant Director of Operations & Funding Programs where he continues to find creative solutions using technology to optimize operations for the ‘68 Center team and to better serve Williams students. He still reads neumes for fun.

This workshop uses Oberlin College as a case study to explore how faculty partnerships enhance student career readiness. We’ll discuss strategies for integrating career development into academics, fostering faculty engagement, and supporting student success through co-curricular collaboration. Participants will gain insights into Oberlin’s approach, including joint programming and faculty-driven career mentorship. This session will open the floor for discussion, inviting attendees to share challenges, best practices, and innovative strategies from their institution. Join us to exchange ideas and build stronger faculty collaborations that bridge academics and careers.

Following this session, participants will…

• Understand the values of faculty partnerships
• Explore best practices
• Exchange institutional strategies

Presenter Bios

Anthony Pernell-McGee (he/him), Executive Director, Oberlin College & Conservatory

Anthony Pernell-McGee is the Executive Director of Career Exploration and Development and Pre-Law Advisor at Oberlin College & Conservatory. A retired attorney, Anthony discovered his passion for mentoring and guiding students in their career development, particularly those aspiring to law and public service careers. His journey from practicing law to higher education has been driven by a deep commitment to helping students find their paths, develop their skills, and prepare for meaningful futures.

Anthony built his career advising and professional development expertise through leadership roles at Morehouse, Bates, and Williams Colleges. At Oberlin, Anthony is now dedicated to strengthening career development initiatives, expanding experiential learning opportunities, and fostering faculty partnerships that bridge academic and career readiness.

Gen Z, typically born between 1996 and 2010, will remain a crucial demographic for college career professionals into the early 2030s as they complete college and enter their early careers. Stereotypes aside, data point to this generation experiencing unique and significant challenges in their transition to the world of work. We will explore these challenges from both sides – the Gen Z perspective as well as employers. We will conclude by describing strategies that career services can use to equip Gen Z with the skills and support needed for success in the workplace.

Following this session, participants will…

• Define Gen Z and identify differences between Gen Z and Millennials in workplace expectations, values (flexibility, DEI, mental health), career priorities, and job searching
• Analyze the challenges both Gen Z and employers face in the evolving workplace and how they are adapting to meet changing expectations
• Identify and develop strategies for career services to equip Gen Z with the skills and support needed for success in the workplace

Presenter Bios

Jessica Skeldon (she/her), Associate Director, Promotion and Operations, Hamilton College

Jessica Skeldon holds a B.A. in Journalism from SUNY Oswego and has a strong background in career development and event promotion. She previously worked in career development at Utica University before joining Hamilton College in 2024. As the Associate Director of Promotion and Operations at Hamilton’s Career Center, she oversees the planning and promotion of career-related events, ensuring students have access to valuable professional development opportunities.

John Ossowski (he/him), Associate Director, Career Development, Hamilton College

John received his B.A. in mathematics from Syracuse University (Utica College), a M.S. in applied sociology from SUNYIT (now SUNY Polytechnic), and a M.S.W. from Portland State University. His career bridges the fields of social work and higher education, with a focus on educational opportunity programs and mental health. He currently works as a career coach at Hamilton College.

We’ve seen an uptick in students inquiring about fee-based internship placement organizations, which often offer an unpaid internship but charge a large fee.

In this session, I’d like to start a discussion to share opinions, policies, or other guidance around advising students on placement orgs and how your Career Center has interacted with these organizations.

How are students finding these programs, and why are they appealing? Which organizations are worth the cost? What should students think about before committing to a placement? What kinds of requirements are at odds with your college’s internship funding program?

Following this session, participants will …

• Learn how other colleges are advising on (and maybe even funding) placement orgs
• Consider pros and cons to placement orgs, and what red flags to watch for
• Help their students make better-informed decisions on summer internships

Presenter Bio

Emily Beaudry (she/her), Praxis Internship Manager, Smith College

Emily is the Praxis Internship Manager at the Smith College Lazarus Center for Career Development. She connects students with internship search resources, facilitates the internship funding process, prepares students for successful internships, and helps students discover the impact of any internship experience.

Learn how Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ Employer Developers plan, prepare and navigate Career Treks to NYC, Boston and Washington DC.

Career Treks are offered during winter breaks allowing students to network and learn more about industries. All programs are coordinated in conjunction with alum and parent participation as site hosts and speakers. Post career trek students can leverage alumni networking experiences for future internship and job opportunities. In this presentation we will talk about the preparation, timelines and logistics for a 2-3 day career trek to a major city. We will discuss different models of engagement- panel vs site visit.

Following this session, participants will …

• Learn about the preparation timeline for a 2–3 day career trek to a major city
• Learn about two different models used- panel vs site visits
• Learn how we leverage our alumni as an integral part of the networking experience

Presenter Bio

Shayne Feinberg P’17, P’20 (she/her), Senior Associate Director, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Shayne works to identify internship and job opportunities for which students can apply in the “for-profit” sectors. In talking with alums, parents, and employers, she is able to develop opportunities in various fields such as finance, marketing, sales, real estate and publishing. Through on campus information sessions, as well as off-campus career trips, Shayne is able to give students real life examples of what different careers look like. On campus, she works with students to achieve their short term and long-term career goals.

Emily Stump (she/her), STEM Career Coordinator, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Emily advises students interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields. She assists students with career exploration, resume and CV writing, interview prep, networking and graduate school applications. She also works with alumni and employers to identify STEM research, internship and job opportunities for HWS students. Emily holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in physics, focused on physics education research, from Cornell University and a B.A. in physics from Williams College.

Julia Walsh Postler (she/her), Associate Director, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Julia works to identify internship and job opportunities for which students can apply in the “non-profit” sectors. In talking with alums, parents, and employers, she develops opportunities in various fields such as nonprofit, government, art and architecture, environmental, social sciences, and law. She enjoys internship and job searches with students, aligning their interests, discussing their goals, and defining objectives to move them forward. Julia provides students with opportunities to experience jobs and careers on Career Treks and through on campus speakers, interacting with alumni who work in their fields of interest.