2022-2026 Strategic Plan

VCU Career Services has launched an ambitious new strategic plan to guide their endeavors from Fall 2022-Spring 2026 in service of students, alumni, employer and community partners, and our many other important stakeholders on-and off-campus.

VCS 2022-2026 Strategic Plan Outcomes [ADA-compliant PDF]

  1. IDENTITY & CAREER - Honor the intersections between identity and career through engaging, data-driven programs and services.
  2. CAREER READINESS & STUDENT SUCCESS - Champion career readiness and student success through education and outreach to faculty, staff, students, and families.
  3. COLLABORATION & ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY - Increase access to experiential learning opportunities and career development resources through collaboration with employer, community, and campus partners.
  4. SUSTAINABLE SUPPORT & INTENTIONAL GROWTH  - Boost capacity for sustainably supporting students and stakeholders through an intentional focus on staff retention, professional development, and team growth.

Goals

Goal 1: Honor the intersections between identity and career through engaging, data-driven programs and services.

As students, alumni, and professionals engage in career development experiences, everything from the goals they set and refine, to the mentors and advisors they seek counsel from, to how they present themselves in applications and interviews, to the opportunities they are presented with and decisions they make is impacted by the salient identities they hold. We know that a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice requires constant dedication, evolution, and humility, and our team will be working to meet students where they are in every sense of the phrase.

Through new and expanded services, resources, programs, events, experiential learning, and employment opportunities, VCU Career Services wants to support individuals holistically as they move through the career development process, providing opportunities for them to feel seen, heard, connected, and empowered as they work to achieve their own unique vision of success at graduation and well beyond.

Goal 2: Champion career readiness and student success through education and outreach to faculty, staff, students, and families.

Building upon the many ways we were able to infuse career development into the campus community conversation over the last few years, our team wants to take VCU’s investment in career readiness to the next level, supporting strategic student success initiatives and creating shared language and processes to bolster individual and institutional confidence in career development concepts and competencies.

We want to make sure that the definition of career readiness we utilize at VCU matches the distinction of our students and academic programs, and that we can flex to meet the needs of students and graduates, as well as employers across a variety of sectors that seek to hire our graduates. Not only will we be finding ways to make meaningful connections to career readiness skills for students, but we will also intentionally involve faculty, staff, families, and other stakeholders in the process, knowing that student success is the goal and responsibility of everyone involved and engaged in the college experience.

Goal 3: Increase access to experiential learning opportunities and career development resources through collaboration with employer, community, and campus partners.

Opening doors for students and alumni to new and exciting professional opportunities can only happen in sustainable ways through intentional collaboration and strategic partnerships that help all parties move towards their goals. VCU is a major hub in the region, and increasingly the nation, for talented students and graduates that are ready to serve as innovators, thought leaders, and contributors within a diverse array of industries and sectors.

VCU Career Services is uniquely positioned to serve as the critical link between students, alumni, employers, community partners, and various departments on campus, especially when it comes to bolstering experiential learning and career development opportunities. In the years ahead, we will work to further solidify key partnerships, better educate the campus and broader community on VCU student and graduate employment outcomes and ways they can support success for all students, and expand means of funding student experiences to provide access and equity for as many students as possible.

Goal 4: Boost capacity for sustainably supporting students and stakeholders through an intentional focus on staff retention, professional development, and team growth.

As we dream big regarding what is necessary and possible regarding supporting VCU students, recent graduates, campus and employer/community partners, we acknowledge that accomplishing our goals requires people power. Growing and retaining talented team members is vital to our stakeholders feeling taken care of, and that there is continuity and room to do more and better, versus focusing time and attention on patching holes and trying to refill positions.

We want staff members at VCU Career Services to feel prepared, supported, and like there is room to develop and advance from day one, and to continue to grow our team strategically in the direction of student needs, now and well into the future. From onboarding to professional development, managing transitions to showing up authentically at work every day, we are proud of the work environment we have already built within VCU Career Services, and are also dedicated to continuous improvement and our long-term visions for professional and student staff development that will ensure we never stop evolving and working hard to keep great people here at VCU.