Building and Expanding a Shadowing Program for Impact Beyond a Single Day
Bear Down Gym 266 | Discover how the College of Science Career Center’s Science Shadows program evolved from a one-day job shadow experience into a broader ecosystem for student engagement, alumni connection, and employer partnership. This interactive session will explore how intentional relationship-building can transform short-term experiential learning into long-term opportunities, including returning alumni hosts, expanded employer collaboration, and emerging internship and co-curricular pathways. Participants will leave with practical strategies and a guided planning framework to help launch or scale shadowing initiatives at their own institutions.
Bear Down Gym 266
The College of Science Career Center's Science Shadows program has evolved from a single-day experiential offering into an engagement initiative that connects students, alumni, and employers in meaningful ways. Free to both students and participating organizations, this program was built to help students develop social capital, gain workplace exposure, and establish professional relationships. Over the past few years, the Science Shadows has grown beyond the original scope: former student participants have returned as alumni hosts, a partner organization is in the process of launching a new internship program, and an on-campus collaboration is now in the planning stages to develop a multi-week co-curricular experience with a returning host organization. Attendees will receive a short overview of the Science Shadows model alongside success stories, followed by a guided brainstorming activity with a structured worksheet to help participants identify key stakeholders and contacts for either launching a new job shadow program or growing an existing one beyond its initial engagement.
Session Outcomes
Identify the foundational components needed to design, launch, or strengthen a student job shadowing program that supports career exploration and relationship-building.
Analyze how experiential learning initiatives can evolve into longer-term partnerships that support student engagement, alumni involvement, and employer collaboration.
Develop an actionable framework for expanding a shadowing program beyond a single-day experience through strategic stakeholder engagement and cross-campus collaboration.
Presenter
Lyndsey Edmons
Director, College of Science Career Center
University of Arizona
Tags
Building Career Pathways Through Apprenticeships
Bear Down Gym 210 | Explore how apprenticeships are creating meaningful workforce pathways through collaboration between education, industry, and state partners. Attendees will gain insight into apprenticeship models, employer perspectives, and strategies for expanding hands-on career opportunities.
Bear Down Gym 210
Explore how apprenticeships are transforming workforce development! This session brings together the Arizona Apprenticeship Office and Pima Community College to break down the basics and showcase how collaborative partnerships create meaningful, hands-on career opportunities.Attendees will also hear the employer perspective on how apprenticeship programs support talent development, retention, and long-term workforce growth.
Session Outcomes
Understand the fundamentals of registered apprenticeships
Identify the roles of state agencies, colleges, and employers in apprenticeship programs
Recognize how colleges can support apprenticeship sponsorship and related training instruction (RTI)
Recognize the value of apprenticeship programs from an employer perspective, including workforce development and retention benefits.
Presenter
Denise Kingman
Director, Engagement and Career Services/Office of Apprenticeships
Pima Community College
Dennis McMurray
Senior Manager
Raytheon RTX
Joann Bueno
State Apprenticeship Program Director
Arizona Apprenticeship Office
Elizabeth Moreno
Apprenticeship Program Manager
Pima Community College
Tags
From Involvement to Impact: Rethinking Student Engagement as Career Development
Bear Down Gym 266 | Student organizations and campus employment can serve as powerful career development experiences when approached intentionally. This session explores how to help students recognize and articulate the professional skills they gain through involvement and on-campus work.
Bear Down Gym 266
“From Involvement to Impact” explores how student organizations and student employment roles function as powerful, underutilized career development spaces. This session will equip career development professionals with tools for transforming student involvement and on‑campus employment into intentional, competency‑building career development experiences
Session Outcomes
Reframe student organizations and student employment as meaningful career development experiences that cultivate transferable competencies.
Apply a competency‑mapping approach to identify and articulate the skills students gain through leadership, involvement, and on‑campus work.
Coach student leaders and working learners to translate their experiences into career‑ready language that strengthens resumes, interviews, and professional narratives.
Presenter
Brittany Black
Assistant Director, Career Readiness
Arizona State University
Maria Leon
Program Manager, Career Services
Arizona State University