Connections: The NetVUE Newsletter

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September 2026

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There is nothing like the buzz of a college or university campus at the start of a new academic year. Regardless of whether classes on your campus have already begun or you’re still counting down the hours until move-in day, I wish all my NetVUE colleagues a wonderful start to this year! Whenever you settle into its rhythm, please take a look at all that NetVUE has to offer in the months ahead. As you plan your approach to vocation this year—whether you’re designing new programs or opportunities for professional development, networking, seeking your own personal vocational enrichment, or exploring strategies for your area of campus—take a look at what’s included in this newsletter. You will find a suite of opportunities and resources that NetVUE provides that could make all the difference in your work. You will also find a spotlight on Otterbein University’s model of integrating vocation into its requirements for students, a helpful book review of Liz Bucar’s Beyond Wellness, and a closing reflection as a reminder of the powerful impact that educators can have when they support their students’ vocational exploration.

— Daniel Meyers, NetVUE Online Community Coordinator

Norman Wirzba

The NetVUE Big Read Program and Upcoming Webinar | Upcoming Webinar

In recent years, many of us working in higher education have expressed the need for connection and community. NetVUE’s Big Read program offers an easy and impactful way to do so, using a recent book on vocation for meaningful communal reflection. 

Headshots of Niki Johnson, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, and Katy Gray Brown

Register Now for October Webinars | Upcoming Webinars

With all of the resources that NetVUE offers, it can be hard to know where to start and how to make use of them. To help our membership navigate these resources, NetVUE invites you to join us for a 60-minute interactive workshop with Krista Hughes, John Barton, and Daniel Meyers, who will highlight three NetVUE resources: the recently published topical resource guides, the campus consultation program, and the searchable online resource library of relevant texts, films, and NetVUE event recordings. 

St. Olaf college campus in the fall

Join Us for Upcoming Regional Gatherings | Upcoming Events

An important part of our institutional work is telling accurate and compelling stories about who we are. From admissions to marketing to official histories, our institutions articulate the importance of understanding the places from which we have come; this understanding helps us lay a foundation for the places we inhabit, our collective identities, and our future directions.

Paul Wadell and Darby Ray

Choosing a NetVUE Summer Seminar—Upcoming Nomination and Application Deadlines | Upcoming Opportunities

NetVUE summer seminars are a life-giving opportunity to deepen knowledge about vocation and calling, to engage in peer-to-peer conversation, and to create space to explore opportunities for ongoing vocational work at your institution.

A group of colloquy participants seated around a group of tables arranged in a rectangle.

Develop Your Craft as a Writer: Applications Due in October for Writing Colloquy | Upcoming Opportunities

NetVUE offers many opportunities for scholars and writers to publish their work on vocation, but knowing how to navigate them and the writing process can sometimes be challenging—even for more experienced writers.

Copies of "Studies in Vocation and Calling" stacked with one placed upright and facing the viewer. The books are bordered by plants. One book is laid open in the foreground, held open by a stone cat desk ornament.

Fall Issue of Studies in Vocation and Calling Arrives Soon | NetVUE Resources

NetVUE’s new journal—devoted to the theory and practice of vocational exploration and discernment—is now available, both in print and online. 

A row of books

New NetVUE Scholarly Resource to Explore Hope, Imagination, and Resilience | NetVUE Resources

Vocation, Higher Education, and the Future: Imagining Possibilities, Cultivating Practices—the newest volume in the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project— is now in production with Oxford University Press. 

A man speaking with a woman wearing a headscarf

The Call of Hospitality and Creativity: Reflections on the 2026 Scriptural Reasoning Hubs | NetVUE Opportunities

In May and June of this year, NetVUE convened four Scriptural Reasoning Hubs to support and prepare staff and faculty members at NetVUE institutions to use the study of sacred texts to enhance their students’ vocational exploration. 

The Callings podcast logo

The Latest Resources from NetVUE: Callings Podcast

NetVUE’s podcast, Callings: Conversations on College, Career, and a Life Well-Lived, is about to enter its seventh season. The NetVUE blog, Vocation Matters,published several posts on a range of topics this summer. 

The Latest Resources from NetVUE: Vocation Matters Blog

The NetVUE blog Vocation Matters has continued to publish new posts about once a week. Read more for a sample of the latest NetVUE blog posts from colleagues across the country.

The Latest Resources from NetVUE: Topical Resource Guides

A new digital resource is available to NetVUE members: Topical Resource Guides. Designed by a group of experts in particular fields from across the network, these guides support member institutions as they explore possibilities for embedding vocation into specific areas of the student experience, curricular and co-curricular. 

Six students on Otterbein University's campus smile at the camera.

Spotlights: Otterbein University

What would vocational exploration look like on a campus if it were not presented as a series of optional programs, but instead built into graduation requirements? 

The book cover for "Beyond Wellness." To the left is a photo of author Liz Bucar underneath the words "Written By." To the right is a photo of Hannah Adams Ingram underneath the words "Reviewed By."

Beyond Wellness: How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices can Heal Us | Book Review

Like many in my professional networks, I often find myself dancing in the tension between two aspects of spiritual practices. On the one hand, these practices can—in some cases—admittedly verge on cultural appropriation. 

Two people walking down a pathway on a college campus.

Vocation Across the Ages: Common Vocational Concerns Among College Students and People at the End of Life | Closing Reflection

About a year ago, I found myself in a room with a dying man, surrounded by friends and neighbors who came from many different parts of his life. He never married; he had no children; he had outlived most of his extended family. 

Staying Connected

Looking for more?

Your institution’s Campus Contact receives regular notices from NetVUE. If you do not know who the Campus Contact is for your institution, please contact Ashley Woodbeck, NetVUE office manager, at awoodbeck@cic.edu or by phone at (616) 632-1060.

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The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) is supported through member dues and through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc.

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Follow the NetVUE LinkedIn page for updates on available resources and on the work being carried out at member institutions.

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