For nearly a decade, CIC’s Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) has offered a summer seminar for faculty members at member institutions. Teaching Vocational Exploration was officially launched in 2017; for one week each summer, it brings together about 16 faculty members, selected from a pool of applicants who have been nominated by their chief academic officer. The participants are early- to mid-career faculty members in a wide range of disciplines at institutions across the country. Under the guidance of two gifted leaders—Darby Ray and Paul Wadell, who have facilitated the program from its start—the gathered group spends time exploring the concepts of vocation and calling, designing or revising courses to include vocational exploration, and growing into a cohort of like-minded professionals for mutual support. Through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., the entire experience, including accommodation, food, and travel, is provided at no cost to the participant or the institution.
The seminar not only provides high-quality professional development (at a time when such opportunities are in increasingly short supply); it also brings a “supercharged” faculty member back to campus in the fall, providing ideas and energy to colleagues and contributing to the institution as a campus leader. Dozens of senior administrators have reported how valuable the seminar experience has been, both for the participant and for the whole campus ecosystem. (They also appreciate the fact that it is free!) David Timmerman, provost at Carthage College (WI), remarked that, “I am extremely thankful for the value brought to our campus community through the NetVUE workshops and seminars that our faculty attend. A strong Carthage faculty leader participated in NetVUE’s summer seminar, and a recent conversation with her confirmed how significantly those experiences have enhanced her enthusiasm for the work of supporting students in vocational reflection. During this season of great challenge and difficulty at our campuses and in our country, the work of NetVUE is more valuable than I can name.”
In 2024, NetVUE added an additional seminar (Leading Vocational Exploration) to its offerings; its success led to a repeat of that opportunity in 2025 as well. Offered by invitation to faculty members who had previously completed the Teaching seminar, this new program was designed to equip faculty members to lead vocation seminars or workshops at their own institutions. During the gathering, participants considered how they might provide, for their own campus colleagues, an opportunity based on their own seminar experience. Led by NetVUE staff members Rachael Baker and Erin VanLaningham, the group discussed how to cultivate conversations that connect vocational exploration to the mission of their institutions, as well as how they might build a cohort of colleagues to further the work of vocation on campus. One participant commented that running a workshop on campus would not have been possible without the training that took place during the seminar. “I needed the experience that the leaders brought, the shared wisdom of the group, and the absolute practicality of the process. The seminar gave me something exceptionally concrete, manageable, and supported, which I was able to present to my administration almost a year ahead of the planned workshop.” Some two dozen faculty members have now experienced this training; so far, they have collectively led nearly 100 participants in vocation workshops on their home campuses.
In addition to these two offerings, NetVUE inaugurated two additional seminar opportunities this summer. At the end of June, 19 staff members from NetVUE member institutions gathered in Memphis, Tennessee, for the inaugural NetVUE seminar for full-time staff, Vocation Across Campus. The seminar was facilitated by two highly experienced NetVUE leaders (Julie Massey and Richard Sévère) and featured wide-ranging conversations on a variety of topics: personal vocational reflection, the common good and the barriers to accessing it, and strategies for developing vocation-focused initiatives. A key strength of the seminar was the opportunity to bring together staff from diverse campus offices, fostering cross-departmental learning and collaboration. One participant highlighted the value of this approach: “Because of the connections I made at the seminar, I feel like I can bring helpful points of collaboration back to my campus and discuss ways that my department can work more closely with other offices, such as the career center, study abroad, and volunteer services.” The participants invested enormous time and energy preparing for and participating in the seminar, and they left the event with concrete plans for bringing vocational exploration to the forefront in the work that they undertake in support of their students.
Rounding out this summer’s NetVUE seminar offerings was another new opportunity, Enhancing Vocational Exploration. Led by Rachael Baker and Justin Klassen, this seminar is designed for individuals who are interested in making broader contributions to the ongoing nationwide conversation about vocation and calling in higher education. Before the event began, participants wrote a seminar paper that focused either on pedagogical strategies or theoretical investigations into vocation; several seminar members are now revising their work for possible publication. David Cunningham, executive director of NetVUE (who also contributed to the seminar’s leadership), observed that, “the seminar operated at a very high level, with participants having invested a significant amount of time in reading and discussing the scholarly literature on calling, as well as contributing to that literature through their writing. These individuals will help to shape the future role of vocation in higher education.”
NetVUE’s summer seminars will continue in 2026, and will feature an additional offering, Institutional Leadership for Vocation, led by experienced NetVUE administrators Remylin Bruder and Kurt Schackmuth. Nominations are due in the fall, and over 300 CIC institutions are already eligible through their membership in NetVUE. Any CIC member can join NetVUE at any time; doing so also provides access to additional professional development opportunities, digital and print resources, heavily subsidized conferences and gatherings, and grants both for institutions and for individuals. Follow this link for information on NetVUE membership, or contact Jane Walters, NetVUE grants and membership manager, at jwalters@cic.edu.
Not a NetVUE Member? Take Advantage of this Free Offer!
All CIC members that are not yet members of NetVUE are eligible for a free one-time Vocation Workshop, in which a NetVUE leader will visit campus to help a group of faculty members and/or staff to explore the concept of vocation and to consider its relevance for your institution. It’s on us! Several institutions have taken advantage of this opportunity, requesting (for example) a workshop on Meaning and Purpose in the College Experience: Not Just Making a Living, but Making a Life. Visit the NetVUE website for more information about the workshop or ask a member of your campus team to contact Rachael Baker, associate director of NetVUE, at rbaker@cic.edu to plan the event on your campus.