Rachael Baker
We hope that, whether from your experience at the conference or through the stories shared in this newsletter, you encounter ideas that help you think about next steps for vocation in your classroom or on your campus. Whatever your next steps are, remember that NetVUE has professional development programs that are designed to help you move your project forward by providing resources and additional support. You don’t have to travel to take advantage of most of these opportunities, which are made available to you through the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc.
If you want to foster conversations about vocation on your campus, then
- Join the NetVUE Big Read. All members of NetVUE institutions are invited to read the Summer 2023 issue of Christian Scholar’s Review together. Edited by David S. Cunningham, executive director of NetVUE, this special issue includes articles by writers who have been active in the network, both on their own campuses and more broadly through their writing and speaking.
- Host a Vocation Workshop led by an experienced NetVUE facilitator, on a vocation-related project that is developed in conversation with your institution and according to your needs. Potential topics include a general introduction to vocation, academic courses or career services, vocation and belonging, and vocation program assessment.
If you want to determine how to launch or pivot a vocation project on your campus, then
- Request a Campus Consultation, which brings together stakeholders from across campus to think about vocation in relation to the mission and fabric of your university. A NetVUE consultant will visit your campus and work with administrators, faculty members, staff, and students, creating a report that provides advice on specific aspects of undergraduate vocational exploration and help you prepare to launch a new initiative or determine your next steps.
- Consider the new Focused Consultation program, which brings a NetVUE consultant to campus to advise on a specific area within a planned vocation initiative. Consultations may include bringing new groups of staff and/or faculty members into the campus conversation about vocation, helping to determine why something is not working, facilitating conversations across different divisions on campus, or planning new approaches to meet a vocation-related goal. Anyone involved in a vocation-related initiative on campus can request a focused consultation.
If you want to learn more from another NetVUE institution, then
- Create a reading group through the Collaborative Read program. If you have recently connected with someone who shares your interest in a specific aspect of vocation, if you or know folks at another NetVUE institution who are working on a similar project, you can assemble a reading group and choose a book of interest from a list of recommendations (or propose a book not on the list). NetVUE will supply books free of charge.
- Visit another campus through the Campus Visit program to learn more about their engagement with vocational exploration and discernment. A team of up to four persons from one NetVUE institution can receive funding to visit one or more other NetVUE institutions to learn about particularly successful programming for students, professional development for faculty members and staff, fundraising endeavors, diversity initiatives, or other projects that might be adapted and developed for their own institutional context.
If you are interested in the opportunities described above or in having a further conversation about professional development on your campus, visit the NetVUE Professional Development Website or contact Rachael Baker, NetVUE director of professional development, at rbaker@cic.edu or (616) 526-7939.