Career Champions

Career Competency Innovation Award goes to Professor Smirnova

Posted on by
Jim Lowe, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of Career Center, presents the Award to Professor Smirnova
Jim Lowe, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of Career Center, presented the Award.

UConn Center for Career Development hosted the 2024 Career Everywhere Recognition & Celebration Event on May 1, 2024. The event was filled with enthusiasm and camaraderie, fostering meaningful connections among Career Champions in attendance. There are nearly 1,000 dedicated UConn Career Champions (faculty, staff, and employers) who tirelessly support our students in their journey toward post-graduation success.

The nominations for several awards given by the Career Center were solicited from students, faculty, and staff. Professor Smirnova received the inaugural Career Competency Innovation Award.

Nancy Bilmes, Director of the Career Center, described Professor Smirnova’s innovations as aligning course syllabi with NACE career competencies, integrating career readiness modules across their courses on HuskyCT, designing assignments focused on career competencies, presenting at national and regional conferences, and conducting impactful research on the impact of career-focused assignments on students’ knowledge acquisition within their chosen fields. Natalia’s approach to embedding career development into her teaching not only equips students with essential skills but also demonstrates a commitment to fostering holistic growth and success beyond the classroom.

Professor Smirnova’s work on students’ career competencies’ development is documented in her teaching portfolio.

Professor Smirnova is the first Faculty Fellow at the Center for Career Development

Posted on by

Natalia SmirnovaThe Center for Career Development announced its first Faculty Fellow – Dr. Natalia Smirnova. As the Career Center continues to move toward its vision of ‘creating a university-wide career readiness culture that prepares all students for post-graduation success’, they have been extending their reach to partnering with faculty and staff more intentionally over the past several years.

Dr. Smirnova’s work on career readiness is closely aligned with the mission of the Center for Career Development and its Career Champions program. Professor Smirnova in her courses encourages students to build skills that are transferable to the workplace. With her co-authors, she developed an instructional module where students learn about their major and career path by using publicly available large data set. At the Stamford campus, she collaborates with various departments to arrange career panels, builds a network of business community leaders to mentor her students, and encourages students’ participation in various national economics competitions and conferences.

As the inaugural Career Faculty Fellow, Dr. Smirnova will be developing materials related to integration of career competencies into syllabi, serving as an ambassador to academic departments and faculty, and creating a sustainable program of faculty fellowship.

Professor Smirnova at Career Everywhere Event

Posted on by

Becoming Career ReadyOn April 7, 2022, Dr. Smirnova presented at the UConn Career Champions’ training event “Working with the Career Center to get Employers & Alumni into the Classroom”.

Dr. Smirnova provided the evidence from the National Alumni Career Mobility Survey, 2020, collected by the Career Leadership Collective that “receiving helpful career advice during an undergraduate degree is a significant contributor to educational satisfaction as well as to career pathway preparation. It plays an important role in economic mobility and career satisfaction.” (NACM, 2020)

She discussed how her courses’ learning objectives are aligned with several Career Competencies developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE): Teamwork / Collaboration; Professionalism / Work Ethics; and Career Management Skills.

Dr. Smirnova shared examples of her work with Alumni and Stamford business leaders, which was aimed to help other Career Champions provide invaluable resources, connections, and experiences for our students as they venture on their career journeys.