South Alabama Faculty Complete Career-Readiness Curriculum Enhancement Program
Posted on June 30, 2025 by Michelle Hale
South Alabama Faculty Complete Career-Readiness Curriculum Enhancement Program
The Office of Academic Enhancement, in collaboration with the Innovation in Learning Center and Career Development, is proud to recognize six dedicated faculty members from six different departments who recently completed the LevelUP Your Course: Enhancing Curriculum-Based Career Readiness mini-course. Facilitated by the Office of Academic Enhancement in partnership with the Innovation in Learning Center and Career Development, this professional development experience empowers faculty to intentionally embed career-readiness skills into their academic courses.
This initiative is a key component of South’s LevelUP Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), which focuses on aligning academic experiences with employer-valued competencies. Participating faculty explored how to incorporate the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) competencies and high-impact educational practices into course design, ensuring students are equipped with relevant skills for career success.
The three-week hybrid mini-course included in-person workshops and self-paced online modules totaling 2–4 hours per week. Faculty engaged in hands-on activities, developed course-specific strategies, and produced detailed implementation plans for integrating career readiness into their instruction. By the end of the course, participants had:
- Identified key career-readiness language and aligned it with course learning outcomes.
- Developed discipline-specific assignments and activities that emphasize real-world skills.
- Integrated tools and resources to support students’ reflective learning and professional
growth.
“This program equips our faculty to bring career readiness directly into the classroom in meaningful, student-centered ways,” said Julie Estis, Ph.D., Associate Vice President, Institutional Effectiveness. “By connecting course content to real-world applications, we’re preparing students to confidently transition from college to career.”
The university congratulates the faculty who successfully completed the course:
- Math & Statistics: Gayan Abeynanda
- Chemistry: Ranelka Fernando
- Electrical & Computer Engineering: Daniela Touma
- Modern & Classical Languages and Literature: Cinthya Torres
- Geography: Carol Sawyer
- Research Education & Training (COM): Alani Rogers
Faculty who complete the course leave with a set of adaptable, evidence-based strategies and access to a growing network of peer support—all aimed at increasing student engagement and career preparedness. The LevelUP initiative continues to build momentum as more instructors embrace the mission to make South graduates uniquely prepared for their next steps.