Next Level program accepting new applications for 2025-2026 fellows
Published: Jan 27, 2025 10:45 AM
By Dustin Duncan
Auburn Engineering’s Career Development and Corporate Relations (CDCR) office and the Next Level Program Committee are now accepting faculty applications for the 2025-2026 Next Level Career Development and Reflective Writing Program.
The Next Level Program launched in five engineering disciplines in the fall of 2023 and continued across all engineering disciplines in the 2024 academic year. The program began with 20 Next Level Faculty Fellows and aims to expand its success by welcoming a new group of engineering faculty ready to integrate career-readiness content into their courses.
The Next Level program aims to increase students’ first destination satisfaction and success within six months of graduation by helping to improve their career readiness.
Jessica Bowers, CDCR manager of Career Development Content and Strategy, assures faculty will receive all the support and tools needed to implement the program seamlessly, including Canvas-ready assignments, instructional resources and rubrics. Additionally, fellows have the option to receive grading assistance from the CDCR staff, as well as in-class facilitation on assignment topics.
“When we integrate career development at strategic intervals across the curriculum, it signals to students that it matters and there is significance to spending time on it in the same way they practice mastery of technical skills,” Bowers said. “With that in mind, the program seeks to level the playing field for all students by prompting critical career development topics throughout the engineering academic experience. As one of the Next Level faculty fellows has asserted, it also gives students the opportunity to contextualize their academic experiences, making meaning of not only the “what” but the “why” for what they’re doing.”
The inaugural class of fellows will continue using the materials in their courses, as the program is designed for long-term integration rather than a one-time implementation.
While applications are open to all engineering instructors, faculty teaching 2000-level courses are strongly encouraged to apply because a concerted effort is needed for CDCR and career readiness resources to reach the largest student population.
“While many students voluntarily access our individual and group coaching services, research shows that students who actively seek career services often come from backgrounds where they are encouraged to do so,” Bowers said. “Conversely, if pre-conditioning opportunities were inaccessible, students may not prioritize career development, leading them to delay this process until their final semester.”
This program is designed to bridge that gap by embedding career development into the curriculum, ensuring all students can access these resources and develop career readiness competencies over time.
Daniel Geiger, a senior lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Next Level fellow, emphasized that preparing students for their future careers is essential to his role.
“The Next Level program helps provide us the means to do this in a way that is of great benefit to the students without requiring a significant burden on the faculty,” he said.
Amanda Sterling, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a Next Level fellow, acknowledged the importance of the CDCR topics but noted that she isn’t an expert in advising students on current job market trends.
“Bringing in an expert to teach and directly interact with the students feels like I am making their time at Auburn and their future job hunt better,” Sterling said. “Every student who participated reported to me that the module was incredibly useful. They specifically called out the lesson on how to look up job title variations for the kind of position they wanted. There was a clear, applicable lesson that directly impacted their ability to search and apply for jobs. Having witnessed three different modules from the CDCR and another from AU Writing, I would say this is the most useful and well-received module I have seen.”
Faculty can submit their Next Level application here. The deadline to apply is March 19, 2025.
Media Contact: , dzd0065@auburn.edu, 334-844-2326
The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's program aims to help students take their engineering career to the Next Level.
