Spelman's Career Pathways Initiative (CPI) grant, funded by United Negro College Fund (UNCF), came to a conclusion after five years of diverse programming around its theme of melding careers and the curriculum. Conceived with an eye towards the imperatives of the millennial workforce, the initiative is designed to infuse the curriculum with the skills and knowledge that will give our students a competitive edge in securing graduate school placements and careers.
Directed by Tinaz Pavri, Ph.D.,
Division Chair of Social Sciences and Education, and co-directed by Harold Bell, director of
Career Planning and Development, CPI ensures that faculty, staff and administrators work together as a team to achieve goals. The grant enabled the creation of dozens of courses or modules in data science, design thinking, digital humanities, geographic information systems (GIS), and a number of courses that meld career and discipline. The program, coordinated by LaChun Tiller with evaluations conducted by a team led by Danielle Dickens, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, has also created faculty “career counselors” to advise students in the majors on post-Spelman options, and targeted student internship programs.
"CPI recognized that at the heart of Spelman's success is its faculty, and made them the core of its grant," said Dr. Pavri. Some of CPI's extensive work will be extended through Spelman's new
Spelman Pathways QEP that focuses on "life and career excellence."
To recognize the success of Spelman's CPI, the UNCF recently awarded the program an "Outstanding Leadership" award for its focus on "faculty torchbearers."