Oh, the Places You will Go!

Dr. Tracy Lara has been collaborating with the Exploratory Advising Center since 2009 on a project to support the career development of exploratory students, students without a designated major. Dr. Lara's work has been heavily influenced and encouraged by Dr. Mark Savickas. Dr. Lara developed a course for undergraduate students, US 20010 Career Navigation, as a career intervention based on the work of Dr. Mark Savickas, who teaches the Career Development and Guidance elective course. Dr. Savickas is an internationally renowned vocational psychologist who developed Career Construction Theory. Dr. Savickas' recent work has involved a multinational collaboration resulting in a new paradigm for career interventions that responds to individual's context and the ever-changing world of work. An individual's career is thought of as all life roles across a lifespan rather than other narrow definitions that equate career solely with occupational choices. This new paradigm called Life Design emphasizes meaning making in order to equip people to add meaningful and purposeful work into their lives. Furthermore, narrative based career interventions including the Career Construction Interview developed by Dr. Savickas foster adaptability, flexibility, and resilience necessary for individual's to navigate their careers across their lifespans. 

According to Dr. Lara, "Dr. Savickas' work internationally has laid the ground work for practical applications of his work that are relevant and needed globally." Dr. Lara was invited to China and Peru to conduct career development workshops. Early in November, she conducted a two-day workshop in Guangzhou, China as part of the Career Education Forum as well as delivering a keynote address at the conference. Dr. Lara co-presented the workshop with the translation assistance of Dr. Zhijin Hou from Beijing Normal University. Dr. Lara and Dr. Hou have been collaborating for the past three years resulting in the translation and delivery of the Career Navigation course in Chinese. The career development workshop was designed for college instructors who are currently teaching career courses at universities across China. The workshop had 70 attendees of the approximate 200 conference participants. Dr. Lara stated, "I learned so much during my visit about Chinese college students and their career development needs; however, it seems like I have only scratched the surface regarding all there is to learn." Dr. Lara invited Dr. Hou to Kent State University as a visiting scholar in spring 2015 to continue her learning and collaboration.

Later in November, Adam Hinkley, a second year master's student traveled with Dr. Lara to Peru to conduct career development workshops. Adam and Dr. Lara presented a three-day workshop in Lima, Peru and a half-day workshop in Cusco, Peru. Adam shared, "Without a doubt, Peru left a lasting impression on me. Warm people, warm weather, rich foods, and rich cultures made for an unforgettable experience. What stood out to me the most though during our trip was the energy and potential looking to be utilized and realized and the hunger for educational and societal growth and innovation. It's an exciting time in Peru and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to put into practice many things that I've learned throughout our higher education administration program to play a role in a capacity building project." Dr. Lara shared, "Adam was invaluable, first because of his independent efforts beyond his coursework to learn from Dr. Mark Savickas and about Life Design and Career Construction Theory as well as college student career development needs and interventions; second, because of Adam's fluency in Spanish." Adam contributed to the preparation and delivery of the workshop, which gave him excellent exposure to the 25 conference attendees who were primarily university presidents and administrators. The workshop in Lima was sponsored by the International Association of Innovation, an organization to innovate educational practices in Peru in order to bolster the economy and competitiveness of Peruvian college graduates in the global marketplace through education and career development. The Peruvian Austral University hosted the workshop for 30 college instructors and administrators in Cusco. 

Career development is a concern of college students worldwide. Dr. Lara expects that conducting these workshops in China and Peru has opened the door for further opportunities to support career interventions in international settings and opportunities for students in Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel and in the Career Advising certificate program. Dr. Lara stated, "I would imagine that Dr. Savickas would say Adam and I have constructed our lives around work that is meaningful and purposeful thereby creating these international experiences. It's exciting to see the concepts of Life Design and Career Construction unfold personally."

Going the Extra Mile: Dr. Mark Kretovics

On November 19th, Dr. Kretovics, the Interim school director of Foundations, Leadership, and Administration and current HIED faculty member, had a total knee replacement surgery.  The knee was damaged over 30 years ago in a skiing accident.  Through normal wear and tear during these 30 years, the knee had lost all cartilage and the ACL had detached from the knee, thus requiring this surgery.   Knowing that he needed surgery, Dr. Kretovics planned the date so that he could return to school in order to finish up his last class of the semester, the Ph.D. only Politics and Power in Organizations which meets every two weeks. Clearly, he deeply values the learning opportunities of the students in the HIED program and did not want to take away any opportunities to help his students learn.

Overall, the recovery process could not be going better.  Due in large part to the use of an experimental time-released anesthetic designed to work for three days,  Dr. Kretovics was able to leave the hospital just one day after surgery.  He also credits being able to be at home with advancing his recovery.  He is up and walking around with the use of a cane, where as others at this stage of recovery are often limited to using crutches.