A career-focused education starts in the classroom.
Dr. Lakeisha Mathews, director for The University of Baltimore’s Career and Internship Center (CIC), drives that mission for UBalt through partnerships with its faculty.
“The mission of the University of Baltimore is to offer career-focused education. The CIC thinks it is important to show how we live this mission out as a campus, not just in our office but also in the classroom,” she said.
The career center has a career community model which ensures that every UBalt student has an assigned career coach. This allows the center's team to work collaboratively with faculty to ensure that UBalt students are career ready, Mathews said.
Each year, the center recognizes exemplary faculty members who integrate career development into their coursework, helping students connect the dots between academic lessons and professional work.
The center’s three career coaches nominate a professor from their respective colleges. This year’s honorees are:
What type of advice do you give your students about careers?
“Hone your voice. That’s so much the work of our Digital Communication and English, and now Multimedia Storytelling programs: hone in on the way you and only you tell stories, whether on the page, on screen or elsewhere. That voice is what’s going to distinguish you from the increasingly AI-aggregated, -vetted, -generated crowd. Voice equals authenticity, and authenticity is an attribute that can often feel in short supply on the job market.”
How do you use the Career and Internship Center’s resources to help students?
“I have students take their first and best shot at developing their own materials before bringing the CIC in to help them refine those materials. While I’ve got some sense of our discipline-specific careers—and while I bring folks in to talk about those fields, the CIC folks see the job market from a bird’s eye view. They can see trends and tendencies and sense shifts in the wind that I can’t, so they’re always experts in a way that I can’t fully be. I appreciate their expertise, as do my students, many of whom will follow up with CIC folks individually after the CIC has come to present on CVs, resumes, interviews, cover letters, etc. Either way, I always have my students revise their materials after the CIC visits; the difference is notable!”
Describe your career conversations with students.
“Often (again) it comes back to authenticity: How can you genuinely distinguish yourself as genuine? How can you genuinely invest yourself in the prospect of this job such that the employer wants to invest in you? How, for that matter, can you listen?—to me, one of the most important and overlooked aspects of the job process. You need to be fleet, adaptable, responsive.
“And you need to be adaptable in a grander sense as well. A common theme across all the guests I invited into my seminar class last spring was that they ended up somewhere other than they thought they would—they discovered their calling in media res. I think that’s an encouraging message for our students, whether they’re jumping onto the market for the first time or returning to it after some time away or making a career change. And to me, that adaptability is at the core of UBalt’s mission.”
What type of advice do you give your students about careers?
“My students are typically interested in a healthcare career. Some have not worked in healthcare and are concerned about finding a position after graduation. There are others, however, who are employed at a healthcare facility or other healthcare organization, seeking executive opportunities. For the former, my advice is to find an entry-level position with a healthcare organization, which is a steppingstone into a better position. I always tell the story of how I began my healthcare career as an accounting clerk. This allowed me to work in that capacity while I networked with others in the organization and led to a better position. For the latter, I encourage joining a professional organization where they can meet others in the field and develop a contact network of professionals, which could lead to another position. I engage with students and have many conversations about careers in healthcare, noting that this is a growing industry and there are many opportunities for success.”
What Career and Internship Center resources do you recommend to students?
“There are several CIC resources that I recommend to students. Since I am also the internship coordinator for the Health Management and Health Administration programs, students need to ensure that their resumes are accurate for submission to internship preceptors. The CIC offers a resume review that I encourage students to use. Being a hospital administrator for many years, and interviewing many applicants, a solid resume offers the opportunity to go ahead of the line for consideration. Also, good interview skills are so important, and students need to work with the CIC to brush up this skill for interviews with internship preceptors and potential employers. I encourage students to make an appointment with a career coach and review their career goals.”
Describe how you approach having career conversations with students?
“On the first day of class, I do a PowerPoint presentation of my journey in the healthcare field, highlighting the importance of networking and how that helped me secure four of my positions in my 40-year career. I then ask all students to answer some questions about their current situation and what they expect to be doing five years from now.
“During the semester, I do lectures on strategic management and operations in healthcare organizations. This includes real-life examples from my career and brings to light the duties and responsibilities of a healthcare administrator. I mentor some graduate students about careers, introduce all of them to healthcare executives who are my colleagues and continue discussions throughout the semester and thereafter. I continue to communicate with students who are recent graduates and those who graduated in past years, regarding their careers. This says it all for a program that always produced top-notch students, most of whom are successful healthcare professionals.”
What type of advice do you give your students about careers?
“The advice I give is primarily reflective and student‑centered. First, ask yourself a set of core questions about your future. For example: What am I genuinely interested in? What kind of work do I envision myself doing in the future? What problems do I enjoy solving, and in what environment? Then, think about what skills and knowledge might be needed in the labor market to support that vision. Alongside these questions, I also observe what they may be especially good at—based on their class performance, participation, our conversations, and the résumés they share—and help them connect their strengths and interests to realistic, in‑demand career paths.”
How do you use the career center's resources to help students?
“I believe the CIC’s resources are very helpful in supporting students from multiple angles. The information on careers, the virtual services, the career tools (such as résumé and interview resources), and the outcome‑tracking data all provide valuable guidance for different types of students and different stages of decision‑making. The breakdown by different schools and, within schools, by discipline and the connection with alumni are especially helpful, because it helps students see concrete pathways taken by peers with similar majors and gain practical insight into how different careers actually look in practice and how to navigate those transitions.”
Describe your career conversations with students.
“My career conversations with students usually begin by exploring what they are actually interested in and what kind of future they envision for themselves. I ask open‑ended questions about what they like to do, what kinds of problems they enjoy solving, and which experiences in courses, internships or projects have energized them; I also listen carefully and observe what they become animated about as they talk.
“There are roughly three common patterns. First, some students—including often international and full‑time students—come to me proactively to ask for career advice. With them, I start from their interests and goals, then combine labor‑market information with my own experience and lessons learned to suggest concrete next steps, such as skills to build, sectors to explore or types of roles to target.
“Second, there are students who do not initially seek career advice, but whose potential I notice in class or in their work. When I see a strong fit between their strengths and a particular career path, I will reach out and gently suggest them toward possible directions and opportunities they may not yet have considered.
“Third, and very importantly, I involve students in my sponsored or contract research projects, especially in paid graduate assistant positions. These projects give students hands‑on experience with the kinds of analysis and tools that employers need and help them understand what society and the labor market are asking for. For example, many years ago, one student who had previously only worked as a cashier spent four years on my project, learned to build a comprehensive data dashboard, deepened his understanding of
real‑world economic and policy issues, presented his work in client meetings several times, and later moved into a well‑paid federal analytics position after graduation. I witnessed his growth and excitement along the journey.
“In addition, I have had several graduate assistants who had never done analytics work before. After working on projects with me for a couple of years, they not only developed new technical skills but, most importantly, gained a much stronger sense of confidence and know their own potential and abilities much better. Some gained great jobs and others pursued further academic degrees.”