Ohio State’s Career Center of Excellence to help students become career-ready

The Ohio State University is developing a new, coordinated career services center to prepare Ohio State students to take the next step into their future.

The newly created Career Center of Excellence is a university-wide initiative housed within the Office of Academic Affairs. Its mission is to enhance and coordinate the university’s career services infrastructure to better prepare undergraduate students for post-graduate success.

This initiative is a key component of the university’s Education for Citizenship 2035 strategic plan. University President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. set a bold direction for 80% of undergraduates to complete an internship or co-op before graduation.

Anne McDaniel, associate vice president for strategy, impact and academic partnerships in the Office of Student Life, and Ann Talbot, associate vice president for strategic initiatives, Academic Affairs, presented an update on the center at the university’s Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs and Student Life Committee meeting last week.

“We really want to make sure that we’re doing the best for not just our students, but for each college, all of the employers that we engage with, and that we’re bolstering the university’s mission and reputation,” McDaniel said.

The center will accelerate progress toward this goal by providing university-wide strategy, technology coordination, data reporting and best practices.

“Our Career Center of Excellence will concentrate our work and share expertise in a more coordinated way while still providing that tailored expert-level support across disciplines and all majors,” Talbot said.

Ohio State will open the Career Center of Excellence on Jan. 1, 2026, with a focus on four key components:

• Support innovation and incubation through seed funding for colleges to create industry partnerships leading to internships to students and serve as a hub for testing new approaches to career navigation.
• Technology and reporting by coordinating career technology, data management and metrics for seamless student and employer engagement. The program will include prioritizing student completion of the Graduation Survey to report their career outcomes.
• Develop strategy and best practices, working with colleges to implement evidence-based approaches.
• Expand employer engagement and deliver specialized support through Career Studios. The studios will offer drop-in career support facilitated by Student Life’s Buckeye Commons in three central campus locations.

“This idea, piloted by the College of Arts and Sciences, creates drop-in peer coaching for just-in-time career education and support. This will provide easier access to students earlier in their journey at Ohio State,” Talbot said.

Staffed by peer career coaches and professional advisors, the studios will help students with resumes, cover letters, job searches, interview preparation and career exploration.

The service will be university-wide. Students will be able to drop in at a Career Studio virtually or schedule an appointment. All students continue to have access to Handshake, the university’s position posting system, to search for and apply for jobs, internships and co-ops.

McDaniel said the Career Center of Excellence will be data-driven to make sure students have successful outcomes.

“To make sure we are making the right progress, we’re going to be tracking a lot of metrics and outcomes,” she said. “We’re hoping in the coming years to reach 80% of our students completing internships, which would put us at the top of the Big Ten.”

The university plans to appoint a director to lead the Career Center of Excellence before the center opens in the new year.