VE/COIL Clinic: Career Readiness and Employer Engagement

Overview

Virtual exchange/collaborative online international learning (VE/COIL) gives students opportunities to practice workforce-relevant competencies—including collaboration, communication, problem-solving, adaptability, and working across cultural and geographic contexts. Yet students may not automatically recognize these experiences as career-relevant or know how to communicate their learning to employers and other audiences.

This three-week online AAC&U VE/COIL Clinic helps participants intentionally connect globally collaborative learning with career readiness. Through applied tools, examples, guided planning, and peer exchange, participants map VE/COIL learning to employer-recognized competencies, develop strategies that help students articulate the value of their experiences, and identify practical opportunities for employer and community engagement that align with their learning goals and disciplinary contexts.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the clinic, participants will be able to

• map VE/COIL learning outcomes and experiences to career-readiness and employability frameworks recognized by employers, career services, and institutions;
• develop reflection and learning-visibility strategies that help students recognize, articulate, and demonstrate the career relevance of their VE/COIL experiences; and
• identify appropriate entry points for employer and community engagement that align with VE/COIL learning goals and disciplinary contexts.

This Clinic does not require an existing employer partnership or career-focused course redesign.

Who Should Participate?

This clinic is designed for faculty, career services professionals, international education staff, experiential learning and teaching and learning professionals, administrators, and others interested in strengthening connections between globally collaborative learning and students’ career preparation.

It is relevant both for those designing or teaching VE/COIL experiences and for professionals supporting career readiness, employer engagement, experiential learning, or workforce connections across programs and institutions.