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What aspects of career learning should not be left to chance in the college student experience? President Pescovitz and her campus community have embedded career learning into multiple aspects of the student experience, and have recently launched the OU Pledge, an initiative to ensure that every Oakland University student receives hands-on or experiential learning. They are embracing the career ecosystem era, leaning into career readiness and affordability, and joining college and university leaders across the country who are seeking to institutionalize the career learning that matters most to students and families.

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Welcome to 2026! In this no-guest episode, Jeremy Podany elaborates on the five most important career readiness trends shaping higher education in 2026. He explores what the field is moving away from, toward, and doubling down on, as well as the spark that is needed to catalyze it all. The episode highlights why career learning is no longer optional, how ROI pressures are accelerating change, and what senior campus leaders can and must do now to prepare every student for long-term career success. This is a forward-looking conversation for anyone responsible for the future of student career outcomes.

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Jeremy is joined by two of his consulting colleagues from The Collective as they openly discuss the dilemma many colleges and universities face when trying to reach more students within their current career center model. They discuss how to refine ecosystem efforts to effectively support students' learning. 

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Many faculty at Metro State University in Minneapolis, MN, have come together in a community of practice to cultivate a more integrated career ecosystem to benefit their students. In part two of this series, two faculty members dig into what they developed, how they integrated career readiness, the results they are seeing with students, and the joy and further curiosity it has brought them. 

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Metro State University in Minneapolis, MN, has built a career education model where faculty are not only involved but feel a sense of ownership. The Career Center has intentionally repositioned itself from the primary service provider to a catalyst for change, empowering faculty to integrate career development directly into the curriculum. Learn how their Faculty Work Group from diverse disciplines shifted faculty mindset toward emphasizing the career relevance of their coursework and the implementation of small, incremental curriculum changes that make career learning more transparent for students.

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College Presidents are more in tune than ever before with the need for and benefits of building a strong and effective career readiness ecosystem on their campus. In this episode, President Weinberg speaks to important topics such as why we need to act, how to gain faculty buy-in, skills infusion, bold commitments, career readiness AND a liberal arts education simultaneously, building public trust through career preparation, measurement, and his hopes for the future of higher education. 

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Once upon a time, just having a career center was enough to satisfy and impress students and families. Today? Not even close. In Episode 1 of The Career Ecosystem Era in Higher Education Podcast, Jeremy chats with his colleagues at The Collective to unpack the big shift toward Career Ecosystems—and why it’s one of the most important transitions higher education can make right now.