National search firm designates CLDC publication a must-read

Photographer: Sarah HolmThe CLDC’s professional and graduate assistant staff is seen in this fall 2017 photo.

One of the nation’s premiere higher education executive search firms has placed a monograph written by staff at Ohio University’s Career and Leadership Development Center (CLDC) on its summer must-read list.

“Brain-Based Career Development Theory” was one of six publications Spelman Johnson, a firm providing search and consulting services to institutions of higher education, selected for its recently released Summer Reading List. The monograph details Brain-Based Career Development (BBCD), a career development theoretical model rooted in neuropsychological research and based on neuropsychological best practices. 

“Once again, the Career and Leadership Development Center and the innovative ways its staff are ensuring that our students succeed beyond our campuses have shined a national spotlight on Ohio University,” said President M. Duane Nellis. “This most-recent accolade reaffirms Ohio University’s commitment to the co-curricular development of our students. I commend the CLDC staff for their efforts to elevate our mission of fostering a transformative learning community to a whole new level and for positioning OHIO as a leader in the professional development of young scholars.”

Imants Jaunarajs, assistant dean of students for the CLDC, developed BBCD at Ohio University in collaboration with the center’s staff and co-authored the monograph with Jodi Pavol, assistant director of outreach for the CLDC, and Erin Morgenstern, assistant director for leadership at the CLDC. 

“I am very excited that our publication is being well received by colleagues from across the country,” said Jaunarajs. 

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the largest national association for career services and employers who engage in university relations and recruiting, published “Brain-Based Career Development Theory” in the summer of 2017. Earlier this month, NACE presented the CLDC with a National Excellence Award for Career Services Excellence. Given to only one institution, the award cited BBCD as a featured best practice.

The CLDC debuted BBCD in 2013, shortly after becoming one of the first higher education institutions in the country to merge its student leadership development efforts with its career services office. The BBCD model takes a structured but individualized approach to supporting students in developing and mastering the transferable skills most commonly sought by employers, putting the ownership of the process on the students and breaking it down into short, actionable steps.

“At the CLDC, we see every day how effective Brain-Based Career Development is, how it empowers students to take the reins in the course of their career and leadership development, and how it provides them a manageable pathway to success,” said Pavol. “It is an incredible honor to have our efforts and this work shared with other higher education professionals who are committed to student success.”

Over the past five years, the CLDC staff have engaged in career and leadership coaching, using BBCD theory, with more than 12,000 OHIO students and alumni. The BBCD model has become well-known nationally, with CLDC staff presenting the theory at many national and regional conferences and training dozens of university career offices on its implementation.

“The BBCD model has provided us a means of better serving Ohio University students and alumni and has allowed us as OHIO employees to grow professionally and share our expertise – all while shining a spotlight on the CLDC and the University as a whole,” Morgenstern said. “Being a part of this project has been one of the highlights of my work with the CLDC.”