Strategic Alliances: How Multi-University Collaboration is Reimagining Career Services By Dylan Houle, David Chase and Megan Spaulding
- American Association for Employer Relations + (A+)
- Jun 1
- 5 min read
As professionals in career services, employer relations, recruiting, and talent acquisition, we operate within a rapidly evolving landscape. Universities are facing increasing pressure to demonstrate the ROI of a college degree, while students seek meaningful preparation for life after graduation. The price of a four-year private college has doubled in the last 20 years (adjusted for inflation), yet nominal wage growth for the median college graduate has been modest, with real wages decreasing significantly over the same period. In this environment, just one-third of students feel their university adequately prepared them for life after college. These factors highlight a pressing need for innovation in how we deliver career education and connect students with opportunities.
While career services professionals face limited resources and increasing demands on their time, we see multi-university collaboration as an increasingly important strategy. This approach allows institutions to pool resources and expertise to provide students with enhanced learning and networking opportunities that might be beyond the capacity of a single institution. At Santa Clara University (SCU), we've embarked on such a collaboration with Seattle University (SU) and a startup called Possible, creating a compelling case study for how universities can work together to serve their students better.
Understanding the Consortium Model
A consortium, as defined by Merriam Webster, is "an agreement, combination, or group formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member". In higher education, consortiums can take various forms, such as connecting institutions, international students, and employers, or groups of institutions collaborating to provide employers easier access to a diverse talent pool (e.g., Hispanic Serving Institutions Career Collaborative, Bay Area K-16 Collaborative).
Our partnership with Seattle University and Possible exemplifies this model, focusing on delivering experiential learning and career education in the tech industry.
The collaboration allows universities with shared goals and values to partner effectively. When we enroll students, we make a fundamental commitment to help them succeed in the workplace and beyond. Multi-university collaboration is a way to deliver on this promise more effectively.
The SCUxSUxPossible Case Study
The partnership between Santa Clara University, Seattle University, and Possible is built around an experiential learning program led by industry professionals, including alumni. The program, focusing on the tech industry, utilizes 5-week interactive cohorts taught by professionals working in roles students might explore. The curriculum covers core functions in the technology industry, such as Marketing, Sales, Operations, HR, Product Design, Software Engineering, and Data Analytics. It includes elements like events, panels, fireside chats for networking, and projects allowing students to experiment with different roles. Workshops are also included for reflection and framework sessions. The program provides 100% live instruction for career education and networking.
Santa Clara University chose to partner with Seattle University for several key reasons. We share institutional characteristics, which facilitated collaboration. The partnership offered a valuable opportunity for SCU students to expand their networking in Seattle, a top destination for our graduates; and vice versa for SU and Silicon Valley. Seattle University's ability to contribute graduate business students to the cohorts was another benefit. (SCU’s grad business career center did not participate in the program.) Finally, the collaboration helps create and build a "third space" alumni network of Possible graduates.
A core focus of this collaboration was to empower students, particularly first-generation college students, to build social capital, feel more prepared for life after college, and access additional economic ecosystems. We prioritized students from underrepresented backgrounds, first-generation students, transfer students, and international students, believing they would most benefit from the program's focus on providing a "good job, social capital and economic mobility".
Tangible Student Outcomes
The results of the pilot cohorts involving 100 students from SCU and SU were significant. Students reported substantial growth across several key areas:
Professional Network: Students saw an average 13% increase in their LinkedIn network in just one month, gaining an average of 77 new LinkedIn connections.
Industry Knowledge: Students reported a 65% average increase in their knowledge of the tech industry.
Career Confidence: There was a 37% average increase in students' career confidence.
Quantitative metrics measured success, including program satisfaction (NPS, average rating, signature experience), program engagement, career confidence growth, industry knowledge growth, network growth, employer pipeline development, Career Center engagement, job placement, and long-term retention and affiliation. The program achieved a 9.5 average rating and a 10/10 median score for satisfaction. Notably, 97% of students agreed that participation in Possible was a signature experience of their time in college. Student engagement rates were high, averaging 88% across both cohorts, with students averaging 27.3 hours of live career learning.
Anecdotal feedback from students further highlights the positive impact. Ria Panda ’24 from Santa Clara University shared that the shared cohort with Seattle University allowed her to "open my network and community to students all over the country," learning from peers' stories and experiences and gaining "a new network of supporters and peers who push me to grow.” Kalki Palanisamy, MBA ’25 from Seattle University found that being in the mix with SCU students offered a "unique opportunity to learn from a group of peers in the Bay Area" and helped "establish connections within that community," providing valuable insights into different career paths and leading to "genuine connections.” Another student highlighted how the program made the tech world feel "more accessible to a humanities major.”
Benefits for the Institutions
Beyond student outcomes, the collaboration also benefited the universities. The partnership between SCU and SU, facilitated by Possible, led to students' perception of Career Center helpfulness increasing by 48% (from 5.8/10 pre-program to 8.5/10 post-program). This suggests that providing high-impact, collaborative programs can significantly enhance students' views of the career services available to them.
The program also drove increased attention, buy-in, and relationship building among campus partners, particularly faculty. A faculty/staff referral model was used to nominate students for the program. Nominators came from a wide range of departments, including unexpected departments like Campus Recreation, Housing Facilities, and University Operations. This broad participation indicates the value seen across campus in this collaborative initiative. Anecdotal feedback from staff and faculty shows strong support and enthusiasm for the program and its impact on students. For example, one faculty member noted they had heard great things from a former student and would be happy to encourage their students to apply. Another highlighted the value seen by SCU LEAD Scholars (i.e., first-gen students) who participated.
Charting a Journey to the Re-imagined Future of Career Services
The SCUxSUxPossible partnership exemplifies how universities can "reimagine the future of career services" by working collaboratively across state and regional lines. This model goes beyond the traditional university bubble to prepare students for careers post-college.
Areas we could see strategic alliances impacting include partnering with like-minded schools that are doing similar and overlapping work - such as career treks, employer recruitment, career fairs, alumni panels, etc. Given that career services leaders have extremely limited time, we believe that pooling resources is a deeply underutilized strategy that could unlock more opportunities for students. By partnering with like-minded schools and leveraging industry expertise through organizations like Possible, universities can provide the industry-specific career education and human connection crucial in today's environment.
Conclusion
The demand for ROI in higher education and the need for effective career preparation are driving innovation in career services. The multi-university collaboration model, as demonstrated by the Santa Clara University, Seattle University, and Possible partnership, offers one powerful solution. By forming strategic alliances, universities can undertake initiatives beyond the resources of a single institution, empower students to build social capital and access economic opportunities, and enhance the perceived value and helpfulness of career services.
This case study shows that collaborating across universities can also lead to demonstrable student success and stronger relationships with internal campus partners. For professionals in career services, employer relations, recruiting, and talent acquisition, we believe that exploring these types of consortium models represents a key innovation strategy for and delivering on the promise of higher education.
Authors:
Comments