Preparing graduates for full-time employment following graduation has become an increasing concern for universities. Student services departments who employ students have been tasked with providing intentional development opportunities for them. At Arizona State University those opportunities have been taken on by professional staff members (PSM) in Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS) who have served as the university’s support system and connection to resources to ensure student success. Many departments within EOSS have been student led and supported by PSM. This model provided PSM opportunities to work with student staff members (SSM) to ensure they were receiving professional development opportunities to grow professionally and personally. Unfortunately, this development has not always been intentional or targeted. Thus, I developed and delivered workshops, coaching, and facilitated an online community of practice (OCoP) to foster and support PSMs’ efforts in teaching transferable, career readiness, skills to SSM. The intervention components were based on three of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career readiness competencies including communication, teamwork, and leadership. Participants were full-time PSM within EOSS departments and SSM who were supervised and mentored by PSM. These intervention efforts took place over the course of one academic semester and effectiveness of these efforts was assessed using quantitative and qualitative instruments. Specifically, PSMs’ perceptions of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and self-efficacy were assessed to determine the influence of the invention. Moreover, SSMs’ perceptions of transferable skills and overall connections to work were also evaluated. Quantitative results showed modest increases in PSMs’ perceptions of skills across the intervention. On the other hand, quantitative results for SSM exhibited very slight changes in their scores about transferable skills. Interview data indicated PSM developed knowledge and skills to share the NACE competencies. Further, in their interviews, students indicated their competencies had grown and they felt better prepared for the future. The discussion was focused on describing complementarity of the data, explaining the findings based on the literature, communicating the limitations, portraying the implications for practice and research, describing the lessons learned, and offering conclusions.

The National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP) was established to promote the community college role in the recruitment, preparation, retention, and renewal of teachers. NACCTEP is led by a 13-member executive board consisting of community college teacher education administrators and faculty members from across the United States. Board members expressed concern that their first year consisted of them trying to learn their role as a board member including how to participate in board activities. By the time they became fully knowledgeable about their role and became more active participants, their two-year term was completed. They also indicated that initially they felt disconnected from veteran board members. To address this issue, an orientation/leadership suite was developed for new board members to assist them in transitioning from peripheral roles to full active roles. The suite included activities such as an association orientation web page, participation in monthly board conference calls, a face-to-face leadership session, and mentoring by veteran board members. The communities of practice (CoP) framework shaped this action research study and the activities of the suite were designed to foster a CoP. This action research study utilized a mixed-method research approach in which both qualitative and quantitative instruments were used to gather data. The descriptive statistics indicated that on average, new board members perceived mentoring was effective, understood their role on the board, experienced a sense of a community of practice, considered themselves as active on the board, and believed the leadership orientation suite was effective. An analysis of the qualitative data resulted in four themes: community, communication, participation, and efficacy. Overall, the findings indicated that the new board member orientation/leadership suite assisted new board members transition from peripheral roles to active leadership roles through developing a sense of community; facilitating and sustaining communication; defining, supporting, and encouraging participation; and increasing efficacy in their roles. Through the learning of their roles, the new board members became knowledgeable, comfortable, and confident in serving as board members, which facilitated their participating in the NACCTEP board's CoP.