Olukemi Okafor, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Business
Reinhardt University was recently awarded the NetVUE Professional Development Award! The award is a grant from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) and provides training and resources to faculty and staff who are actively guiding undergraduate students through their vocational exploration. Over the next year, this grant will provide Reinhardt with nearly $10,000 for faculty and staff training.
“This grant will help Reinhardt move more deeply into implementing our mission,” says Mark A. Roberts, Ph.D., president of Reinhardt University, “which includes helping students find their calling and purpose.”
Olukemi Okafor, Ed.D., assistant professor of business, along with support from Tunji Adesesan, director of the Academic Support Office, and John D. Miles, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs, wrote the grant proposal. “The opportunity to help a student who is in the same shoes I was in over a decade ago is a dream,” says Okafor. “Many students I know seek an understanding of their overall purpose in life and how it informs what they will do after graduation.”
The funds from the grant will support the creation of vocational awareness across campus, provide resources for workshops centered around the vocational discernment process, and supply training materials to reshape student advising efforts. According to Okafor, specific plans for training are currently underway. Textbooks and resources to support group discussions, and a series of in-person workshops and gatherings for faculty and staff are included in the plan.
“This award will allow interested faculty and staff to come together and shape curricular and co-curricular experiences for students to engage with questions of calling and vocation,” says Miles.
Okafor hopes for training to be available as early as July or August, prior to students returning to campus, and continue the opportunities throughout the school year.
This NetVUE Professional Development Award was made possible by a grant to the Council of Independent Colleges from Lilly Endowment, Inc.
