NetVUE Faculty Seminar: Teaching Vocational Exploration

CIC is pleased to offer a multidisciplinary seminar, Teaching Vocational Exploration, for full-time faculty members in all fields at colleges and universities that are members of the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). The seminar is designed for early- to mid-career faculty members at the rank of assistant or associate professor or the equivalent. Participants will learn to strengthen the teaching of vocational exploration by probing a variety of understandings of vocation and their importance in educating undergraduates, by developing new courses or course materials or redesigning existing courses, and by establishing a broader network of faculty members committed to teaching vocational exploration.

Thanks to a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most costs of participation for those faculty members who are selected.

Participating faculty members will have the opportunity to strengthen their teaching of vocational exploration through three specific emphases of the seminar:

• examining different meanings of “vocation” and their importance for undergraduate education;
• considering content and teaching methods for courses that focus on vocational exploration; and
• reflecting on the shape and experience of the academic vocation.

Discussions also will focus on mentoring students for ongoing vocational exploration, understanding the characteristics of emerging adults, and considering how social, cultural, and institutional dynamics both facilitate and hinder living out one’s vocation. In preparation for the seminar, participants will be expected to read a significant selection of materials on vocation and to submit a brief written reflection. They also will be expected, in the academic year following the seminar, to develop a new course or course materials or to redesign an existing course with greater focus on vocational exploration.

Seminar participants are invited to gather again, the following summer, for a short weekend “reunion,” in which they will be asked to share their experiences of implementing their plans in their classrooms.

Up to 16 participants will be selected each year by competitive nomination. NetVUE member colleges and universities may nominate one full-time faculty member—in any discipline or department—at the rank of assistant or associate professor or the equivalent. Selected participants are notified in early December each year for the following summer’s seminar.

The seminar takes place in June each year, at a location in the Midwest. The 2025 Seminar will be held June 2–6, 2025, at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis. Sixteen faculty members will be selected for this seminar by competitive nomination. Thanks to generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most seminar costs, including materials, lodging, and meals, and will provide a travel reimbursement of up to $800 per participant.

For questions about the seminar or the nomination process, contact David S. Cunningham, director of NetVUE, at  or dcunningham.