Initiative provides essential professional development skills for graduate students, post-docs and senior-level undergraduates at eight RI institutions.

Many students successfully pursue degrees in science; technology; engineering or math (STEM), yet lack essential skills to compete in the 21st century workforce.

Now graduate students, post-docs and senior-level undergraduates have an opportunity to earn a Career Development Certificate as part of the Rhode Island Consortium for Coastal Assessment, Innovation and Modeling (RI C-AIM) Career Development Program.

“While STEM students gain important scientific and technical knowledge in their respective fields during their academic careers, employers have noted a deficit in real-life professional skills among STEM graduates,” says Sunshine Menezes, Metcalf Institute executive director. “It’s our goal to ensure that each CDP Certificate recipient has the confidence and practical skills to succeed in the workforce, whether they find a career in academia, government, or the private or non-profit sectors.”

register FOR CDP CERTIFICATE

The initiative, administered by Metcalf Institute as part of RI C-AIM’s goals to support workforce development in Rhode Island, helps students at eight RI C-AIM institutions gain career-readiness skills in a variety of professional development areas including personnel management, job interviews, and science communication. Career development learning opportunities will include training workshops, webinars, and an extensive list of programs at RI C-AIM institutions. CDP Certificate participants are required to complete five foundational trainings on:

• Creating an Individual Development Plan;
• Fundamentals of Diversity and Inclusion;
• Effective Mentorship;
• Fundamentals of Science Communication: Audience, Messaging and Framing; and
• Time Management.

The participants are also required to select a minimum of three electives from an extensive list of topics that enable participants to customize their learning experience to match career goals. Electives include storytelling in science, interviewing with journalists, planning and funding research projects, lab management, writing for different audiences, and fundamentals of interviewing and salary negotiation. Participants also may choose electives aligned with specific topics:

• Science Communication Package
• Research Package
• Career Exploration Package
• Job Readiness Package

Career Development Program Eligibility
Career Development Program trainings are open to graduate students, post-docs and senior-level undergraduates at the University of Rhode Island, Brown University, Bryant University, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University and Salve Regina. Currently the CDP Certificate is only available to students and post-docs working with C-AIM projects.

The Details
Once interested participants register for the CDP Certificate, you need only sign up for and provide proof of attending the relevant training opportunities. Once participants have completed the requirements they will receive a printed certificate and can include this recognition on curriculum vitae.

The Career Development Program is supported by the National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement #OIA-1655221. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.