Maryville College Works program celebrates 10 years of connecting students to the job market
May 30, 2025
As former Maryville College President Tom Bogart pointed out upon launching the Maryville College Works program, “Core curriculums go through revisions — some are more extensive than others — but additions of graduation requirements are big deals.”
That was on Sept. 10, 2014. Fast-forward a decade later, Maryville College Works not only celebrated its 10-year anniversary this past academic year; it’s being heralded as a game-changer by MC administrators who point out that the visionary foresight of a decade ago continues to be emulated at other higher education institutions around the country.
“Just this year, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville launched a far-reaching career development program that looks a lot like Maryville College Works, which is fantastic for them as well as a nice reminder that our smaller College has been placing an emphasis on career development for quite some time,” said Dr. Niklas Trzaskowski, director of the MC Career Center, out of which the program operates. “I can’t remember who said it, but institutions signal what is important to them in what they require of their students. That is what is so important and admirable about the Maryville College Works program: Because it is mandatory for almost all students to complete the program, Maryville College signals that career development of its students is a priority.
“Making it required and part of a student’s curriculum also allows all students to take advantage of it not just the ones who, for whatever reason, may have more time to devote to their career development.”
Proof of proficiency
According to data provided by Associate Academic Dean Dr. Jerilyn Swann, who serves as the College’s director of institutional research, 485 Scots, between the fall semester of the 2022-23 academic year and the fall semester of the most recent academic year (2024-25), completed a Significant Practical Experience, or SPE, which is required during a student’s junior year. It can be fulfilled through a Study Abroad program, an internship, or a Senior Study, a centerpiece of the MC experience in which every degree candidate works with a faculty supervisor to expound upon scholarship and ideas in their respective degree fields. The number of internships in that two-year span — 380 — is remarkable, Trzaskowski said, because it demonstrates just how connected MC Works is to the broader community of businesses, nonprofits and other organizations who make space for those internships.
“This demonstrates, I think, how committed we are to students completing internships during their time at the College,” he said. “We know how important internships are to a student’s success post-graduation.”
Maryville College Works was developed as a part of the College’s reaffirmation by the College’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In the reaffirmation process at the time, SACSCOC required all institutions to develop a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), which the association defines as a “carefully designed course of action that addresses a well-defined and focused topic or issue related to enhancing student learning and/or the environment supporting student learning and accomplishing the mission of the institution.”
With input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, MC Board of Directors representatives and other community members during the 2011-2012 academic year, the College chose to focus its QEP on career and vocation. History Professor Dr. Doug Sofer was a member of the first two QEP committees (Selection and Implementation), and he was the victor in a contest to name the program; after Dr. Karen Beale, professor of psychology at MC, completed a one-year term as director of Maryville College Works, he was also asked to serve as her successor, which he did for two three-year terms, he said.
“When we first conceived of it, we had some majors on campus for whom career preparation could be an afterthought, or done individually as part of advising conversations,” Sofer said. “The Maryville College Works program allowed us to sharpen these career education elements and make a more uniform and consistent career preparation program, based on the best practices we were able to identify.
“It also inspired the College to invest more in the Career Center, which has made a major impact on campus. On the whole, MC is still ahead of many liberal arts colleges in that our faculty, students, and staff are more comfortable in acknowledging that the liberal arts and career preparation are not mutually exclusive categories — meaning, part of a liberating education includes the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing world of work.
“It’s also ultimately about the importance of having economic independence as something required for being a successful citizen of the world,” he added.
A critical component of the Career Center
Today, Maryville College Works is a program that operates within the guidance of both the College’s office of Academic Affairs and the Career Center, which itself is a component of Academic Affairs, Trzaskowski pointed out. MC Works is built into the curriculum required of all students, who receive support and advising from Trzaskowski and his team, should they seek it out. Students aren’t mandated to use Career Center services, but those who do often find resources that make their transition from college life to the working world a much easier one to navigate.
“Think of the Career Center as the service that students have access to when they need a resume review, need to practice a mock interview, or need help with their job search, and think of Maryville College Works as the program that introduces students to career development inside the classroom primarily executed by our wonderful faculty with support from the Career Center,” he said. “My favorite part about the Maryville College Works program is that students are required to complete a significant practical experience during their time at the College. For many students that is an internship. This internship, if carefully sourced and planned, will leave them with a practical thing to point to on their resume when they leave here.
“If the student takes this opportunity seriously, they can really set themselves apart from other college grads who may have little practical experience in the area that they want to go into. Many other institutions have recently picked up on how important it is to incoming students to be prepared for their careers and have started programs that are deeply rooted in career development practices. What sets our program apart from many of the others is that is required for students, supported by our outstanding faculty, and the wisdom we have gained from doing it for such a long time.”
In that regard, Maryville College Works has played an integral role in the overall success of the Maryville College experience, added Dr. Heather McMahon, assistant dean for academic success. Success isn’t just a great education; it’s also a pathway to a successful career, which is ultimately the goal of most students who choose higher education as their post-secondary plan. The scaffolding that Maryville College Works provides to each degree track gives students a greater understanding of themselves, their goals and how to attain those goals, she said, and allows them to connect theory learned in the classroom with practice learned on the job.
“We are preparing our students for careers, so they are able to use their liberal arts education to adjust and adapt to changing job markets,” she said. “The future of Maryville College Works is that we will continue to combine the best of a liberal arts degree with the career preparation our students need. We are always engaged in conversations about the changing needs of our students and local communities, close by and far away, because we know that standing still is not an option.”