By Elizabeth Egan
Published August 15, 2024
Over 140 employers, faculty members, staff and students gathered at the University at Buffalo in May for the first Future of Work Summit.
The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) collaborated with the School of Management and UB’s Career Design Center to create the educational event that brought together employers and the university to discuss the future of work.
The success of the event was recognized with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Western New York Association of College Career Centers (WNYACCC), a consortium of college career center professionals representing 19 accredited universities in Western New York. The award was presented at their annual meeting held in June at Niagara University.
The summit consisted of roundtable discussions, networking, and panel discussions with employers, faculty, staff, students, and community partners. Kelly Palmer, the executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Southern New Hampshire University, gave the keynote address, speaking about the future of work in the expertise economy. Palmer is the co-author of the award-winning book, “The Expertise Economy,” and former chief learning officer of both Degreed and LinkedIn.
“Our keynote speaker, Kelly Palmer, did a fantastic job of outlining national trends, including some of the ways that AI will impact the future of work,” said Caitlin Hoekstra, SEAS director of career development and experiential learning and an organizer of the event. “We had panel discussions with faculty, students, and employer partners around the topics of skill gaps, how to hire and retain diverse candidates, how to design effective internship programs, and how employers can build their brand on campus.”
Several SEAS faculty members presented or participated in the summit. Kemper Lewis, SEAS dean and a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, introduced the discussion on building a brand with campus partners. Andrew Olewnik, SEAS director of experiential learning programs and assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education, served as a panelist, discussing skill gaps at the university level. Alan Hunt, professor of practice in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, presented examples of how he works with industry partners to incorporate hands-on learning for computer science and engineering students. Olewnik and Hunt, as well as other faculty from SEAS, also represented the school at the networking reception to engage with employers.
"The Future of Work Summit provided an invaluable opportunity for me to form connections and explore collaboration with local industry that will benefit both our students and our community,” said Hunt.
The Career Design Center received $25,000 as part of a one-time SUNY Innovation Award to fund the summit. While this was the first year of the summit, Hoekstra noted that they hope to make a Future of Work series with different educational events to continue bringing together employers and the university in future years.
“The feedback from the event was very positive,” said Hoekstra. “It was wonderful to collaborate with the UB School of Management and the UB Career Design Center on this event and we hope to continue these efforts in upcoming semesters.”