Designing Your Life for Higher Education Staff
A holistic career development opportunity via group coaching
Unlock your employees’ potential and career advancement with our exclusive group coaching
program, a transformative experience tailored for up to 10 employees per group.
Rooted in the principles of Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life (Burnett & Evans) this program offers a unique opportunity for employees to learn and apply design thinking mindsets and tools to intentionally explore and take action towards their career growth.
support your employees' career development
The why
More than half of higher education staff are inclined to look for other employment in the next 12 months, based on the CUPA-HR 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey. Many want to stay in higher education and some are looking at their current institution. However, 34% of employees do not agree that their institution is invested in their career development, and 44% do not agree that their institution has opportunities to advance.
What if we could start to address these concerns and provide a unique opportunity for employees to uncover what fulfills them, strategize for growth, and design a life that works for them? And what if we could root a program in fostering collaboration, showing employees that we value them holistically, and enhancing their skill sets and contributions to the organization?
Program overview
Whether an employee aims to grow in their current role, pursue a leadership position, or explore potential pivots, this program supports each participant in building their way forward. Together, we embark on purposeful exploration and life design, engaging in thought-provoking activities, insightful discussions, supportive peers, and a certified Designing Your Life coach.
Program outline
Our small group coaching program spans eight (8) weeks, featuring:
- Four (4) synchronous group coaching sessions (via Zoom or your preferred platform)
- A course site with design thinking activities and reflections to be completed before each small group session (*Participants can access this via our current platform, or we can recreate our materials on your preferred platform for an additional fee)
- One (1) 30-minute individual coaching session for each participant, scheduled at their convenience anytime during the program or within the following 4 weeks
Outcomes reported by past participants
- Increased confidence in taking concrete actions to explore their next career step
- Motivation to apply design thinking to their daily work and within their current teams
- Heightened sense of belonging at the institution
About the small group coach and facilitator
Krista Vaught, EdD, is a certified Designing Your Life coach who supports higher education employees in exploring and articulating their strengths, generating ideas for what could be next, and then creating a tangible plan to move forward.
With a decade of experience in higher education, Krista has served in diverse roles, including leading projects related to accreditation, academic initiatives, assessment, and extensive support for faculty and academic programs. Notably, in her role as volunteer president of a university-wide staff organization at the University of Florida, she actively engaged with staff members from diverse roles, levels, and departments, gaining insights into their challenges and needs, and a broader view of how institutions can better support staff.
Krista holds an EdD and master’s in educational technology, a law degree, a bachelor’s in journalism, and a professional certification in trauma and resilience. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach, a Designing Your Life Coach, and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, she is dedicated to empowering individuals and fostering meaningful growth. In 2023, she supported 140 individuals in a variety of roles within higher education and beyond, helping them intentionally explore what they want to do next and taking actionable steps towards that.
Why invest in career coaching for your employees?
Enhance employee motivation, purpose alignment, and connection to institutional mission
Empower employees to grow their skills and create their own path forward
Foster a supportive small group cohort that encourages collaboration and accountability
pricing and investment
We believe in making career development more accessible to individual higher education employees by making this program financially accessible to institutions of varying size and resources. Our tiered approach enables us to deliver a tailored and impactful program while accommodating the unique budgets of institutions of varying sizes and resources.
*Pricing is for each small group coaching cohort (up to 10 staff)
- Small institutions (up to 1,000 staff): $2,500
- Medium institutions (1,001 - 2,500 staff): $3,000
- Large institutions (2,501 staff and above): $3,500
To streamline logistics, we ask that someone from your purchasing/administrative team order one copy of the Designing Your Life book for each participant. Prices fluctuate by vendor; Amazon prices around $17.
Pricing encompasses program materials, synchronous group coaching sessions, comprehensive preparation and follow-up to group coaching sessions, one individual coaching session per participant, thorough review of weekly participant feedback, iterative design based on participant needs, ongoing communications, and additional support elements.
**This program and this pricing is exclusive to higher education institutions.
Customization
For organizations with specific needs, reach out and let’s chat about how we can tailor the program to your unique goals and requirements.
