DU Pilots DYL for Daniels MBA Students
Industry researchers report that students today will have 12 jobs in a lifetime.
Recognizing that the legacy model of career services has to change, the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business embarked on several pilot Designing Your Life (DYL) programs to explore possibilities for career growth and agency amid changing workforce demands.
Career Services executive director Bob Kumagai tapped DYL facilitator Lora Louise Broady to create and test several DYL pilots for students across various MBA programs.
DYL Pilots
Full time MBA students participated in a 10-hour DYL course as part of their career services programming, consisting of five two-hour sessions held weekly on campus (before the COVID-19 outbreak). The curriculum was developed using many of the DYL hands-on exercises, and facilitated by Lora Louise and Bob, with career services advisors on tap to provide smooth integration into their career development programming.
Online MBA students participated in a 12-hour DYL immersion, conducted on campus in a weekend workshop format. DYL was offered in fulfillment of one of two required in-person immersions of various topics held domestically and internationally. Held this spring as COVID-19 outbreaks decreased, this was the first opportunity for online adult students to meet in person since March 2020.
Executive MBA students received a 3-hour session in a hybrid format this summer, following university guidelines for COVID-19. This session was integrated into the students' leadership coaching and service-learning programming. The abbreviated session included energy assessments and reflection exercises before conducting Odyssey Plans and prototype explorations using radical collaboration.
Each session was developed using backward design and manifested in a course map and lesson plan that served as a timed agenda (an example of a lesson plan from the DYL immersion is shared here). Presentation slides were created to manage the flow of the session and a student workbook was created to house exercise worksheets. A copy of the Designing Your Life book was provided to students at the end of the session.
Key Learnings
Key learnings across the various DYL pilots included:
Sequencing - Providing DYL early in the MBA journey enables students to apply the framework and grow within it during their program.
Rightsizing - Designing the curriculum to allow enough time for thoughtful reflection provides needed space to design
Framing - Framing the experience around the five mindsets provides a generative experience.
Showrunning - Delivering an exceptional learning experience enables students to connect with the content.
Student Feedback
Students provided their feedback in course evaluation surveys after the DYL sessions. Students expressed gratitude with the ability to devote time for reflection and assessment needed to think differently about their career and life design. Students also expressed interest in more time for small group activity and networking to establish their life design support system.
“The DYL class resonated with me in three distinct ways that I will carry forward and hold myself to account:
reflect and map out to wayfind,
find balance in life and energy events, and
bounce ideas and solicit feedback from peers, colleagues, and role models.”
For more information
An article in Daniels’ Magazine from Spring 2020 profiles the initiation of DYL within the business school.
Contact
We would be happy to discuss our DYL pilot designs and learnings:
Bob Kumagai, Executive Director of Career Services, Daniels College of Business
Lora Louise Broady, DYL Facilitator and Adjunct Professor of Brand Management