The Student Employee Excellence and Development (SEED) is a “choose your own adventure” professional development program in which student employees are able to customize their learning and development experiences in many different areas!
"I didn’t expect to see the same faces on Zoom at each of the lectures going into the SEED program, but I did and it was great. We were able to build connections as we learned necessary skills together."
-Mia Fusillo, Junior in Psychology program
The customizable program is designed for students with opportunities to excel in their current student jobs and explore career interests.
During employment, students are encouraged to explore career readiness competencies and develop knowledge and skills in Effective Communication, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Global & Intercultural Fluency, and Teamwork & Collaboration. Students should visit Texas Career Engagement to learn about the competencies and how to articulate the skills gained through on-campus employment. SEED offerings are grouped into three areas: Skills for Work on Campus, Leadership Development and Career Development.
Certification Requirements
To earn Student Employee Excellence Certification, students must be regularly working at the University in a student job title. Typically, students must have at least 240 hours of employment in a student title at the university (e.g., 12 weeks at 20 hours per week or 24 weeks at 10 hours per week). This requirement can be met at any time before a student employee graduate, whether that’s over the course of 1, 2, or 3 semesters.
To earn a Level 1 Certification, you must:
- Participate in at least six professional development experiences. A student can attend a mix of campus workshops, that will be in person and or virtual and online classes from LinkedIn Learning.
- Submit to the Student Employment Consultant proof of attendance for the workshops or from your employment with the university.
To earn an Advanced Certification, you must complete the requirements for Level 1 and, in addition:
- Participate in at least four additional professional development experiences (a total of 10 activities)
- Submit to the Student Employment Consultant proof of attendance for the workshops or from your employment with the university.
You must complete the workshop attendance within three long semesters.
How Do I Participate?
Participation in the SEED Program is free! If students plan to participate in a SEED workshop or activity during their regularly scheduled work shift, they should speak with their supervisor about whether the professional development experience will count as work time.
To earn credit towards SEED Certification, students should participate in professional development activities advertised on SEED Workshop Schedule. If they are interested in other professional development experiences, they should contact seed@austin.utexas.edu.
Students can begin working towards SEED certification before they’ve completed the 240-hour employment requirement for certification. If accommodations are need in order to participate in an experience, please contact seed@austin.utexas.edu.
SEED Partners
The SEED workshops are being presented by experts and training specialists from across campus. Partners include:
- Office of the Dean of Students
- Office of the Student Ombuds
- Sanger Learning Center
- Texas Career Engagement
