Faculty Guides

For Faculty: Your Role as an APEX Guide

Students in the APEX program will complete requirements in four categories: CORE, CAREER, OUTREACH, AND EDUCATION.

Each section is aimed at helping students identify, apply, and articulate skills learned throughout their college career.

  1. Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities students will sign up for the certificate through a Google Form on the website.
  2. The form responses are reviewed by our career counselor.
  3. The career counselor will contact students directly or connect them with the appropriate faculty advisor in their department.
  4. After an initial visit to orient the student, students will track their own progress on the APEX Map and compile artifacts and articulate their skill development in their ePortfolio.
  5. Guides will check in on student progress regularly (recommended twice annually), using the Skill Development Guide to assess where the student can seek further development.
  6. Upon completion, students will present their ePortfolio and completed APEX Map to their APEX Guides for final recording in CatTracks and a master spreadsheet, and provide students with their digital certificate and graduation cord.

Responsibilities of APEX Guides

  • Connect with interested students.
  • Provide periodic student check-ins and certificate sign-offs.
  • Act as department liaison.

As an APEX Guide, you are the primary contact person for students in your department who may be interested in completing the APEX Certificate. Be prepared to field questions, guide students through the process, and help them complete it. 

You should check in with students, either via email “nudges” or in-person/virtual meetups, approximately 1-2 times per year. Keep in mind that students will have different trajectories, beginning the certificate at different points in their academic career, proceeding at different rates, and completing the activities and sections in different orders. If there is another person in your department better suited to work with the student, you will make that referral and periodically check in on progress.

It is also vital that you keep your department members informed of the nature of the certificate, including any changes that it undergoes over time, and how they can promote and support the certificate among their students. This can be done through regular updates at departmental faculty meetings and collaborations with individual faculty members who would like to contribute.