MARION – IWU is launching its Mobile Career Lab on Thursday, November 2nd with a ribbon cutting at 11:30 on its IWU North Indy campus at 3777 Priority Way South Drive. The event kicks off a season of travel for the Mobile Career Lab, created to eliminate education barriers by providing a proactive entry point to the people who need it most. It’s an innovative tool designed to help individuals identify a personalized career pathway.
Carla Biro, Director of Career Labs at IWU, says, “Indiana Wesleyan University’s Mobile Career Lab is eliminating barriers in education by taking opportunities and resources straight to the community.” Biro explains that IWU’s approach is two-fold: offering strength-based assessments that support the development of goal and aspiration maps and individualized career and learning pathways.
The Mobile Career Lab is actively working with partners in the Indy area. The work in Indy will aid in a solidified process to replicate this framework within IWU’s regional communities in the broader Indiana, northern Kentucky, and Ohio areas. The Mobile Career Lab website has an up-to-date calendar with locations and events scheduled regularly. At many locations, interested individuals can enter the bus and explore pathways to refine their direction, create a map of training and upskilling opportunities, and ultimately achieve their career goals.
IWU believes great career support and access to ideal careers are hidden in the world of academia. The goal of the Mobile Career Lab is to demystify career services, helping people understand their strengths, and then directing them toward the correct pathway to reach their goals. Whether it’s recognizing previous achievements and building upon those, or helping them understand how to finish their high school diploma or earn their G.E.D., the Mobile Career Lab can provide information about what’s next through effective partner organizations.
Dr. Jon Sampson, Vice President of Learner Success and Regional Workforce Engagement says, “Through the Mobile Career Lab, IWU helps mobilize the workforce population in Indiana to level up job skills and career opportunities and serves to bolster Indiana’s workforce by engaging the existing population to meet the growing demands.” He believes the Mobile Career Lab meets a void in the market to share information and mobilize individuals. IWU is excited about this opportunity to take the Mobile Career Lab to Indiana’s workers and create a more accessible pathway toward education and certification. To learn more about the mobile career lab, visit indwes.edu/careerlab
