As AI reshapes higher education and workforce expectations, academic advising and mentoring must remain deeply human-centered while intentionally advancing career readiness. This interdisciplinary panel from the University of South Alabama presents five LevelUP initiatives spanning the full student lifecycle: first-year students, majors, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Across disciplines, these projects embed career mapping, career competency development, leadership identity formation, and workforce alignment into advising and mentoring structures. 

These initiatives position advising and mentoring as a developmental space where students cultivate professional identity and career readiness. Through brief project snapshots and engaging dialogue with the audience, participants will explore scalable and transferable strategies for integrating career readiness into advising at multiple academic levels. Attendees will leave with adaptable strategies that strengthen student advising and career development frameworks that can be implemented to suit classroom to program needs.

Presenters

• Michelle Hale mahale@southalabama.edu, University of South Alabama
• Molly Miller mollymiller@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Jessica Owsley jessicasims@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Alani Rodgers arodgers@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Bailey Smith baileysmith@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Megan Sparks msparks@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Michelle Hale mahale@southalabama.edu, South Alabama
• Julie Estis jestis@southalabama.edu, South Alabama