What happens when a classroom conversation or advising session shifts from “What career do you desire?” to “Who are you becoming, and how will you serve?” With support from a Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) grant, Andrews University’s Going on Vocation professional development workshops are helping faculty and staff create more of those moments across campus.
For the 2025–2026 academic year, through the leadership of Rodney Palmer, chair of the Department of Religion & Biblical Languages and NetVUE Faculty Fellow and campus contact, the University implemented a six-part “Lunch and Learn” workshop series to expand a campus-wide culture of vocational exploration. The sessions focus on deepening participants’ vocational vocabulary through personal reflection and on clarifying how vocation and calling shape identity and purpose. Participants also receive practical tools and resources to effectively integrate vocational exploration into class curriculum and student life programming. Throughout the workshop, participants further hone their mentoring and advising skills by practicing active listening, learning guided discernment and recognizing barriers that hinder student success.
At Andrews, vocation is more than the mere pursuit of a career. Instead, it is the lifelong process of discerning how one’s gifts, passions and commitments align with God’s purpose and are in turn utilized to benefit society and the common good. This language of calling resonates deeply with Andrews University’s mission to “Seek Knowledge. Affirm Faith. Change the World.” By engaging vocation in classrooms and relationships, education becomes not only preparation for a job but formation for a life of faith, service and impact.
“This training has shaped me both personally and professionally, and it has given me practical tools to help students explore, name and live out their callings.”
In her book “Education,” Ellen White describes this holistic vision: “True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being … It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.”
Furthermore, explorations of vocation and calling are vital for the overall well-being and holistic development of first-generation students. Palmer shares that through this process, “first-generation students are provided with the language to identify their gifts, connect their educational pursuits with God’s calling and build mentoring relationships that foster a sense of belonging and persistence and support their flourishing.”
The workshop series will have a lasting impact on the University by making vocational exploration a regular part of the curriculum, advising and mentoring practices across campus. It will also result in a team of trained faculty and staff vocation ambassadors, along with a set of curated resources, that will support ongoing vocation and calling-related professional development for current and incoming employees.
Carlisle Sutton, sponsored research officer and a workshop participant who played a key role in developing the NetVUE grant proposal, states, “This training has shaped me both personally and professionally, and it has given me practical tools to help students explore, name and live out their callings.”