DeKALB – Enrollment in UNIV 301: Braven Leadership and Career Accelerator, a class offered at NIU by Braven, has been on a downward trend since its inception in 2022.
Ayumi Tachikawa, director of workforce strategy at Braven, described the course and its goals.
“It is a career-accelerating course offered for sophomores, juniors and seniors at NIU,” Tachikawa said. “We support students in the career development and professional development journey, whether it’s resume building, cover letter review, practicing interview and finding mentors in the industry of interest.”
There are 116 students currently enrolled in Braven, a decrease from 2023 which saw 381 for both semesters and 2022 which saw 172 for the fall semester when it began.
Despite the falling enrollment, Tachikawa shows optimism regarding Braven’s role at NIU and explained resources available to students after graduation.
“We have what we call the Professional Mentorship Program. This is a 12-week course where students are paired with professionals in the industry to receive mentorship. We have a ready-to-launch boot camp, which is for seniors only, where they work on resumes, cover letters and apply to roles with the Braven staff site,” Tachikawa said.
Tachikawa believes getting word out about the class will help its enrollment; she also believes that the class is gradually becoming more successful.
“Every time we come across a student who’s taken Braven, they have nothing but great things to say about it and we believe that word of mouth goes a long way. We started Braven three years ago, but I think the momentum is slowly picking up,” Tachikawa said. “Students are learning about it. Hearing about it from other students who have taken it and seeing the tangible results from having taken the course.”
Areion Johnson, a senior finance major, explained what he liked about the course.
“I like how it gave me structure when it comes to what employers are looking for as to a resume, and interviewing skills too – learning how to actually operate in an interview and within a group of people. I believe we had cohorts, so we had to collaborate within that and talk every week. Basically, a cohort is a group of people with similar goals working together,” Johnson said.
Johnson explained what he was hoping to get out of the course.
“A better resume. I wasn’t looking for an internship because at the time I took it, I already had an internship lined up. I was just looking to improve my resume interview skills,” Johnson said.
There are also aspects of the class Johnson did not enjoy, like the length of the class, which is scheduled for two hours.
Students interested in enrolling in UNIV 301 for the spring 2025 semester can choose between two class times. The course will be offered from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
