 Julia Panke Makela, Ph.D., CCC, Senior Director, Career Services, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Julia Panke Makela brings more than 20 years of experience in career development, education, research, and evaluation to her work. She approaches her work with a passion for inspiring and empowering individuals in their education and career pursuits. She has served in career services offices at Cornell University, Florida State University, George Mason University, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Additionally, she has contributed to research on career and degree pathways in her work with the Office of Community College Research and Leadership. In her current role, Julia is leading the strategic redesign of a comprehensive career center designed to serve the needs of undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois.
Julia is likely best known for her work in program assessment in career services. For more than a decade, she has been a strong voice for data ethics and quality, practitioner-engaged program assessment, and equity-minded assessment in the career development field. Julia is the lead author of the National Career Development Association’s learning outcomes assessment monograph, as well as founder and lead of the Assessment and Research in Career Services (ARCS) network, which brings together more than 400 career development professionals from across the country who use assessment to enhance practice. She is a sought-after educator, offering presentations and consultations across the U.S. for organizations such as the Career Leadership Collective, Complete College America, Midwest Association of Colleges and Employers, and National Association of Colleges and Employers, as well as internationally for the Career Industry Council of Australia, CERIC, and the Asia Pacific Career Development Association. Julia also enjoys strong connections to her professional roots. She is a Certified Career Counselor (CCC) and a National Career Development Association (NCDA) Fellow. She currently serves as a member of the NCDA Board of Directors (2020-2023). |
