The Career Catalyst course is filled up for the Fall 2026 semester. There will be another section available in Spring 2027. If you'd like to receive additional information on the section, please complete the following form: Group Internship Interest Form.
What You'll Actually Do
The Career Catalyst Program is a 3 credit hour, 15-week experiential learning course for undergraduate students. The program is best for Sophomores and Juniors and focused on foundational career exploration and exposure.
Projects cover work that keep organizations running. You might research what customers/clients want, look into what similar organizations are doing, or brainstorm ways an organization can grow. Projects may also focus on finding creative ways to connect with audiences or making behind-the-scenes processes run smoother. No matter the project, you'll build practical, real world skills that you can take into any career.
Skill Focus: User & Market Research
Big Question: Who is the customer/client and what do they actually want?
What this work may look like: Diving deep into human behavior by getting input on a product/service. Uncover people's pain points, map out how they interact with a product or service (their "user journey"), or help the employer define who their target audience should be.
Skill Focus: Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking
Big Question: Who else is doing this and how can we do it better?
What this work may look like: Turn insight and information into direction. Analyze similar companies, identify upcoming industry trends, or spot hidden, untapped opportunities where your project sponsor can create something unique.
Skill Focus: Strategy & Growth Planning
Big Question: Where is this organization going next and how can they get there?
What this work may look like: Act like a strategic advisor or coach. You may help the organization create a step-by-step game plan to launch a new product or service, expand into a new market, or scale up their work.
Skill Focus: Marketing & Engagement Strategy
Big Question: How do we get others to know the work this organization does?
What this work may look like: Improve how organizations reach and engage audiences. You might focus on communication by auditing a client's social media presence, pitch creative ideas for a marketing campaign, refine their brand messaging, or design a strategy to get engaged.
Skill Focus: Operations Improvement
Big Question: How do we fix the behind-the-scenes to make things smoother?
What this work may look like: Act as an internal problem solver. You might analyze how an organization operates day-to-day, find issues with how work is done, evaluate current programs, or suggest ways to make things run more efficiently.
The course follows a five stage approach that mirrors how professional projects work:
| Phase | Weeks | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 1-3 | Meet your team and set expectations, get matched to your employer and kick off the project with them |
| Discovery | 4-6 | Research the challenge, build your strategy, and start shaping your approach with your team. |
| Development | 7-19 | Core project work with cycles of feedback and adjusting work |
| Refinement | 11-13 | Finalizing your project and reviewing it for quality |
| Integration | 14-15 | Final presentation, reflecting on the experience and connecting it to your future |
You'll leave this program with real work that's actually yours, not a hypothetical project. Your experience will be a real deliverable produced for an organization, something you can speak about and say "I made this."
In addition to the specific project skills you gain, you'll get the chance to practice important skills that employers look for:
- Critical Thinking: Analyzing your project's problem and thinking about how to solve it.
- Communication: Communicating consistently during your project, and presenting your final deliverable.
- Professionalism: Being dependable, prioritizing work, and meeting expectations
- Teamwork: Collaborate with others and be accountable for individual work.
- Career & Self-Development: Self-awareness through guided reflection during the semester.
Since this program is a course, you'll register for it just like any other class! Reference the main Group Internships page for information like the course code, section, and course registration number (CRN).
Your final grade is based on four types of work, each capturing a different aspect of your experience:
- Project Deliverables: Your group's work including a project plan and final deliverable.
- Reflection Portfolio: Individual reflections on your experience and what you're learning
- Professional Engagement: How you show up to your work, including both employer feedback and peer evalutions
- Final Presentation: A team presentation to your employer and instructor where you present your final work, explain your process, and respond to questions.
The class uses the standard letter grade (A-F) for grading.
We ask that you treat this course like a professional commitment from day one. In the Career Catalyst Program, you are matched with a small team of peers and a real employer partner who is dedicating their time to mentor you. If a student drops mid-semester, it puts their teammates in a tough spot and impacts the project deliverables promised to the employer.
Our expectation is that once you start the course, you are committed to finishing. If you are worried that your schedule might be too busy to participate, we highly recommend talking with your Academic Advisor or reaching out to us before registering so we can help you assess if this is the right time for you to participate.