Online Education and Digital Innovation

UVA Career Academies

Where career-connected learning meets real-world experience.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Online Education and Digital Innovation (OEDI) at UVA is excited to offer UVA Career Academies.

We piloted UVA Career Academies with the stress of the current job market in mind. Many students struggle to land full-time roles without internship experience, and many others face barriers to participating in a traditional internship in the first place. These barriers may include:

  • a lack of transportation to and from the internship site
  • an inability to find affordable housing in the area where the internship is taking place
  • a prior commitment to a paid job not connected to one's career aspirations
  • home responsibilities, such as caretaking or running a family business
  • athletic schedules
  • rigorous academic and/or extracurricular schedules

In creating the virtual, asynchronous, and collaborative format of Career Academies, we hoped to address these issues and help students navigate career readiness obstacles.

Of the 170 past participants in UVA Career Academies, many were student athletes, student leaders, students with concurrent jobs or internships, and students preparing to apply for admission to one of UVA's many excellent programs in Data Science, Commerce, and more.

Want to learn more? We welcome you to read more below and fill out the form at the bottom of the page if you are interested in participating, whether as an employer or a student.

UVA staff, faculty and students pose together in a conference room in front of a TV screen and between two decorative banners.
UVA Summer Career Academy students posing with UVA faculty and Riipen executives at a post-project celebration.
A vice provost presents to a group of students while standing in front of a screen.
Vice Provost Kemi Jona speaking to students at a recent post-project celebration event.
Two female students wearing white shirts present a slide to their peers.
Students presenting their work at the most recent UVA Career Academies post-project celebration.
A male student and a female student standing on opposite sides of a screen present their work as part of a slideshow.
Students present their work with UVA Institutional Research & Analytics (IRA) at a recent UVA Career Academies post-project celebration event.
Two female students present their work in front of a room full of students and executives seated at three tables.
Students present their work at a post-project celebration for the J-Term Clubs Career Academy.
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What are career academies?

UVA Career Academies fuse online career-connected learning via Google Career Certificates with virtual asynchronous employer projects through the Riipen platform. You will collaborate in teams of up to five fellow UVA students to complete asynchronous career-based coursework and apply this learning to an employer project in real time. In the end, you will emerge with valuable hands-on experience in your chosen field and industry-recognized certifications to boost professional development.

How do career academies work?

Career academies begin when you are matched to a project based on your indicated area of interest, otherwise known as a project track. You and up to five fellow students will be assigned to a team within your chosen track.

Next, you will work toward a Google Career Certificate before directly applying this learning in collaboration with teammates while completing a Riipen employer project.

Finally, you will conclude your project and complete key deliverables such as a post-project survey. At the end of the project, we invite you to celebrate your accomplishment a networking event with peers, UVA faculty, and company executives.

A timeline graphic detailing the process of UVA Career Academies.

Dates for our next Career Academy will be announced soon. If you or your club are interested in this opportunity, submit your name at the link at the bottom of the page and a member of our team will be in contact with you shortly.

What are Google Career Certificates?

Google Career Certificates are online, asynchronous career-connected learning programs powered by Grow With Google. Course programs are taught by experts in technology fields such as UX/UI, Data Analytics, AI & Web Development, and more. Google Career Certificates are designed with busy schedules in mind and can be completed in anywhere from 3-6 months, meaning that you can set your own learning pace.

Through our partnership with Grow With Google, we are pleased to offer these exciting skill-building certifications at no cost to UVA students. As part of UVA Career Academies, you will be asked to complete at least the first course in your given certificate to ensure you have the basic knowledge you need to succeed.

Learn more about Google Career Certificates here.

I want to participate in an UVA Career Academy. Which project track should I pursue?

In the past, students have pursued Google Career Certificates and/or completed employer projects in the following tech tracks:

  • AI & Web Development
  • Business Financial Consulting
  • Data Analytics
  • Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
  • Project Management
  • UI/UX Design

Ultimately, you should choose a project track that you enjoy and that is aligned with your academic and/or career goals.

What is an employer project?

An employer project is a virtual, team-based project wherein students collaborate in a team to accomplish a shared goal for a small- to mid-sized employer sponsor.

Thanks to our partnership with Riipen, a leading experiential learning platform, we are able to match UVA students with employers in their field(s) of interest and provide them with second-to-none employer experiences. In the past, students have worked with employers across the country, including Toyz Electronics, Feminine Intelligence Agency, MyEdMaster, and even UVA-based employers.

Our unique format ensures that you will receive direct communication and guidance from your employer, enabling you to make key connections and understand how a company functions up close.

Why should I participate in an UVA Career Academy?

Participation in a UVA Career Academy comes with many benefits, including:

  • Obtaining industry-recognized credentials and valuable hands-on experience in your chosen field, all of which can be added to your LinkedIn profile and resume
  • Direct communication with company executives and exposure to company structure
  • Collaborating and networking with your peers, UVA faculty, and company leadership
  • Creating a tangible work artifact
  • If participating as part of a club: building greater group cohesion

Don't just take it from us. Hear from past Career Academy participants on what their experience means to them:

a quote in navy blue with orange faded quotation marks detailing student experience in a UVA Career Academy
QUOTE: "I think this is a great way to get experience while still in school. There wasn't too much work when combined with academic work, so it's totally worth it. You get to learn how to act when employed and what things to do to maintain professionalism post graduation." -KK, second-year student
a quote in navy blue with orange faded quotation marks detailing student experience in a UVA Career Academy
QUOTE: "I really liked this experience, it really shows you what a working environment in a company looks like, and it gets you familiar with the type of stuff you would be working with in your future job. It gives you a hands-on experience, which helps me learn way faster, like, for example, I have never used Unity in my life, and I would say now I have a general understanding of the main components of Unity." -JS, fourth-year student
a quote in navy blue with orange faded quotation marks detailing student experience in a UVA Career Academy
QUOTE: "Taking part in an employer project is a unique way to learn while gaining real-life work experience. This experience is distinct in that you are not given many strict guidelines or rubric, and you must learn how to collaborate within a team efficiently in order to follow the employers' needs. This allows for a mix of all talents and skillsets--creativity, time management, leadership, adaptability, and teamwork." -CB, second-year student
a quote in navy blue with orange faded quotation marks detailing student experience in a UVA Career Academy
QUOTE: "Being able to work this closely with members of a team, understanding their thought-processes, working alongside them and figuring out a plan-of-action together, there are so many soft skills that this experience preps you for. The more you immerse yourself, the more you get out of it, and the more experience and fulfillment you achieve." - SY, fourth-year student
a quote in navy blue with orange faded quotation marks detailing student experience in a UVA Career Academy
QUOTE: "The online career experience allowed me to work from the comfort of home and was super flexible in terms of time, which I appreciated. I was able to save time and money that it would take to go to an in-person office!" -NT, second-year student
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How do I get involved?

Interested in participating in a UVA Career Academy, either as a student, employer, or as part of a student club?

Submit your name and email below and a member of our team will be in contact with you shortly.

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UVA Career Academies at a Glance

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