Organising team 2018

David Casey has over 15 years of experience as a University and School careers practitioner and leader.  In December 2011 he was appointed Director: Careers Service at UCT. He is responsible for the strategic leadership, management and development of the service and its staff.  David works closely with the Executive and Senior Leadership of the University to ensure that the goals and purpose of the service are aligned to and supportive of the University’s strategic priorities. David champions the employment and employability agenda to ensure that UCT students, graduates and alumni have the attributes and experiences to maximise their own potential and their contribution to the global community in which they will work. To date David has successfully led the multi award winning team to implement a high quality outward facing careers service, leveraging technology and developing partnerships to best serve key stakeholders that engage with UCT Careers Service.

Having graduated with a Degree and Higher Diploma in Education from National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland he continued his education with a Higher Diploma in School Guidance Counselling from the University of Limerick in Ireland, and completed a Masters in Education Leadership at University of Hull, UK.

Active in benchmarking communities and professional associations, and having served as past chair of Association on Higher Education Careers Services (AHECS) in Ireland, David regularly receives international requests as a conference speaker, consultant and facilitator.

Suzanne Helbig is the Associate Vice Provost, Career Pathways at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Since joining UCI in 2013, the Career Center has implemented a comprehensive Career Readiness Initiative, Strategic Road Map, Job Shadow Program, Employer Engagement Initiative, a new website, and stipends for students participating in internships in Washington DC. Suzanne also established new staff positions and oversaw redesigning the Career Center facility and transitioning to a new online career resources management online system. From 2000-2013, Suzanne worked at the University of California, Berkeley Career Center where she played key leadership roles in strategic planning, staff engagement, social media, counseling, program development, and marketing.

Suzanne is an active member of NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) where she currently serves as co-chair of the 2018 Conference Program Committee and co-chaired 2017’s Honors and Awards Committee. She has also held leadership positions with MPACE (Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges and Employers), including serving on its Board of Directors as the Pacific South Regional Director for 2015-2017. Her involvement in these organizations also includes numerous conference presentations, committee roles, award nominations, and co-writing the chapter, “The Future of Career Services” for NACE’s book Leadership in Career Services: Voices from the Field.

Suzanne’s professional international experience includes providing presentations, trainings, and consultation in Japan, China, and Ireland. Suzanne has also taught English in Taiwan and has traveled to more than 40 countries.

Marc is Director of Employability and Success at Newcastle University, with nearly twenty five years of experience working in University Careers Services. Joining Newcastle in 2013, Marc worked previously as Head of Employability at Plymouth University, spent six years on the Board of Directors for the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) from 2010-2016 and has recently joined AGCAS’ Advocacy Committee. Marc’s previous experience also includes ten years as Director of Gradsouthwest, a regional vacancy website for fourteen universities in the south west of England, and setting up his own publishing enterprise called Trufflehog, through which university students wrote, illustrated and published children’s books.

Newcastle University has one of the UKs leading Careers Services, and was awarded ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ at the 2017 National Graduate Recruitment Awards (Target Jobs, UK), and Gold in the UK Teaching Excellence Framework.

Kelli Smith has 24 years of experience in higher education, mostly within the area of career services. She was recently promoted to an Assistant Vice President of Career Programs and Experiential Education after serving as the Director of University Career Services for 3 years at Binghamton University (SUNY) in upstate New York.

In her new role she is charged with providing overall vision and leadership for the Center for Civic Engagement, Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development, Public Speaking Lab, and Emerging Leaders while focusing on developing and promoting student success initiatives supporting high-impact learning. Prior institutions include University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Nebraska Wesleyan, Georgetown University, Doane College, and Indiana University. She is also an adjunct faculty member for leadership within Binghamton University’s School of Management and regularly teaches leadership courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. She has served on the Directorate for an ACPA commission on career development, the NACE First Destination Survey Task Force, was part of the 2015-16 NACE Leadership Advancement Program class, the 2016-17 NACE awards committee, and regularly blogs for NACE. Her relevant publications include the Jossey-Bass/Wiley sourcebook, Strategic Directions for Career Services Within the University Setting (December, 2014), and the chapter, “Preparing students for after-college life: The context,” in Stepping Up to Stepping Out: Helping Students Prepare for Life after College (June, 2012). A forthcoming publication is the Jossey-Bass/Wiley sourcebook, Leadership Development for Career Readiness in University Setting (February, 2018).

While serving as the Director of University Career Services at Binghamton, the comprehensive center she led grew from 14 to 22 staff lines and received 6 regional awards within that timeframe. In addition, the Fleishman Center was also selected for the international “Exemplary Career Center” award given by the National Career Development Association for 2017.