I've learned that it takes a lot of time and dedication to create an EWS. The sacrifices we make now will pay off later for our students.

Culture is defined as sharing our vision as a business to develop our staff to be more effective and put our customers first. Our ability to communicate our passion for education is how we will grow the business.

The topic of EWS is an ongoing challenge to incorporate with our students. As we mature into a computer-centric culture we have to develop new and established methods to train our students to have better soft skills. The main topics I see as a concern are how to deal with conflict resolution, social media, how to prioritize, and body language recognition.  

Today's workforce faces a serious problem with inadequate soft skills, which is also one of the many causes of subpar organizational performance and employee turnover. Much focus is needed on the essential abilities necessary to enable students to have long-lasting successful careers. This is an area academics and academic support personnel can hone in on.

EWS has been lacking in the workforce for years. Being able to define EWS and bring it to the forefront will make it just as important as the technical skills learned. EWS should be discussed with students not only in the classrooms and career services departments, but also within the general campus setting. 

The scaffolded approach to these skills is wonderful. Going out into the workforce with a career versus a job truly can be overwhelming. By reminding students through intentional reflection, it will not seem so scary. 

Problem solving and trouble shooting are most definitely important components of the career training process. People lose jobs for character and skills well before simple book knowledge. They have got to learn how to apply what they know, not just regurgitate for the sake of passing an exam.

It is important to present our students with opportunities to adapt on the fly and communicate amongst themselves to identify and solve issues they will eventually see in their respective fields. 

Creating the culture you want to see, begins with an institution's leaders and their values. The more buy in from the top, the easier the transition will be. 

I think the difference between concrete and ambiguous skills is something that is very important to understand. Being able to differentiate which category a lot of these buzz words fall under is important in understanding the differences.