Bridging education and employability: How Purdue University integrated 1Mentor into its curriculum

Institutional background  

Purdue University is a globally recognized public research institution with a strong reputation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The College of Engineering offers 18 undergraduate majors across its West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses and is consistently ranked among the top engineering schools in the United States.

All first-year engineering students enter through the First-Year Engineering (FYE) program, which provides a common curriculum focused on foundational coursework in mathematics, science, and engineering principles. This structure allows students to explore different disciplines before selecting a major.

Typically, by the end of their second semester, students who meet the FYE requirements participate in the Transition to Major (T2M) process, through which they apply to one of the College’s professional engineering schools. Admission to some majors can be competitive, depending on capacity and demand.

ENG 103 is a key component of the first-year experience. The course supports students in their academic transition while also fostering essential skills such as critical thinking, communication, and goal setting. It serves as a space for students to reflect on their interests and prepare for an informed declaration of major in their second year.

Context  

Previous engagement with 1Mentor

Purdue University has collaborated with 1Mentor over the past three years through pilot initiatives that introduced the platform within individual courses. These earlier efforts provided valuable insight into the platform’s potential but were limited in scope, often positioning 1Mentor as an optional or external resource.

Building on that foundation, the 2025–2026 academic year marked a shift toward deeper integration. The new approach aimed to embed the platform directly into the curriculum, aligning it with course content and learning outcomes rather than treating it as a standalone tool.

Spring 2025 pilot

Purdue University’s College of Engineering identified the need to strengthen the connection between academic training and employability outcomes, particularly at the entry level of undergraduate programs.

During the Spring 2025 semester, a pilot was implemented to embed the 1Mentor platform into ENG 103, a mandatory course for first-year engineering students at the Indianapolis campus. The objective was to move beyond optional or extracurricular exposure to career planning tools and assess full curricular integration's impact.

The 1Mentor platform offers students data-informed insights into labor market trends, skill relevance, and potential career pathways based on individual academic and personal profiles. Its integration into ENG 103 was designed to position employability as an integral component of the course, supported by asynchronous modules, reflective assignments, and coaching sessions.

The course enrolled approximately 270 students. The pilot was conducted between November 2024 and May 2025, with the primary student interaction occurring in March 2025. The initiative was structured to generate both engagement metrics and qualitative feedback to inform future instructional design and institutional strategy around career development in undergraduate education.

Objectives

The primary objective of this pilot was to evaluate the impact of integrating the 1Mentor platform into the curriculum of a first-year engineering course, with a focus on enhancing students’ career awareness and planning skills. Specifically, the pilot sought to:

1. Assess the added value of using a career development platform as part of the course structure.

2. Measure changes in students’ understanding of their own skills, interests, and potential career paths.

3. Compare student engagement and learning outcomes between this integrated model and previous, optional uses of the platform.

4. Collect insights to inform future decisions regarding the broader adoption of this approach across other academic programs.

Resources  

Implementation strategy  

The implementation of the pilot followed a structured process, grounded in close collaboration between institutional stakeholders and the 1Mentor Customer Success team. The goal was to ensure alignment between the platform’s capabilities and the learning objectives of ENG 103.

Planning and coordination  

Two Customer Success representatives were assigned to work directly with Purdue University to design the pilot structure. An initial integration proposal outlining potential activities was submitted in March 2025. Following a review period, Purdue provided structured feedback and a counterproposal, leading to the selection of four core components for implementation.