What Employers Need: Meaningful Framework for Work-integrated Learning

Shawn VanDerziel, National Assn of Colleges & Employers (NACE)

July 31, 2026

NWILA Advisory Board member Shawn VanDerziel, President and CEO of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), believes that in order to successfully scale work-integrated learning, it requires engaging with both large as well as small/medium organizations. Large organizations can create visible impact and absorb complexity. However, small and medium organizations extend reach into communities, provide localized opportunities, and are critical to achieving universal student access.

The challenge though is that small organizations operate under fundamentally different constraints. Where large organizations have an abundance of resources to dedicate to partnerships, smaller organizations cannot absorb the administrative burden that their larger counterparts routinely manage.

VanDerziel highlights the need for simplified systems, “Small organizations oftentimes will not have the staff or resources to dedicate toward [work-integrated learning projects] so the need to have a plug and play processes is imperative to successful partnerships at this scale.”

Success begins with clear expectations communicated upfront and agreed upon by both parties. When partnerships exist in ambiguity, it will lack the cohesion necessary for long term viability.

A meaningful framework that is easy to use and understand, isn’t simply good practice, he believes, but essential for infrastructure scaling. Partnerships need to deliver concrete value while removing every possible barrier to participation.

They similarly should begin with clear expectations communicated up front and agreed upon by both parties. Partnerships that exist in ambiguity will lack the cohesion necessary for long-term viability.

Employers also need exposure. For them, these partnerships provide access to a large number of learners to interact with at scale. Exposure alone is not a benefit. Recognition in the broader community, highlighting that partnership builds credibility while demonstrating partnership matters beyond the campus.

Businesses are incredibly data-informed. When institutions report back with data that demonstrates the exposure employers received, it illustrates that their time had value. This should be a standard reporting metric, not optional. Reporting should be automatic, not something employers need to request. Rather than the onus being put on the employer to request access, they should be encouraged to participate in facilitated meetings and introductions.

VanDerziel emphasized the need to differentiate service based on capacity. Large employers may need facilitated meetings with faculty and student groups, and recruitment plans developed collaboratively. Smaller employers benefit from plug-and-play models, peer visibility into what other employers are doing with work-integrated learning, and streamlined processes that respect their limited bandwidth.

Successful partnerships remove friction at every stage. The first step is establishing a single point of contact–one person within the institution they can reach without needing to navigate institutional silos. That contact can provide clear expectations and simple instructions for getting involved, with minimal time requirement up front.

Speed also matters. From project conception to launch, the process needs to be expedient. Months-long development cycles kill momentum. Once a partnership is established, it should be efficiently repeatable without constant reinvention.

VanDerziel’s framework is centered around respecting an employer's time by ensuring their participation is valuable and accessible. Institutions that are cognizant of this can build lasting partnerships that scale, endure, and create genuine mutual benefit.