Case Study
SUNY Oswego adds MCode For Students to FYE and career services
In its fourth year as a campus partner, SUNY Oswego brings MCode For Students into FYE and career services to help students choose majors and careers aligned with what drives them.
The SUNY Oswego approach
SUNY Oswego adopted MCode For Students to deepen student self-awareness. As Jacqueline Wallace, Associate Director of Career Education, explains, “We were exploring additional ways to engage students in the self-reflection process. MCode For Students was one assessment that intrigued us because it was different from what we typically use.”
The team piloted MCode For Students in a 100-level exploratory course for new, undeclared students. Today, the assessment runs in every section of a first-year experience (FYE) module, reaching about 600 incoming students each year. Instructors use it to spark group discussions and activities, including the Pair-and-Share exercise from the Get Started Toolkit, so students can name what fuels them and bring that language into conversations about majors and degree programs.
That self-knowledge carries into the bigger decisions ahead.
According to Jacqueline, “MCode For Students helps students process how their motivations impact the transition to college and the choices they make around careers and educational plans.”
In career services, students apply their MCode results to evaluate how different careers line up with their Motivations. With results from assessments in hand, they look for recurring themes that point to ideal working environments and the kinds of tasks where they’ll do their best work.
Why MCode For Students fits
MCode For Students measures Motivations, so it’s one lens of many that SUNY Oswego brings to student self-discovery. The school pairs it with CliftonStrengths, the Strong Inventory, and other instruments to give students a fuller picture of who they are.
As Jacqueline puts it, “MCode For Students is part of our large repertoire of assessments. There are so many pieces of the puzzle when it comes to being able to articulate who we are — what our interests, strengths, values, and motivations are. MCode For Students is a unique lens to help students reflect and make informed choices about their major and career paths.”
Students take a personal inventory of their strengths, values, motivations, and skills, then use that self-evaluation to set goals and choose degree programs that match. A strong major or career path emerges when students weigh all four together rather than relying on any single result.
Advice and what’s next
Jacqueline’s main piece of advice for other campuses is to invest in facilitator training before launch. Walking staff and faculty through the assessment themselves builds the confidence they need to lead student conversations with it, and that confidence is what makes the rollout stick.
Looking ahead, Jacqueline plans to widen access, including adding MCode For Students to the campus online library of career resources, so any student can pick it up on their own timeline.
Bring MCode For Students to your campus
MCode For Students is a story-based assessment that helps college students understand themselves, how they’re wired for success, and how they’re uniquely motivated. Personalized results empower students to articulate their value, show up at their best, choose the right major or career, and cultivate meaning, satisfaction, and fulfillment in their college experience, work, and everyday life.
Want to see an MCode For Students or MCode Premium report for yourself? Reach out to get started, see a demo, or take the assessment yourself for free!
