Bio
Karley Clayton (she/her) is the Assistant Dean for the Office of Professional Development, where she brings her experience and enthusiasm for connecting students and alumni with meaningful career paths and opportunities. With over eight years at IU Indianapolis, Karley has worked extensively in career development, program management, and building employer partnerships, helping bridge students with impactful community and industry connections. Most recently, she served as the Director of Career Services at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, where she led initiatives to connect students with the tech industry and fostered employer relationships in support of the Indianapolis community.
Karley earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and an M.A. in Student Affairs and Higher Education Administration from Ball State University. Known for her supportive coaching style, she empowers students with essential skills—resume building, networking, branding, and more—grounded in approaches from Chaos Theory and Design Thinking. She also served on the Career Development Professionals of Indiana executive board for four years (2020-2024) and was awarded the
NACE Chevron Award (2023) with her team for their First-Generation College Student Networking Night event.
Outside of work, Karley is a travel enthusiast, a devoted Duolingo user, an avid thrifter, and a Swiftie of the highest order. She has a Manx cat named Lilly, and is married to a middle school German teacher who keeps her informed on the happenings on Gen Alpha.
Connect with Karley on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karleyclayton/
PRESENTATIONS
Career Development Professional of Indiana (CDPI)
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Clayton, K., & Lema, K. (May, 2024). “Leveraging Virtual Work Simulations: Creating Equitable Pathways in Career Development”. Presented at the Career Development Professionals of Indiana Annual Conference, Bloomington, IN.
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Clayton, K. & Lema, K. (May 2023). “REVOLUTIONIZING CAREER SERVICES: Unleashing the Power of ChatGPT”. Presented at the Career Development Professionals of Indiana Annual Conference, South Bend, IN.
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Clayton, K., Schott, J., & Enyeart, S. (May 2021). “Major & Career Exploration Courses: An Idea Exchange”. Presented at the Career Development Professionals of Indiana Annual Conference, Online.
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Clayton, K., Waggoner, D., Schott, J., & Branson, D. (May 2018). “Gamifying Career Development Concepts”. Presented at the CDPI Conference, Fort Wayne, IN.
EDGE Conference
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Clayton, K., Lay, K., Schuster, K., Bankert-Countryman, J., & Medellin, A. (May 2021). “Helping Students Increase their Value Through Negotiation”. Presented at the EDGE Conference, online.
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Amonette, N.., Rusnak, C., Schuster, K., Medellin, A., & Clayton, K. (May 2019). “Mansplaining, He--peating and More: Hurdles for Women in the Workplace”. Presented at the EDGE Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
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Clayton, K., Cooper, M., & Floyd, K. (May, 2018). “Giving Family and Friends an EDGE in Supporting Student Career Development”. Presented at the EDGE Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Indiana Work-based Learning Conference
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Clayton, K., Maidi, A., Hike, C., & Lema, K. (February, 2024). “Leveraging Virtual Work Simulations: Creating Equitable Pathways in Career Development”. Presented at the Indiana Work-based Learning Conference, Noblesville, IN.
National Association of Academic Advising (NACADA)
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Clayton, K. & Zapata, C. (October 2017). “If You Give a Mouse A Cookie: Integrating Career Development and Academic Advising for Generation Z.” Presented at the NACADA National Conference, St. Louis, MO.
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Clayton, K. & Zapata, C. (March 2017). “If You Give a Mouse A Cookie: Integrating Career Development and Academic Advising for Generation Z.” Presented at the NACADA Regional Conference, St. Louis, MO.
National Career Development Association (NCDA)
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Lay, K. & Clayton, K. (June, 2019). Stacking the deck: Using gamified learning to make career and major exploration first-generation friendly. Presented at NCDA National Conference, Austin, TX.
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Clayton, K., Okoro, I., & Lowe, T. (July 2017). “It Takes a Village: Integrating Academic Advising and Career Development” Presented at the National Career Development Association, Orlando, FL.
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Clayton, K., Cooper, M. & Lowe, T. (July 2017). “Filling in the Career Development Gaps in Academic Advising.” Presented at the National Career Development Association, Orlando, FL.
Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education (NASPA)
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Clayton, K., Wessel, R., & McAtee, J. (March 2018). “How Career Interventions for all Incoming First-Year Students Impact Retention and Four-Year Graduation Rates.” Presented at the NASPA National Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
PUBLICATIONS
Lay, K. & Clayton, K. (August, 2019). Stacking the deck: Using gamified learning to make career and majorexplorationfirst-generationfriendly.NCDACareerConvergence. https://bit.ly/3zLXlPV
Clayton, K. (March, 2018). Want to impact retention? Try a Career Intervention. NASPA Blog. https://www.naspa.org/blog/want-to-impact-student-retention-try-a-career-intervention
Clayton, K., Cooper, M., & Floyd, K. (March, 2019). A landing pad for helicopter guests: The friends & family program at IU Indianapolis. Academic Advising Today.
Clayton, K., Wessel, R., McAtee, J, & Knight, W. (2018). KEY Careers: Increasing retention and graduation rates with career interventions. Journal of Career Development. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894845318763972
