Increasingly, employers are demanding further development and attainment of soft skills from college graduates; namely, the cluster of personality traits such as time management, decision-making and creativity that characterize positive working experiences and relationships (Kamin, 2013; IBM, 2010). This phenomenon is due to employers recognizing that future economic success can only be achieved when future employees are able to adapt to a changing and more complex world, and more precisely, develop their ability to think creatively and innovatively (IBM, 2010). The literature shows that higher education has sought to respond to these industry needs and has implemented elective creativity and innovation courses with limited success, but has not addressed this issue in a holistic manner for all college graduates. Follow-up studies continue to show a creativity and innovation disconnect still occurs (Marshall & Kinser, 2012). Therefore, addressing this issue in a systematic and sustainable manner, this study will examine implementing creativity and innovation in a non-elective First Year Experience (FYE) course in a college of technology. Building upon the literature, this explanatory mixed-methods study seeks to show how the FYE course serves as an appropriate paradigm to address these desired outcomes in an effort to adequately prepare college graduates for the 21st century workforce. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]