Connecting students and alumni

Read, Listen and Watch content to inspire students to become alumni ready!

Dear Friends,

This week I am going to break from convention and focus this newsletter on resources to inspire students to begin to build their alumni network.

In Ireland and nearby countries it’s the beginning of the academic year and it seems fitting to use the expression: “start as you mean to go” that is, build the habits for connecting with alumni early. There is research that suggests that many mentorship programs involving students and alumni tends to be heavily sided with alumni eager to help, and fewer students to be mentored. Why? Connecting with alumni can be intimidating to students. As alumni-facing professionals we need to normalize this connection early and often to help break these barriers.

Here's some of The Alumni Way resources to help:

To Read:

My latest article: “Final Year Student? It’s time to stand up and stand out” (Transforming Society Article)– find it here.

Interview with Roostervane: “The Career Boost Students Miss: Your Alumni Network” (and loads of other resources on Roostervane!) – find it here.

For graduate students (and aspiring graduate students): ‘How your alumni network can supercharge graduate school success.’ – find it here.

To Listen:

Value of Alumni Connections – UBC’s Student Alumni Council Podcast episode 8 (with me as a guest!) Side note: isn’t a Student Alumni Council a lovely way to bridge the student-alumni experience?!

‘Using your Alumni Status as a Gateway to Opportunity’ Transforming Society Podcast Listen here

To Watch:

Keynote at the SASTA Science Diaspora Event: ‘Our Personal Alumni Networks as a Catalyst for Collective Science Innovation.’  (27 minutes) Watch it here

(I got a wonderful reaction to last week’s newsletter on small (but mighty!) alumni teams – the content is now a blog post here.)

I am delighted to share with this community that in addition to Emma and Inge who are part of the fabulous KITE/Alumni Way team, we welcomed Patrick McCollum this week, who will be leading business development and training initiatives. You can continue to reach out to me, and also reach out to Patrick with any alumni-related workshops, events or consultancy.

Welcome!

With alumni inspiration,

Maria

Quote from the book

"This book is an outduction of sorts towards a smooth introduction into life after graduation, whether it was last week, or, like me, last century, we can discover our alumni potential."

The Alumni Way, p. 33