There are 23,000 Bowdoin alumni, many of whom are very willing to support Bowdoin students. But it can be daunting for a student to identify the right alums to connect with, and when they attempt to do so, they may not successfully connect due to a wide variety of reasons beyond their control. As a result, the network is less powerful than they might have hoped, and their outcomes may be affected.
- Increase the connection success rate between students and relevant alumni.
- Increase the occurrence and quality of alumni mentorship of students.
- Increase the occurrence of alumni referrals of students for jobs.
- Familiarize students with the process of requesting an introduction in a high-quality way.
- Number of students referred to liaisons for connections
- Number of alumni connections facilitated by liaisons
- Successful connection rate (alumni responds positively)
- Number of successful connections per referred student
- Percentage of connections that result in a positive outcome at 6 months, per student (mentorship, job, or useful advice)
Each academic department is assigned an alumni liaison, a volunteer member of the alumni community who has majored in and/or works in the field related to that discipline (ideally both).
Upon the referral of a student by the department, which includes a description of the interests and goals of the student:
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The alumni liaison identifies alumni contacts that appear to be relevant to the goals of the student.
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The alumni liaison responds back to the department with a name or list of appropriate contacts with a short description of each.
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For each contact the student wishes to engage with, the student should send the liaison an email introducing themselves and their interest in the connection.
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The alumni liaison forwards the introduction message to the contact, CCing the student, with their own short introductory note, encouraging the contact and the student to connect at their convenience.
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The student is sent links for a survey two weeks and two months later, asking if the connection was successful and for the status (indicating a positive outcome). Survey results go to the liaison and CXD (?)
The liaison should have access to an updated (no less than annually) list of alumni that majored or work(ed) in the academic area, including:
- Name
- Email address and phone number
- City and state
- Job title and current company
- Past known companies
- Willingness to talk with Bowdoin students
- Participation in CXD programs in the past (including this one)
- Gender/Race/Ethnicity
- Bowdoin graduation year
Using this information, the liaison should prioritize connecting students with active and engaged volunteers when possible, and should note when an alum asks for fewer connections and act accordingly. The liaison should commit to responding to a connection request within approximately two weeks of the request. If highly-relevant connections cannot be made, less relevant connections are okay as long as that context is shared with the student, department, and connection.
Jobs that need to be done:
- Pilot departments (2-3) identified
- Liaison candidates (1 each) identified
- Department guide/FAQ written
- Liaison guide/FAQ written
- Student guide/FAQ written
- Potential contact list generated for each department
Nice to haves:
- Liaisons get a bowdoin.edu email
- Liaisons get some nice benefit
- Software for managing this process slightly easier