The Virginia Alumni Mentoring program is in its first year of connecting students to alumni in their prospective fields of study.
The program is run by the University Career Center, Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences, and aims to create 500 student-mentor matches this year.
The Alumni Association recruits mentors by reaching out to alumni involved in other mentorship or career assistance programs. The idea for the program stemmed from the Stanford Alumni Mentoring Program.
After conducting a pilot group in 2013, the Career Center decided to follow through with the idea, program coordinator Kathleen Herring said.
“We got the general idea for the structure of the program but all of those joint groups kind of had a say in putting it together,” Herring said.
The College Council became the main student voice in the partnership as it provided funding and student leadership to promote the program to undergraduates, College Council President Henry Reynolds said.
Signaling that there was significant student interest was the most important aspect of raising funds from groups like the Parents’ Committee, said Reynolds, a fourth-year College student.
Though the program draws alumni from a number of different fields, advising for business and consulting sees the greatest demand. Connecting students with mentors in this particular industry helps clarify what business and consulting entails, Herring said.
“Sometimes, they don’t have a clear understanding of what consulting means or that consulting can be in a number of different industries,” Herring said.
Over the past year, the program has added partnerships with the Engineering, Architecture and Kinesiology schools, but looks to develop relationships with every undergraduate and graduate school on grounds.
“We’re...really just trying to get into every school and every population of students that could benefit since we have access to a lot of alumni and they have a lot to offer,” Herring said.
The program has seen positive feedback, Of the 40 percent of student participants who responded to a survey, 95 percent said they would recommend the program.
Students with mentors have also gone on to find jobs through networking, as well as found housing for summer jobs far from their hometowns.
“The testimonials we’ve received from students about their experiences with a mentor have been incredibly powerful,” Reynolds said. “They get advice moving forward that could help them market themselves better.”
The alumni have benefitted from the program by gaining insights into life at the University after the difficult events of the 2014-15 academic year. Having a stronger alumni connection with the University provides a better outcome for all involved, Managing Director of Alumni Engagement Jason Life said.
“One of the great outcomes of the program is that we are engaging more and more alumni,” Life said. “The institution benefits from the fact that these alumni are reconnecting with the University in a deeper way than they have before.”
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