I am extremely grateful to the Alumni & Career Services team, partners in Advancement, faculty and staff across campus, as well as students, alumni, and employers, who made this year a success, amidst many obstacles!

While student engagement overall was down due to mitigating factors, such as employers hosting their own information sessions (making it impossible for us to track attendance), partners canceling their programs (e.g., orientation, study abroad), and elevated stress among students - the full array of programs and services were delivered. Special topics were also offered which spoke to the unique internship/job-hunting needs in a virtual environment and a down economy. By the end of the academic year, Career Services still realized 87-114% of their goals for individual school population reach, with 89% overall. Frequent email campaigns, intensive social media engagement, online resource enhancements, and partnership programming across our two teams, all yielded positive results. We still can report that nearly 100% of the Class of 2021 had used Career Services over their four years and that student engagement, through personalized career advising, remained steady this past year.

Amazingly, the team was also able to pivot quickly and offer a full array of programs virtually, including career fairs, interviews, road trips, and deconstructing sessions. New programs were added, such as a career exploration themed week during winter break (with 13,000 open emails and 7,000 people reached through social media), employer and alumni social media takeovers, Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers virtual road trips, and internship-focused group advising sessions. We were also pleased to see 2021 UR Summer Fellowship numbers rival our 2019 application and experience levels, and were grateful that a portion could engage in virtual internships last summer.

The Career Advising team not only acted as career guides this past year, but also as supportive mentors for many students, as well as alumni. Career support service to alumni increased 2.5 fold due to the increased need in this economy and virtual platform capabilities. Likewise, the Employer Relations team extended much consultation effort to alumni and employers in helping them determine their recruiting strategies, reaching nearly 100% of their FY21 goal for engagement.

The Alumni Relations team 'hit it out of the park,' in providing almost daily services to alumni on a wide variety of interesting topics ranging from academic to cooking to current events. This yielded 257 virtual events and 3,349 unique alumni registrants, which met registrant base goals (without large scale events, such as Reunion and Homecoming.) Alumni volunteer engagement was way up to over 135% of goal and we were able to engage over 1,000 alumni who hadn't engaged in over a decade.

In a year when collaboration was key, our team was able to work across campus to support school event offerings and participate in high impact practices (HIP) and collaborations (exceeding our HIP goal by 200.) This does not include all of our participation in individual faculty senate and general education meetings. One other significant outcome is that career concepts, foundations, and resources will now be introduced to every student taking the new Wellness 100 this coming year. More to come.

Outside alliances were important as well, including those with ChamberRVA/RVANOW, our professional associations, and three other key groups which helped inform our efforts this past year. The first, included over 17 peer school colleagues who we met with frequently throughout the year. Second, our Alumni Relations worked closely with the University of Richmond's Alumni Association (URAA) alumni board of directors. URAA meetings were extensive and valuable, including one session with several members of the Board of Trustees. We appreciate the leadership this past year provided by David Lyons, 2020-2021 President of the URAA. Third, our Career Services Advisory Council members offered insights into recruiting strategies past, present, and future.

Lastly, and of most importance to highlight, was the perseverance and engagement of all our students and alumni, who inspired and reminded us of the value of what we do.

Denise Dwight Smith, Assistant Vice President

Our engagement is the result of active, voluntary student participation in our services, including over 100+ programs, 3400+ advising appointments, and 1300+ student and employer recruitment interactions.

By Class

Our career advisors received a lot of praise for their work (see below example,) with 100% of respondents to our Career Advising Effectiveness Survey noting that their session was helpful in accomplishing their goals.

“Thank you so much for all of the help you have given me the past few years in finding a career (and life!) path that is right for me. I am so appreciative that you are always there for support, even during the hard times we've been having in the pandemic.”

Professional Development Programs

Each of the three undergraduate schools at the University of Richmond, in collaboration with our office, offers a unique professional development experience: A&S NEXT, Jepson Edge, and Q-Camp. These programs allow students to explore career possibilities, develop meaningful connections with alumni, build critical skills for future success, and practice articulating their personal story to key audiences.

Virtual Road Trips

This year, our signature Spider Road Trips were virtual due to travel regulations. However, by removing the cost and location barriers to students, we had a spike in attendance and we hope to continue to incorporate remote options in the future. Below is a shoutout from a student who participated in one of the trips:

“I just want to thank everyone in {Career Services} for putting this experience together for us. This program completely surpassed all of my expectations and I am so grateful that I was given this platform to listen and engage with all the Richmond alumni at each of these respective top investment banks. Thank you so much!

Deconstructing Series and Industry Panels

We executed many small- and large-scale virtual events this year and were even able to engage alumni/employers we hadn’t been able to before due to location (including a scientist who joined us from her lab in Seattle.) One of our most complex programs is our Deconstructing Series which teaches students about the major functional areas and career paths within an industry and involves breakout and networking sessions. Through this series, as well as our other industry panels, we were able to engage alumni/employers in accounting, consulting, finance, nonprofit, marketing, science, health, and more. See sample organizations above.

Throughout the year, our team hosted over 200+ virtual programs (see example above), including concerts, workouts, demos, and more, as well as a virtual Reunion, in which we engaged 440 alumni through virtual campus tours, chats with the Deans, and even a night of trivia - there was something for everyone! We also hosted several class specific parties for alumni in Reunion classes who wanted to catch up in smaller groups.

“It was great to work with students from different areas. It was also fun to meet so many of our alumni who are doing cool things. I've already reached out to one to also come speak to a class!”

Awards and Accolades

Alumni & Career Services received many awards and accolades this year we'd like to spotlight.