This highlights piece is reflective of just a small snapshot of all the innovative programs, hard work, and talent the Alumni and Career Services teams put into an extraordinary year. While meeting and surpassing many goals amidst the COVID challenge, our key constituents were served well towards Spider success and institutional engagement. I am so proud of our team and all they were able to accomplish in FY2020. Keep scrolling to see some of the highlights!
Denise Dwight Smith, Assistant Vice President
80% Students Served
Let's start off with an overview of our engagement. This year, despite COVID-19 abruptly halting in-person classes in the spring, and effectively flipping the way we work on it's head, our Career Services team managed to serve 2,564 unique undergraduate students - a nearly 3% increase from the previous year.
This engagement was a result of active, voluntary student participation in our services, including over 100+ programs, 1000+ advising appointments, and 800+ recruitment opportunities. Here is a deeper dive into who engaged with our office just this past year:
By Class:
We saw 99.6% of the Class of 2020 throughout their time at the University.
By School:
Our career advisors received a lot of praise from our students and alumni, with 100% of respondents to our Career Advising Effectiveness Survey noting that their session was helpful in accomplishing their goals and 98% stating that our programs were useful to their career journey. Below is just one example of that satisfaction and is from a student who received an internship at Barclays with the help of his advisor:
"I just wanted to thank you for all the effort that you put in to help students like myself receive internship offers such as this one. I would not be able to be in the position I am without programs like Banking Boot Camp and Spiders on Wall Street. I truly appreciate all of your help over the past two years."
1,129 Total Employer Connections
Our employer strategy has always been to build strong relationships and provide industry-leading service. This year, more than ever, we leaned on our relationships, especially those with our faithful alumni, to ask that they provide support for our students who unexpectedly lost, or were unable to find, job and internship opportunities.
We started off the academic year with our largest Spider Career Expo ever, engaging 400+ students and 60+ alumni and recruiters. And, before the pandemic cancelled many of our spring Spider Road Trips, our office was able to complete four trips to New York City: Spiders on Wall Street, Spiders in Marketing & Communications, as well as two excursions for our women and men’s lacrosse teams in partnership with Spider Athletics. Our employers are always impressed by our students and alumni as highlighted in the below quote from one of our recruiting partners:
We should be thanking you for hosting such a great event and thinking of [employer name] in the process! It was a great opportunity to get our brand out there to such an impressive pool of candidates…we attributed a lot of it to the work your team does with the students over their four years at U of R. Super, super impressive!
And although, in the spring, the pandemic changed how students were able to interact with alumni and employers - we remained a constant for our Spiders and continued to provide them with countless opportunities to connect. For example, when a junior's summer internship with NBC at the Tokyo Olympics was cancelled, one of our advisors connected her with an alum in hopes that she could help. Here's what the student had to say about it:
I just wanted to reach out to thank you so much for connecting me in the spring with [alumni name]... We have been in communication a lot this summer, and are planning on working together this year. It was such an amazing connection even though we didn’t get to go to the Olympics, so I just wanted to reach out and thank you because we really clicked and it might even open up a future job opportunity.
4,392 Alumni Engaged
During a time when alumni needed connection the most, and with the cancelling or postponing of many of our in-person favorites (Reunion😞), our Alumni Relations team rolled up their sleeves and, within one day of remote work, created a robust suite of innovative virtual programming that engaged 4,392 unique alumni.
Throughout the year, our team hosted over 200+ regional events, as well as hosted over 1000+ Spiders at Homecoming. In March, with the cancellation of a highly anticipated basketball tournament run, and postponing of Reunion, our Alumni Relations team made strategic pivots resulting in more than 75 new virtual programs, over 1,400 unique alumni engagements, and 40 new virtual volunteers. These programs included concerts, workouts, demos, and more (see video below for examples!)
Spiders from around the world enjoyed our virtual options and we look forward to continuing them throughout the year! Below is a quote from a grateful alum who participated in one of our events:
"It may seem like a small thing for a short time, but if you could see the messages I am already receiving from “long ago” alumni, you could witness first hand how many lives have already been brightened just by the prospect of coming together for a half hour tonight."
Programming and Resources Specific to COVID-19 and Helping the Class of 2020
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team immediately leapt into action to ensure students and alumni would continue to receive the same quality services they have come to expect from us, while also launching new, helpful resources and support to meet their dynamic needs as they navigated this challenging time.
For example, we created various panels, including one that featured ’08-’09 alumni who have experience navigating a job search during a recession to provide advice (and maybe a little comfort) to current graduates, as well as a town hall with talent leaders on the current state of recruiting. We also shared timely content on our various communication channels to inspire them with ways they can use this time to build their skill sets and explore their interests. We even got fellow Spiders involved with our "Sentiments of Support for Graduating Seniors" campaign, where we collected messages from over 60+ alumni on 800+ handwritten postcards and mailed them to our 2020 graduates (see example below.)
“Senior year is special - I can't imagine how challenging this time may be for you. The Class of 2020 is known for its strength and resilience, and your class has inspired me in the ways you care for each other. Be sure to take care of yourself during this time: keep in touch with friends, continue those meaningful conversations with faculty, lean on the resources in the alumni network, and dream big. You make the Spider Family proud!”
Looking Ahead
Throughout the summer, in addition to the new programs and opportunities we created, we worked tirelessly to develop plans for FY2021. And, as plans continue to change as the world navigates this new era, we look forward to continuing to serve our alumni, students, employers, and the mission of the University.