By Andrew Doran
As students make the transition from being full-time students to their full-time jobs, there is one way in which they can stay engaged with CI. The Alumni & Friends Association is a great way for students to get help with their new jobs and transition into the working environment. With the largest graduating class in CI history, 2,683 students, there’s not a better time to join the association.
Dr. Amanda Carpenter, Director of Career Development and Alumni Engagement, has published a new plan to get more former students involved in the Alumni & Friends Association in order to continue their connection to CI.
“The overall mission for the Alumni Association is to celebrate, connect and engage our alumni members,” said Carpenter. “The association serves as a central hub for resources, in addition to that connection and engagement. We want to support our alum as they professionally grow and develop in their roles.”
This year, there has been a big change in the Alumni & Friends Association. In addition to being a part of the CI Alumni & Friends Association, members of the group will be able to send in their resume or cover letters in order to be checked or be able to book for a 1-on-1 appointment career counseling session. With these new programs, the Alumni & Friends Association is hoping that more students end up joining.
CI currently has an estimated 16,000 total alumni, with only about 10% of those being active members in the association. This is why CI has revamped their Alumni & Friends Association, so they can get more students to join. “All the career support is new for this year as well as hopefully adding discounts through Geico and AAA,” said Carpenter. “We’ve evolved to our alumni needs.”
With the largest graduating class in CI history, only about 20% of graduating students have secured a job before graduation. This is why it’s important for the alumni of CI to join the Alumni & Friends Association. “It costs hundreds of dollars to do a career counseling session, but with the alumni association, we can look at resumes via email and have video chats through Zoom,” said Carpenter.
If CI graduates are looking to join the Alumni & Friends Association in order to stay in touch with the university, they are able to do so at csuci.edu/alumni.
