May 12–14, 2016
Vice Chair David Hetzel ‘72 opened the meeting.
Roger Woolsey, Director of the Center for Professional Development (CPD) provided the following report:
- The CPD will be hiring student interns who will focus on community outreach to increase engagement among first-generation and under-represented students. These new internships are supported by a gift from a generous parent and alumnus.
- Participation in the Professional Development Accelerator (PDA) Program jumped 61 percent over the past year, with 81 percent of the Class of 2019 joining the program. Participation in the PDA is tracked through milestones completed by the students and has resulted in a 152 percent increase in student engagement with the CPD.
- 44 employers have joined the new “Dartmouth Circles” platform during the first year of a two-year pilot, and the CPD staff is looking at ways to expand student participation.
- The CPD is moving DartBoard, their job listing and scheduling system, to a new platform as of June 1, 2016 which will result in a better user interface and increased features for employers and students, etc.
Dan Parish ’89, director of Dartmouth for life, provided the following report:
- The December Break Opportunities program attracted more than 170 alumni and parents who offered job shadows and projects to more than 120 participating students.
- Three “Off the Green” alumni-student career receptions have been held since our last Council meeting: Careers in Biotech, Cambridge, MA; Careers in Film and Television in Los Angeles; and Pathways to Medicine in Boston.
- A six-episode Career Pivot Webinar Series is underway this spring, having attracted more than 1,000 participants through the first four sessions (97 percent have indicated that they have been “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the programming).
- The Dartmouth Career Network search functionality has been updated, promotion to younger alumni has been launched again, and Gail Gentes ’77a is working on an engagement and marketing plan.
The four working groups reported on updates and deliverables:
- Having contacted a range of alumni volunteers and reviewed a “Career Toolkit” that was developed in 2010, the Alumni to Alumni working group (Meg Sommerfeld ’90, chair) plans to draft a new Career Toolkit for club, class, and group leaders over the summer. The group is also looking into the feasibility of creating a Global Networking event (other schools do this, and Dartmouth hosted one several years ago).
- The Alumni-Student Connections Working Group (Jeff House ’86, chair) worked with the CPD to host another successful alumni-student professional development event on Thursday. Approximately 50 students participated. Moving forward, the group is looking at ways to expand the opportunity for hosting events that connect alumni and students and finding other ways to strengthen these connections.
- The Diversifying Employment Opportunities Working Group (Jolin Salazar-Kish ’88, chair) has drafted email text that can be used by councilors to encourage classmates to hire Dartmouth students and to raise awareness among alumni of the opportunity to connect with students on campus through the Parents and Alumni in Residence program (PAIR).
- The Technology Working Group (Mel Pastuck ’11, chair) has now completed two trial rounds of the Resume Review project and confirmed that there is a need among students for alumni feedback on resumes and an interest among alumni in supporting students in this way. This working group will likely change its name to reflect the role it plays in supporting CPD projects.
The committee’s four working groups will likely be combined into three larger groups, each focusing on specific projects. The committee’s great interest in supporting traditionally under-represented student populations will be incorporated into the project work. Projects for the year ahead include: alumni-student networking events; video development; PAIR program promotion and recruitment; career toolkit completion; global networking event proposal; career network promotion; resume review project.
Cuong Do ’88 T’89 was selected from a pool of three candidates to serve as vice chair for the 2016-17 year.