GCC's Alumni Office gets grant for career-mentoring program

Genesee Community College's Alumni Office has been awarded a $1,000 from the State University of New York Council for University Advancement (SUNYCUAD) to develop an Alumni Career Network program. Led by Alumni Coordinator Jackie Christenson, plans call for the inaugural program to be up and running next year.

The Alumni Career Network will be a career mentoring program to assist students with career planning and goal setting. The mentor program will match students with alumni who have similar academic interests, career goals, personal interests and hobbies for the purpose of encouraging, supporting, advising and motivating. Alumni mentors will guide students in understanding their field of interest and sharing various levels of expertise.

The goals include helping students develop professional, interpersonal and networking skills critical to their success, and also keeping students informed about career choices through consultations with alumni volunteer mentors. Mentoring can be done in person; through e-mail or by phone; shadowing opportunities at a workplace, or a short- or long-term internship. The key is to begin a small program to guide students toward being successful both academically and professionally and to build the network in years to come.

Students involved in the program can expect to develop a clearer understanding of their career choice, be comfortable with it, possibly make a career change and/or continue their education. Alumni mentors can expect an opportunity to share experiences and to guide a student, which fosters personal and professional skills such as listening, coaching, guiding and teaching.

"We are very excited about developing the Alumni Career Network at Genesee," Christenson said. "Especially during tough economic times and ever-changing employment prospects, there is a real need for a mentoring program to connect our successful alumni and our current students who need career advisement. This is a perfect fit for our alumni and students."

Alumni interested in volunteering in the Alumni Career Network program at Genesee Community College should contact Jackie Christenson at 585-343-0055 x6265 or at jkchristenson@genesee.edu.