Alumni step up for undergrads
Human resource development alumna Laura (Krumenauer) Stuckey knows the value of connections and experiences in the workplace. Best Buy hired her immediately after her 2001 graduation—the direct result of an internship during her final semester at the College. Today she oversees training for the corporation’s marketing and finance teams in her role as lead learning design developer.
Hers is just the kind of training-development job that interests Silas Sibomana, a senior in the human resource development program whom Stuckey mentors. Like the other 28 pairs taking part in the College’s alumni mentor program, the two were carefully matched based on common areas of student interest and mentor expertise.
Human resource development senior Silas Sibomana
learns about training development on the job from his
mentor, alumna Laura Stuckey, near her office in the
Best Buy headquarters.
This is the first time that the College’s mentor program has served human resource development undergraduates. Kinesiology students were part of the pilot program last year, and family social science established its own mentoring program before joining the new College.
Most of the professionals volunteering for the program are alumni, like Stuckey, though a few outside professionals are taking part. They are encouraged to meet two to four hours each month to cover topics of interest to each individual student. Job shadowing and mock interviews are also encouraged. The College’s alumni relations office, which oversees the mentor program, sends out monthly prompters with helpful suggestions, as well. The University of Minnesota Alumni Association also puts on events open to all college mentorship programs.
Stuckey is helping Sibomana polish his résumé and expand his thinking about potential employers. She also is encouraging him to network and begin looking for employment early, as he graduates in June. Sibomana, a Rwandan refugee, says that as a non-native American, even knowing where to even look for opportunities is helpful.
It’s the kind of support his mentor wishes had existed when she was an undergraduate. "I get to help someone who is sitting in the same place that I was," Stuckey says.
The College will expand the alumni mentor program next year to include undergraduate business and marketing majors and a total of 50 student-mentor pairs. Staff will be recruiting for alumni mentors over the summer.
"It’s a tangible way for alumni to reconnect with the College," says Raleigh Kaminsky, alumni relations director, adding that the mentor program is a unique way to give back in terms of service, not just money.
Become a mentor
Students are looking for exposure to alumni expertise and employers, a preview of potential professions, and networking opportunities. Make a difference and become a mentor. For more information or to download an application go to cehd.umn.edu/alumni/mentor.
Mentor applications will be accepted throughout the year, but must be received by Friday, September 28, 2007 for participation in the 2007–08 program. Those received after October 1 will be contacted for the next academic year.