How Alumni Involvement can help a Biotech Program: Austin Community College
Isn’t there something reassuring about knowing that others like you have been successful when you are thinking about a career move? Seeing footprints in the sand of those who have already made the journey can help with that first step. I had the chance to speak with members of three community colleges (City College of San Francisco, Austin Community College, and MiraCosta College) who are working on building their programs’s connections for the benefit of all. This blog details the information about City College, please read my two other blogs to hear about what City College of San Francisco and MiraCosta College are accomplishing!
Linnea Fletcher and Cassandra Mitchell-Nothaus, Austin Community College
Biotech education has been going on for quite some time, but the big question was, how can programs stay in touch, and what paths did the students take? That is a question Linnea and Cassandra are working on answering, because they know connecting alumni with each other can benefit the alumni, the program and current students, and the school.
Linnea is hoping to work together with members of the biotech/biomanufacturing community to build a national network of community college alumni, with perks for members such as free or reduced rates for Continuing Education classes and broader employment opportunities. Linkedin might be a good infrastructure given that it is already widely used in the workforce and programs have made it part of their workforce readiness training. However it can be challenging for the alumni to find time to make it to campus for in-person events. So Linnea thinks that bringing their ideas to the alumni might be the way to go—lunch events hosted at local companies and a forum to ask the alumni employees what they think would be useful offerings from an alumni network. Free food is always helpful!
Cassandra likens recent graduates to “bridges” between current students and industry because they still remember their student days, but they now have the industry perspective that is so valuable for students to hear. The ACC biotech program treats their students like colleagues from their first day in class so that the students look beyond their school days and think of themselves as potential employees. When the alumni interact with students in Speed Networking events, it helps to establish a culture of connection so that when the current students graduate, they too will come back to the classroom. Seeing former students that just went through the same program gives current students a window into what their futures could be, and gives the alumni a chance to polish presentation skills, and scout for possible future fellow employees! There are ideas aplenty down at ACC, each one aimed at helping students learn, grow, and find their path to success!
Further on-line resources:
Read about alumni engagement at other colleges.
ACC alumni have contributed videos of the biotech career journeys to Biotech-Careers.org, (https://biotech-careers.org/alumni-profiles)
InnovATEBIO has alumni videos and blogs of biotech career journeys. Go to InnovATEBIO.org and find the ‘alumni’ link in the Students drop down menu.
Attend the November 7th, 2024 InnovATEBIO Hub Reports Virtual event in which the Alumni Hub will have a 10 minute report on their work on building networks and engaging alumni.