Believe it or not, occasionally we here in the Office of Alumni Career Management step outside of our hallowed halls and enjoy a little sunshine! When we are not busy coaching clients on how to build a career that they love, we enjoy doing professional development and partnering with our fellow Alumni Association and University colleagues to further promote our mission.
In the last week, we have been doing a lot of that. Here is a quick catch-up on some of the things that we have been up to lately:
GradFest!
Our illustrious university graduated more than 11,000 students last week, and we appreciated the opportunity to help welcome them into the alumni family! On Friday, May 4, the ACM staff participated in GradFest – an event hosted by our friends in charge of connecting with Young Alumni. At this event, we were able to talk to hundreds of new grads as they told us about why they chose their majors, what their plans were after undergrad, and some of them even let me in on a few tidbits about “what I wish I’d known” going into their degree programs.
Each department in the Alumni Experiences unit was represented at GradFest, and we all sought out special ways to connect with the new grads to make them feel welcome, and assure them that as Buckeyes, they always have a home here in Columbus, no matter where their journeys take them next.
National Conference on Diversity, Race, and Learning
OSU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is holding it’s 24th annual conference on Diversity, Race, and Learning this week, and the ACM staff had the wonderful opportunity to attend the pre-conference diversity training. With topics ranging from “Improving Educational Outcomes for Underserved Students in Postsecondary Education” to “Creating and Flourishing with Diversity and Inclusion in a New Era,” my colleagues and I were privy to some great training that opened our minds to new ways of looking at diversity and inclusion, and how we can apply those principles in our everyday work lives to better serve our clients.
The larger conference is being held today, with Twitter’s own Candi Singleton as the keynote speaker – this should prove to be an excellent experience all around!
Also coming up soon, our staff will be attending a retreat with the University Career Services Council, which will feature training on working with clients with intellectual disabilities. We are also planning some excellent professional development events for you all as well – be on the lookout for more information in the coming weeks!