JWU Alumni Inspire Students at Emerging Leaders Program with Valuable Career Insight
Smart, passionate, ambitious and caring are just a few ways to describe the 68 JWU alumni who participated in the week-long Alumni Emerging Leaders program at the Providence and Charlotte campuses this winter. The Office of Alumni Relations, in collaboration with deans and faculty from each college, invited alumni back to campus to inspire students by sharing stories of their experiences and highlighting their career successes within their industries.
In Providence, more than 1,300 students met with alumni during the campus’ second annual event, while more than 500 students took part in the Charlotte Campus’ inaugural Emerging Leaders Week. Each day was devoted to a specific college and included classroom visits, presentations and panel discussions. Many of the sessions were lively, informative and underscored the benefits for students of networking as well as the importance of staying connected to the JWU community to enhance their own personal and professional networks.
In addition, some faculty members conducted roundtable discussions during which alumni provided feedback on curriculum changes and offered industry-relevant suggestions and advice. These exchanges and collaborations between faculty and alumni also provided students opportunities for researching co-ops, externships and full-time jobs. As much as the program is about sharing experiences with students, alumni were happy to be back on campus, seeing what’s new at their alma mater, and catching up with faculty. “Walking around the campus brought back a flood of memories,” said Leah Peterson ’01, an account supervisor in client services for Response Mine Interactive in Atlanta, and participant for the College of Business.
“Speaking with the students reminded me how much we all needed mentors at that age.” The Alumni Emerging Leaders program occurs on a yearly basis and plans are underway to bring the program to the North Miami and Denver campuses.
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