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A new publication providing news on students, young alumni, and the alumni resources available to students is one of the results of a Technology Clinic class focusing on ways that Lafayette can encourage students to remain engaged with the College after they graduate.
Concluding two semesters of research, the students gave recommendations last month to clients Jim Dicker ’85, vice president for development and college relations, and John Leone, director of alumni affairs.
The group was comprised of Dyan Argento ’05 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), a double major in history and German; Jill Carpenter ’05 (East Windsor, N.J.), a government and law major; Joshua Garber ’06 (Staten Island, N.Y.), a neuroscience major; Matthew Grossman ’05 (Wayne, N.J.), an anthropology and sociology major; Charise Logan ’05 (Spanish Town, Jamaica), a mechanical engineering major; Brendan O’Regan ’06 (Ringwood, N.J.), a government and law major; and Kathryn Sayles ’05 (West Chester, Pa.), a biology major. They were advised by Dan Bauer, professor of anthropology and director of the Technology Clinic program, and Larry Malinconico, associate professor of geology and environmental geosciences.
Working with the Office of Public Information, the students produced Alumni News for Undergraduates, a biannual, four-page publication that has been inserted in the January 2005 Alumni News and will be distributed separately to all students. It highlights the accomplishments of undergraduates and young alumni and the ways that students can make and benefit from connections with alumni.
The inaugural publication includes profiles of anthropology and sociology graduate Beth Spitalny ’01, a producer with MTV, and government and law major Steve Keen ’06 (Shaker Heights, Ohio); contact information for each regional alumni chapter; news briefs on students within the four classes currently enrolled; an alumni events listing; and other information.
“Ways in which current students interact with alumni include, but are not limited to, externships [and internships], alumni-funded scholarships and grants, internship recommendations, job offers, mock interviews, and chapter events,” states the Tech Clinic’s report. “Yet while there are so many ways in which Lafayette students can interact with alumni, many still do not realize that this opportunity exists. The young alumni publication offers a solution to this problem by extending to students, through class highlights and student/alumni-focused articles, the knowledge that making a connection with Lafayette alumni is really very easy.”
(Students interested in contributing to the next issue of Alumni News for Undergraduates should email Sayles or contact Dave Block’93, news editor and Alumni News editor in the Office of Public Information, at blockd@lafayette.edu or x5749.)
The group also recommended that the College extend students’ email addresses indefinitely after graduation and that yearly reunions be held for the classes that have graduated in the last five years. (Lafayette does offer email accounts to alumni on its alumni web site.)
“The Tech Clinic team did a marvelous job analyzing ways to connect undergraduates with alumni,” says Dicker. “The Office of Alumni Affairs is already incorporating some of the ideas, such as the production of a supplement to the Alumni News for students. We were very pleased with the entire process and the creative solutions that were offered.”
Another aspect of the report was a survey of students on several issues, including experiences that could negatively impact their feelings toward the College to the extent that they may not wish to be involved after graduation. Some results:
Other areas surveyed included opinions about dining services, the college bookstore, and Plant Operations.
Technology Clinic is a hands-on course founded in 1986 that brings together students from different majors to solve the real-world problems of a business, non-profit organization, or government body. Their research addresses the social, technological, and economic issues involved with the client’s problem.
Another Technology Clinic group gave a mid-year report in December on its exploration of development opportunities for the riverfront areas of Easton and Phillipsburg.
Recent Technology Clinic projects have resulted in recommendations for improving traffic on Cattell Street and ideas for developing the North 3rd Street corridor at the foot of College Hill in Easton, an automobile tour on CD to boost tourism and local awareness of historical assets in Nazareth and its surrounding rural municipalities, a self-guided tour and other enhancements at Bachmann Publick House in downtown Easton, and improvements in the experiences of patients at the offices of doctors within Lehigh Valley Hospital Physicians Group.
Other Technology Clinic projects in recent years have included a report on creating environmentally friendly hotels, which the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection posted on its web site; an interactive web site for the National Canal Museum in downtown Easton; a drunk-driving simulator at Easton’s Weller Center; recommendations for proposed uses of Bachmann Publick House; suggestions to improve fundraising for ProJeCt for People (formerly ProJeCt of Easton); recommendations on a learning center at the National Canal Museum; and a proposal for development in the Slate Belt.
Older projects have included: