2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas (U of A) is in its third year of successfully operating an alumni mentoring program for its undergraduate and graduate students. The purpose of the program is to provide experienced alumni help to the students in their professional development and in identifying and navigating their career paths. The program was structured by annually forming 11-12 mentoring circles, each containing three mentors (most typically, one member who was a member of the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers and graduated at least 20 years ago, and two other alumni who graduated 5-10 years ago) and 4-6 students that are all in the same year of school. Student participation in the program is voluntary and just under 50% of our students participate annually. Following the program kick-off soon after school starts in the Fall semester, the circles average four mentoring events during the Fall semester, followed by a final Program Review and Celebration in February. As a result of the program, the students receive valuable resume and LinkedIn feedback, tips on preparing for the Career Fair, information on the variety of careers that are available for chemical engineers, the importance of soft skills on the job, ways to stand out to employers, the differences in careers in industry and academia, and the need for developing a good work/life balance.
A number of other unexpected benefits resulted from the program, particularly with the younger alumni. Younger alumni are very anxious to “give back” to the department but are not often able to make significant financial contributions when they are only 5-10 years post-graduation. Examples of these other forms of alumni engagement include:
• A desire to continue mentoring year after year
• Presentations in classrooms, seminars and even a course offering in the department
• Greater visibility by the mentors’ companies at the Fall and Spring Career Fairs
• Job offers that were made to members of their mentoring circles
• Mentor-to-mentor connections
• Financial gifts, even if they were not large
Utilizing the results from an alumni survey, this paper quantifies the intrinsic benefits and the positive effect that the alumni mentoring program is having on the department.