Category
Training/Education
Submitted By
Christina Fang , chfa5287@colorado.edu, Online Engagement Manager, University of Colorado Boulder Alumni Association
Project Team
Sara Abdulla, sara.abdulla@colorado.edu, Senior Program Manager for Student Engagement, Alumni Association
Toni Gosset, toni.gosset@colorado.edu, Undergraduate Academic Advisor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
Jennifer Scheib, jennifer.scheib@colorado.edu, Assistant Teaching Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
Lisa Munro, lisa.munro@colorado.edu, Senior Program Manager, College of Media, Communication, and Information
Project Description
The Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Program is an online, accessible, and free program that allows the opportunity for students and alumni to connect through a mentorship relationship. The program lives on the Forever Buffs Network, a social and professional networking website open to all CU Boulder community members. The trainings, resources, messaging, and events for the program are all distributed through the website, and allow for efficient communication and collaboration of many different departments. The matching process for the Mentors and Mentees was guided by the website's algorithm that provided percentage of matches based on the user's profile settings. This allowed for a more seamless matching experience. Through the use of Docusign, we sent out contracts that mentors and mentees signed in order to outline clear expectations before the program started. There were online Mentor and Mentee trainings that were also recorded so everyone could watch them.
Project Efficiency
The greatest innovation is the use of the Forever Buffs Network online group where all the trainings, resources, events, and communication is posted and shareable. Rather than communicating through email or creating large PDF documents to share, the group on the Forever Buffs Network allows all the information and communication about the program to live in one place. It also allows for easy collaboration with the creation of subgroups for CMCI and Engineering within the large Mentorship Program group. This allows different departments to add resources and events specific to their values alongside the main mentorship group.
Project Inspiration
The inspiration for this project was the desire from alumni all over the world to give back to their community even if they were not located in Colorado. It was also inspired by the need from students to connect with alumni who could help them with their professional, academic, and personal goals.
What Makes You Happiest about this Project?
What makes me happiest about this project is the large reach we have been able to have due to the efficiency of the Forever Buffs Network. We have 375 mentors and mentees from all over the world that get to connect through this online program. The farthest mentor is located in New Zealand! I am also proud of the cross-collaboration this tool has allowed us to have with colleagues all over CU Boulder's campus.