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Post by DemBonnies on Jun 30, 2006 9:47:24 GMT -5
Keystone...I think the intent of the Alumni On-Line Community was to do just that...but the site is weak, few people know of it and there's more posting here in a 4 hour window than there's been in 6 months.
You may just have come up with something because if there is a common thread between supporters of each other's boards and in some poster's cases both boards, is that we genuinely liked our Bona experiences, we wish for the University to gain strength in academics and athletics and we want to help out folks that share that bond and if we can help their lot in life.
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Post by sneakers on Jun 30, 2006 9:49:06 GMT -5
Sneakers...one of the things you've left out though is what is the median family income of folks attending BC, HC and Prov vs. SBU. I have to believe there is a chasm there. I think that Muffy and Erin's and Tad's dad with their large and prosperous old boy network do a far better job watching out for their privileged friends of BC,PC & HC than the medium-upper working class folks that head to Bonas. Many of the crusty New England school folks, especially in the Greater Boston area, may be in a better position to pull the hiring strings than Bona grads There is some truth to that for sure (particularly with the Ivy grads). However, I think maybe less than there used to be. My partners and I all grew up in working class families and intensionally try to hire self-made people that worked their way through college and kicked some ass. We are probably the exception though. I've found a pretty high correlation between students who worked while in college and contributed to the cost of their education and their work ethic and willingness to work their way up from the bottom. We occasionally get calls from CEOs of companies about hiring their sons/daughters. We tend to agree to interview them (for political purposes), but have never hired them. (btw, how did "Erin" fall into the same category as "Muffy" and "Tad"?)
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Post by vinnypunditsheros on Jun 30, 2006 10:03:25 GMT -5
(btw, how did "Erin" fall into the same category as "Muffy" and "Tad"?) I think he must have meant 'Aaron.' I agree that the dorm rooms need to be updated. Still, I wouldn't change the one I lived in. It was small and cramped, but looking back it was awesome. How did we figure out a way to keep twenty beer drinking individuals in that tiny space quiet when RAs were on the prowl? I also agree that alumni can do more. From what I hear, alumni will help a brotha out when possible. I know I would, but that's not an option on this end. Cosmo, I will send you a pity resume if you'd like.
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Post by sneakers on Jun 30, 2006 10:08:39 GMT -5
All good points Sneakers, and I remember my mom having all of those books when I was applying to colleges and reading all that info as well. I guess being somewhat local we just always viewed Bonas as being above the other choices in the area but obviously as you point out not everyone sees it that way. We actually have the same problem with finding graduates. We could have filled a few positions with Bona alumni but there were none to be found. I fully expect that Bona alums would help each other out just like you said other schools do but we just don't have the network for it. Maybe that is something we can help with though. Cosmo and I tried to get involved in the DC chapter of alumni but so far they have not organized anything in a few years that I have heard of, we should look into it again though and try to make something happen here. A stronger alumni network could be very beneficial for the University. So it seems to me like we have a communication problem between alums, students, and the University. What if something we could do is create a place specifically for networking. You were successful here creating a large on-line community, and despite certain people not believing it we were successful creating the Bevel community. What if we came together to create a on-line networking site for the entire Bonas community? We can agree to leave what is discussed on the Bevel there, and sports here but it could be a place for students to post resumes and get advice and alumni to network and advertise events as well. It would be easy to envision a site with sections for different alumni chapters to organize events which would make the chapters stronger as well. I think we all know we will never get the University to endorse the Bevel and it isn't the topics you want here but I could see it being easy to get the chapters to get involved and the University as well just by a few of us using our connections. Instead of just discussing it we should do something about it. Any thoughts? I used to belong to the DC alumni chapter when I attended Georgetown in the early 90's. About all we did was go to the SBU/GU hoops game and partied after (and before). It was a lot of fun, but not a sustainable network. I think a website that was active in posting jobs and matching them with the alumni with the relevant experience and interest would be a great idea. I don't know about the alumni cite that Dem mentioned above, but it might be a good start. Maybe one that was not directly associated with the school would be even better. I'm not sure how to get people to know about it though. A active website would also let people from different parts of the country know about opportunities in other cities.
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Post by dabonnies on Jun 30, 2006 10:14:33 GMT -5
keystone, I think you have a great idea.
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Post by keystone on Jun 30, 2006 10:19:37 GMT -5
The last thing we got invited to as alumni in DC was when Bonas played GW 2 years ago, Cosmo and I tried to get an alumni softball team started here last year and we had the people but the jerks at the Capital Alumni Network wouldn't let us in their league.
The school tries to do this with their site but as Dem said it is pretty dead over there and from what I understand it is only one guy that runs it. Getting people to know about it wouldn't be that hard, once it is set up we already have both communities from our boards to start with and we can get the chapter presidents and contacts send out an email about it and try to get them to become active. Maybe start with DC since we have a lot of alumni here and start advertising events such as happy hours on there. If it works expand from there. I am sure the University would be happy to advertise to students a site that would help them. Just a thought but I do think it is possible to do, the main issue will be not having it a dead community when people first sign up as they might not return.
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Post by rimRocka44 on Jun 30, 2006 10:28:30 GMT -5
I also think there has to be some communication between the Alumni Office and Career Center. I know they used to have a database of Alumni Contacts by major but when I used it back in '01 it was borderline outdated. I'm sure it would not be that difficult to update and maintain (ie work-study students, computer science term project, etc...) Even if they hires someone as a liason to specifically work on the topics previously discussed here it would work wonders for the network.
Keystone it sounds like you should work to overthrow your area president and assume these responsibilities.
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Post by cosmonautlaunchpad on Jun 30, 2006 10:32:41 GMT -5
I also think there has to be some communication between the Alumni Office and Career Center. I know they used to have a database of Alumni Contacts by major but when I used it back in '01 it was borderline outdated. I'm sure it would not be that difficult to update and maintain (ie work-study students, computer science term project, etc...) Even if they hires someone as a liason to specifically work on the topics previously discussed here it would work wonders for the network. Keystone it sounds like you should work to overthrow your area president and assume these responsibilities. The president here is a nice enough person, I just think she has too much on her plate to really be very active in alumni activities. There's a growing number of alumni in the DC area, and no alumni activities to speak of.
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Post by keystone on Jun 30, 2006 10:35:24 GMT -5
which is why we might be perfect candidates to start this, we all hang out together anyway why not just advertise it as an alumni event and maybe pull in a few others.
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Post by DemBonnies on Jun 30, 2006 10:45:07 GMT -5
I think a website that was active in posting jobs and matching them with the alumni with the relevant experience and interest would be a great idea. I don't know about the alumni cite that Dem mentioned above, but it might be a good start. Maybe one that was not directly associated with the school would be even better. I'm not sure how to get people to know about it though. A active website would also let people from different parts of the country know about opportunities in other cities. alumni.sbu.edu/You need your number from the mailing label on a BonAlumnus to set up an account...you can search the alumni directory for long lost bretheren/sisters. This number can also be obtained from Alumni Services. There is a message board (heck even a message promoting the Bevel Board) but the traffic is non-existant currently. We're not trying to re-invent Monster.com just Wolfjobs.com Bona folks looking for work or Bona folks looking to hire.
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Post by sneakers on Jun 30, 2006 10:55:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the civil discussion this morning. Some good ideas are being floated. Count me in for whatever help I can offer (although I am illiterate as far as starting web sites).
The sun is out (for a change), and I'm outttta here to da Cape!
Everyone have a great 4th of July weekend!
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Post by DemBonnies on Jun 30, 2006 10:56:15 GMT -5
(btw, how did "Erin" fall into the same category as "Muffy" and "Tad"?) Cuz there's an Erin that works across the hall from me and she has the "Muffy" mentality.
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Post by captainron on Jun 30, 2006 11:35:13 GMT -5
Sneakers, I agree the University could do more to help their students get hired. In addition to my regular duties where I work, I do recruiting as well. I'm not in a position to offer jobs, but I conduct informal interviews to guage eligibility and pass resumes on to supervisors that are hiring. I reached out to some of my old business professors when I first received this recruiting gig and let them know that I was in a position to help interested students apply and gain employment within the federal government. Since then I have received a whopping 0 resumes. Not only that, but when an alumnus comes knocking with an amazing opportunity, those idiots shouldn't try and block their students from taking it. I was the intern coordinator for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" from 1998-99. I specifically sought out Penny Williams, who was heading the internship program for the JMC school. I told her that I'd love to give opportunities to Bona students. The first Bona student I hired told me a story about how his professor (I'm blanking on the name) tried to talk him out of it and instead, take an internship at a crappy TV station in Buffalo. After that, I was like screw that. Although I did hire two more Bonaventure students. But I never put a tether out to the JMC department again. And do you think the school got me my present job? Oh hells no.
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Post by bonafide on Jun 30, 2006 11:42:54 GMT -5
The sad fact is that everything at SBU is stretched to the breaking point. There is a whopping one paid staff and a secretary trying to administer the entire alumni program. As far as recruiting, that activity is short-staffed also and the person who heads it up has been deployed overseas several times with the military in the past several years.
As I posted earlier in this thread, it is my feeling that SBU needs a new, post-scandal vision to once and for all separate itself from the Wickenheiser halo and to aggressively move forward. My sense is that Sister Margaret is OK at tweaking existing stuff in a "kinda-sorta" fashion and "maintaining" but really not much more than that. Time to start thinking about a new President if we want things to start getting substantially better in our lifetimes.
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Post by cosmonautlaunchpad on Jun 30, 2006 11:49:41 GMT -5
The sad fact is that everything at SBU is stretched to the breaking point. There is a whopping one paid staff and a secretary trying to administer the entire alumni program. As far as recruiting, that activity is short-staffed also and the person who heads it up has been deployed overseas several times with the military in the past several years. As I posted earlier in this thread, it is my feeling that SBU needs a new, post-scandal vision to once and for all separate itself from the Wickenheiser halo and to aggressively move forward. My sense is that Sister Margaret is OK at tweaking existing stuff in a "kinda-sorta" fashion and "maintaining" but really not much more than that. Time to start thinking about a new President if we want things to start getting substantially better in our lifetimes. I remember there was a woman in the alumni department who was extremely helpful when we were trying to get approval to become part of the Capital Alumni Network downhere. Then I called her one day and she was nearly in tears. They had cut her position. I felt so bad for her. Now nobody there has the time to do anything. Not that they don't want to help, but they don't have the manpower or resources to be effecctive.
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