Did you know that access to social capital - the ability to engage with influence in networks and communities - is a predictor of academic success and post-graduation success?
College students build their networks through internships, jobs during college and conversations with alumni.
During this global pandemic, SUNY Potsdam students are struggling to engage with that social capital, and we need your help to bridge the gap that's forming between these young people and their predecessors.
- Do you have 15 minutes? 30? Are you willing to have a conversation with a current SUNY Potsdam student about their goals, their struggles, or their interests? Can you provide them with some advice, guidance, or your own similar stories?
- If so, we need your help! We're launching an Alumni Minute Meeting program this summer to match alumni volunteers with a student interested in talking with them. It could be a one-time commitment on your part, or a multi-month experiment - you can choose! If you're interested, please take our 5 minute survey. Once we have your info, you'll hear from one of our staff with more information!
- If so, we need your help! We're launching an Alumni Minute Meeting program this summer to match alumni volunteers with a student interested in talking with them. It could be a one-time commitment on your part, or a multi-month experiment - you can choose! If you're interested, please take our 5 minute survey. Once we have your info, you'll hear from one of our staff with more information!
- Could you host a virtual intern next spring? Or maybe a microinternship this fall? How about letting a student do job shadowing on a Zoom meeting? Or maybe you could use more help - your organization or company could be a live business case for a marketing class, or have one of your internal challenges tackled as a capstone project.
- Whichever one sounds like you, we have a new platform for that: PotsdamConnect. It takes the heavy lifting of figuring out the jargon ("Do I need a microintern, or a real intern? What's a live business case?") off your shoulders, and puts it on ours (where it belongs!) You create a profile and share your preferences, and we reach out to learn more about your business and where our students may be able to help. We’ll explain the options and add some additional details to your profile so that we can best pair you with students in need of hands-on experiences. Check out PotsdamConnect today, and we'll get to work to hook you up with SUNY Potsdam's young talent for September or January.
Either of these options lets you engage with our motivated young scholars.
You'll help them build their social capital - but it's not all about them. You may find your next hire, or find a way to finish that project that's always at the bottom of your to-do list but high in your list of needs.
And you'll earn SUNY Potsdam's gratitude, as you help us build the next generation of success in the North Country!