Alumni Association reaches out to students with senior class ambassador program

By Paul Murphy

The University of Calgary Alumni Association has been trying to reach out to current students before graduation. One of these initiatives is the creation of the Senior Class Ambassadors. These positions have been initiated to recognize students who have shown an exceptional degree of leadership and involvement throughout their degrees.

This year Scarlett Crockatt and Jason Motkoski have been selected as the 2010 Senior Class Ambassadors.

The U of C has made is clear “This is Now” with its current slogan but Jason Motkoski emphasizes that, “now is about engaging students and the community.”

Only a few weeks ago Robert Thirsk, a U of C alumnus and astronaut, returned to encourage students that their futures could literally be found in the stars. Motkoski commented that the University is realizing that it is important to “maintain relationships with students as they become alumni,” but in order for this we must have “something to build bridges with.”

Graduatingthisyear.com was used to conduct voting and also provides students with several resources to prepare for entering the workplace. From wine tasting to meeting etiquette, many overlooked but important norms of the workforce are covered to help students with a smooth transition to a potentially scary part of life.

Of the 33,000 total visits to the website last year over 94 per cent found the information useful of which 64 per cent would recommend its use to another.

The initiative addresses two very important goals, maintaining a connection between students and alumni while providing skills necessary to make that transition successful.