Dartmouth undergraduates and freshly minted alumni are part of the most digitally connected generation in history. This reality is both a tremendous asset and a potential liability in preparing for a career after Dartmouth, said Roger Woolsey, director and senior assistant dean of the Center for Professional Development.
Woolsey and Dan Parish ’89, director of Dartmouth for Life, co-hosted the fourth “Moving Dartmouth Forward” discussion, titled “Professional Development for Life: Serving Dartmouth Students and Alumni,” on Monday, April 7.
The Center for Professional Development (CPD) is partnering with Dartmouth for Life to channel these natural electronic networking skills into career development opportunities. Alumni seeking interns or launching startups can connect with undergraduates through CPD’s Dartboard, for example, Woolsey said at the noontime session held in Hood Auditorium. A second session was held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Fahey Hall ground floor lounge.
Tye Deines from the Office of Human Resources touched on the pitfalls of connectedness, saying undergraduates and recent alumni have to be aware that the things they post online become an “online permanent record.”
Read more:If recent graduates do not have experience dealing with criticism in a professional setting, they might take to Twitter, for example, to vent about a supervisor. “They have to understand this can be a quick way to a pink slip,” Woolsey said.
That’s why, at CPD, they work on communications skills and developing a professional presence both in person and online, Woolsey said.
Victoria Gonin, deputy director of alumni relations, asked what Dartmouth is doing to help students develop a narrative about their experience at the College that goes beyond a list of classes and internships.
In answering, Parish said that developing a career narrative is a key element in developing confidence and a message that alumni can leverage as they search for jobs and choose their path. He pointed to one tool the College is developing, a phone app that helps undergraduates keep a record of professional and academic milestones while recording their thoughts about the process. This creates a blog-like narrative of the College experience that helps in building a career, he said.
The “Moving Dartmouth Forward” series is designed to give community members an opportunity to discuss ideas related to the initiatives of President Phil Hanlon ’77, to generate new ideas, and to advance implementation of the president’s plans to ensure that Dartmouth remains the premiere undergraduate teaching institution while deepening the impact of its scholarship nationally and internationally.
The next session will be on Monday, April 14, when the series turns to faculty recruitment and retention. Michael Mastanduno, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, will lead the first session from noon to 1 p.m. in Dartmouth Hall 105, with a live webcast, and the second session from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Fahey lounge.
And on Tuesday, April 22, “Moving Dartmouth Forward” presents “Addressing Sexual Assault at Dartmouth,” a community discussion led by Robert Donin, Dartmouth’s general counsel; Charlotte Johnson, dean of the College; and Leigh Remy, director of the Office of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs. The first session, also with a live webcast, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the Hood Museum of Art, located on the lower level of the museum. The second session will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Fahey lounge.
Videos of the full sessions are available on the Dartmouth YouTube channel and on the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” page on the website of the Office of the President. Members of the community can also join the discussion through the Improve Dartmouth website.
The “Moving Dartmouth Forward” sessions will continue into the spring; each session takes take place from noon to 1 p.m., and again from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. Below is the full schedule of the sessions, with presenters for each one.
- April 14: Faculty Recruitment and RetentionPresenters: Michael Mastanduno, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences
- April 22: Addressing Sexual Assault at DartmouthPresenters: Robert Donin, general counsel; Charlotte Johnson, dean of the College; and Leigh Remy, director of the Office of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs NOTE: Evening session is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- April 28: Arts and InnovationPresenters: Trip Davis, executive director of the Office of Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer; and Adrian Randolph, associate dean of the faculty of arts and humanities and the Leon E. Williams Professor of Art History.
- May 12: Global Learning ExperiencesPresenters: Lynn Higgins, associate dean of the faculty for international and interdisciplinary studies; and Lindsay Whaley, associate provost for international initiatives.
