Project Description:

According to the Center for Global and Intercultural Study (CGIS), about 2,000 students study abroad and another 1,500 students, according to the International Center, pursue research, internships, volunteer service and work opportunities outside of the United States. The intern’s objective was to initiate a program to connect these students abroad with the thousands of LSA alumni who currently live abroad. The Program would be an expansion of LSA’s current initiative, College Connections, where recent graduates work full-time for the college interviewing alumni around the country. The vision of this Program is rather to employ the cohort of current students embarking on global experiences as Global Ambassadors of the College who could interview alumni while they are abroad. The impact of these interviews is multi-faceted: not only will they provide feedback on funding priorities and student programs for the College, but they will also serve to cultivate donors or sponsors of LSA’s global initiatives.  The internship consisted of two major stages: 1. making the case for the program by conducting discovery sessions, peer program interviews, and by analyzing survey data; and 2, launching an implementation strategy following leadership approval.

Impact:

The main goal of the Program is to reconnect overseas alumni with the University, in order to:

• Increase international alumni engagement and giving
• Update contact information for our alumni abroad
• Encourage student-alumni interaction and networking

The LSA Development office currently has only one person in charge of International Giving. This Program will significantly augment the capacity and efficiency of her work because it will tap into a huge network of students that are already going abroad. One person can only meet face-to-face with so many alumni around the world; even if only 10 students opted into the Program and were to interview 3 people each, that is still 30 alumni that LSA Development  would not have been able to engage before. Today there are over 7,000 LSA alumni living outside of the United States – that is 7,000 Wolverines who are geographically distanced from their UM experience, and who are thus likely to feel disconnected from LSA and the University. This program will allow LSA to engage its  alumni across the world in a distinctly personal way – not just with e-mails or social media updates, but with face-to-face interaction, bringing the campus experience back to them. But, what is more, it will get students involved in philanthropy and hopefully cultivate a better understanding of ‘giving’ among Student Ambassadors.

Finally, the mission of the University of Michigan is not only to service Michigan – but to serve the world. LSA’s current international funding priorities are focused around providing more student opportunities for global engagement and education. We live in a world where it is more and more necessary to develop the skills necessary to be successful regardless of cultural context; to be “global citizens.” And who should have more to say about how to develop global citizenry than those Leaders and Best who have themselves become citizens of the world? While the main objective of this program is to engage, a desired outcome would also be more support – financial or otherwise – for LSA’s global initiatives, by the heretofore disengaged population who may be most passionate about them.

Skills Gained:

• Relationship Building
• Initiative & Decision-Making
• Program Development
• Research and Survey Analysis
• Adaptability

“Developing a fantastic idea into a clear, comprehensive, and sustainable program was a huge and daunting undertaking. It pushed me to think through every detail of how this program could be implemented and sustained – from determining legal constraints, to outlining student ambassador requirements and expectations, to setting the agenda for training and creating an ambassador reporting system. I had to work beyond my comfort level, creatively generate ideas amidst utter ambiguity, and take complete ownership over the program. It was exhilarating!”

– Christina Pechette, D-SIP ‘13