{"id":142878,"date":"2019-03-22T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?p=142878"},"modified":"2021-03-02T14:09:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T19:09:50","slug":"regional-alumni-groups-keep-grads-connected","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2019\/regional-alumni-groups-keep-grads-connected\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional Alumni Groups Keep Grads Connected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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March 22, 2019<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"With more than 10,000 alumni situated in 50 states and 115 countries, School of Public Health students become part of a lifelong, global network<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>the day they join the school. There are as many opportunities for students to engage in educational and professional development after graduation as there are during their time at SPH.<\/p>\n

To facilitate these opportunities, SPH graduates have formed regional alumni groups throughout the country to connect fellow alums living or working in areas outside of Boston. Under the direction of Development and Alumni Relations<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>alums have launched groups in Philadelphia, New York, and San Francisco, with additional groups planning to convene in other cities such as Washington, D.C. Designated group captains in each city are determining which types of events are most appealing to alums in their respective regions, and each group will offer a combination of activities that foster networking, career development, continued education, socializing, mentorship, and community engagement.<\/p>\n

Rose Anna Kaczmarcik (SPH\u201908), who serves as a team captain for the Philadelphia regional group along with Siobhan Gruschow (SPH\u201914) and Tenille Torres (SPH\u201916), says that she is looking forward to planning events that allow alumni to share their public health story and areas of expertise. When she moved to the city, she says that Career Services staff connected her to alums in the area, which led to valuable friendships.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always helpful to expand your networks in a new city and know it\u2019s a door opener to both professional and personal opportunities,\u201d says Kaczmarcik, who is a team leader at Allidura Consumer<\/a><\/span>. \u201cGiven our rapidly changing world, I think new partnerships and collaborations are the key to success and innovation, and I\u2019m always interested to learn how I can merge my work with others in meaningful ways to advance health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gruschow, a program manager at Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia PolicyLab<\/a><\/span>, agrees, saying that being aware of the public health work that alumni are engaged in is \u201cso important for moving this field forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how intimidating it can be to exit grad school and start a career,\u201d says Gruschow, who didn\u2019t know anyone when she moved to the city soon after graduating from SPH. \u201cBut once I made a few BUSPH alumni connections, that made all the difference in my experience in Philadelphia\u2014<\/em>so I\u2019d like to do the same for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Based on a recent survey that Development and Alumni Relations conducted among alumni, SPH graduates are most eager to gain educational and professional development, engage with faculty and staff, and stay abreast of SPH news and events. The SPH Think. Teach. Do. Alumni Receptions<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>offer opportunities for alums to engage in each of these activities. Held once per year in cities with the highest concentration of alumni, the receptions gather SPH alums, faculty, and staff, current and prospective students, and BU alumni, and often coincide with public health conferences in the area. The March 25 Think. Teach. Do. reception<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in Philadelphia will feature a presentation by Jos\u00e9e Dupuis, professor and chair of biostatistics, and will take place during the ENAR Annual Meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was super excited to learn there were kind and familiar faces living in NYC at a recent Think.Teach.Do. event,\u201d says Jessica Christian (SPH\u201917), a team captain of the NYC alumni group and program officer at the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health<\/a><\/span>. She says the group is planning to organize or contribute to a variety of social and professional activities for area alums, including happy hours, career fairs, and mentorships.<\/p>\n

In April, alums are encouraged to connect with fellow graduates and community members during BU Giving Day<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>on April 3 and the monthlong Global Days of Service<\/a><\/span>. The annual events encourage students and alumni to make an impact in their communities and all over the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese events and regional groups will enable our alums to stay engaged with each other throughout their entire career,\u201d says Jacoba van Heugten<\/a><\/span>, assistant dean of development. \u201cWhether they are interested in networking, socializing, or professional development, there are a variety of ways for our grads to stay connected to this lifelong, global network that is the SPH community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Torres, a project manager at Public Health Management Corporation<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in Philadelphia, says her ultimate hope is for alums to build \u201cmeaningful connections that last.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our goal as public health practitioners is to stay relevant for the communities we serve, it\u2019s always important to build and foster relationships we might not have otherwise built,\u201d she says. \u201cIt makes our work innovative, timely, and intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about alumni relations and benefits<\/a>, or to create a regional group in your area, contact Jacoba van Heugten at jjvh@bu.edu.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New alumni groups in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New York City offer networking, socializing, and professional development opportunities for alums. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":142944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1750,2013,2045],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3520,3531,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142878"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192673,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/142878\/revisions\/192673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=142878"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=142878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}