Alumni Engagement and Mentoring Integrated in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Joaquin Rodriguez

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Inclusivity, Mentorship, and Entrepreneurial Thinking
Tagged Division: Chemical Engineering Division (ChED)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46541

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Joaquin Rodriguez University of Pittsburgh orcid.org/0000-0002-7238-4774

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Joaquin Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh since 2018. He received his bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar (Caracas, Venezuela), MSc. and PhD in the same discipline from the University of Pittsburgh (1990-92). He developed his expertise in thermal cracking processes and advanced materials (cokes, carbon fibers) from oil residues, and became a business leader for specialty products (lube oils, asphalts, waxes, cokes) at Petroleos de Venezuela, PDVSA (1983-1998). He is a founding member of Universidad Monteavila (Caracas, Venezuela) (1998—2018) and became the Chancellor of this university (2005-2015), and the President of the Center for Higher Studies (2015-2018), including teaching in the Humanities. After rejoining the University of Pittsburgh, he has been teaching Pillar courses on Reactive Process Engineering, Process Control, Process Control Lab, Process Design, and Green Chemical Engineering and Sustainability. In addition to technical courses, his service extends over curriculum development, outreach programs, alumni network, team and leadership skills development, global awareness, sustainability, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

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Abstract

Alumni Engagement and Mentoring Integrated in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Alumni engagement is intensively and widely fostered by colleges and universities to attract funding and donations, prestige, and loyalty. Engaged alumni can also improve the rate of job placement and internship opportunities for current students. In addition, alumni can provide a most valuable source of mentoring for students in their curriculum and career. However, there are limited approaches to engage alumni with curricular courses. Some experiences include invited talks and participation as judges in capstone design projects. This paper reports on a successful 3-year experience building paired alum-student relationships integrated within the capstone course on process design. The initiative is named “Legacy Project” and is developed in collaboration with the Office for Alumni relationships. The project relies on four main components: the alumni network, the matching process, the open space for alum-student interactions, and the structure of deliverables for evaluation. The alumni network started with a seed of volunteers replying to a survey by the office of alumni engagement about their potential commitment to serve in this role, and has been growing to over 80 alumni currently participating in the program, with graduation date ranging back to 1978 and extending to recent graduates. The matching process takes place at the beginning of the semester when the instructor attempts to reconcile interests and characteristics from alumni and students, to the extent possible. The open space for the alum-student interactions is facilitated by the instructor’s introductions and guidance to both sides on the scope of the project. Proposed deliverables include an early bio-sketch (first deliverable) of the alum by the student based on research and initial conversation. Partners are open then to follow up with meetings at their convenience. One theme for conversations is the experience at college, both academically and personally. The content of the capstone course is a common anchor topic as alumni usually remember the project they ran. The goal is for students to produce a short 3-page assessment (second deliverable) contrasting their academic experiences with those from alumni, and discussing opportunities to improve the educational performance at the department. Partners are invited by the instructor to discuss freely on career development, work-life balance, professional skills, etc. Students elaborate on the learning experience producing a short assessment with reflections and major take away (third deliverable). About 112 senior students have participated in the project. Quantitative assessment provided in the paper reports that this project is one of the top alumni engagement activities and very often their only connection with the university. Senior students confirm their appreciation for the project with impacts including choices in career orientation and job offers, and particularly their interest in becoming the alum at the other end of the line for new students, which offers the most attractive guarantee for the persistence of the project. The department and the office of alumni engagement is greatly benefited from keeping this close contact with an expanding network of alumni.

Citation
Format

Rodriguez, J. (2024, June), Alumni Engagement and Mentoring Integrated in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46541

TY - CPAPER
AB - Alumni Engagement and Mentoring Integrated in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Alumni engagement is intensively and widely fostered by colleges and universities to attract funding and donations, prestige, and loyalty. Engaged alumni can also improve the rate of job placement and internship opportunities for current students. In addition, alumni can provide a most valuable source of mentoring for students in their curriculum and career. However, there are limited approaches to engage alumni with curricular courses. Some experiences include invited talks and participation as judges in capstone design projects. This paper reports on a successful 3-year experience building paired alum-student relationships integrated within the capstone course on process design. The initiative is named “Legacy Project” and is developed in collaboration with the Office for Alumni relationships. The project relies on four main components: the alumni network, the matching process, the open space for alum-student interactions, and the structure of deliverables for evaluation. The alumni network started with a seed of volunteers replying to a survey by the office of alumni engagement about their potential commitment to serve in this role, and has been growing to over 80 alumni currently participating in the program, with graduation date ranging back to 1978 and extending to recent graduates. The matching process takes place at the beginning of the semester when the instructor attempts to reconcile interests and characteristics from alumni and students, to the extent possible. The open space for the alum-student interactions is facilitated by the instructor’s introductions and guidance to both sides on the scope of the project. Proposed deliverables include an early bio-sketch (first deliverable) of the alum by the student based on research and initial conversation. Partners are open then to follow up with meetings at their convenience. One theme for conversations is the experience at college, both academically and personally. The content of the capstone course is a common anchor topic as alumni usually remember the project they ran. The goal is for students to produce a short 3-page assessment (second deliverable) contrasting their academic experiences with those from alumni, and discussing opportunities to improve the educational performance at the department. Partners are invited by the instructor to discuss freely on career development, work-life balance, professional skills, etc. Students elaborate on the learning experience producing a short assessment with reflections and major take away (third deliverable). About 112 senior students have participated in the project. Quantitative assessment provided in the paper reports that this project is one of the top alumni engagement activities and very often their only connection with the university. Senior students confirm their appreciation for the project with impacts including choices in career orientation and job offers, and particularly their interest in becoming the alum at the other end of the line for new students, which offers the most attractive guarantee for the persistence of the project. The department and the office of alumni engagement is greatly benefited from keeping this close contact with an expanding network of alumni.

AU - Joaquin Rodriguez
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Alumni Engagement and Mentoring Integrated in the Chemical Engineering Curriculum
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46541
ER -