It may be good for the careers of alumni to stay connected to a university even after they finish their undergraduate or graduate studies. This is what the São Paulo State University (Unesp) is proposing in launching the Sempre Unesp (Unesp Forever) portal. “It is good for the university to receive feedback and learn how alumni are developing professionally after they graduate. This helps the university evaluate its training. For those who graduate, maintaining a connection with the institution forms a network of professionals, establishes groups of alumni and provides information on how the profession is evolving,” explains Professor Maria de Lourdes Spazziani, advisor to the Office of the Dean at Unesp. In the United States, this link after leaving the university is common; it is growing in Europe and just beginning in Brazil. “Establishing networks of alumni professionals may make it easier for people to advance in their careers.”
Maria de Lourdes says that when alumni register with the portal, they will continue to receive discounts from the university publishing house and will be part of internship and job panels once these systems become available. “We will meet with unit directors so that they help set up class organizations, for example.” In just over a month, 5,000 alumni have updated their contact information on the site. “By the end of the year, in our undergraduate and graduate systems, we will work to contact over 100,000 alumni by invitation. Our goal is to reach 10,000 alumni through the portal with assistance from existing alumni associations,” Lourdes says. The portal’s address is www.unesp.br/sempreunesp.
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