While each of the California State University's 23 universities make myriad mentoring programs available to students through academic colleges, student organizations and clubs, career centers and more, many CSU alumni associations also pair students with alumni mentors who can provide students with career advice and industry connections.
Given the similar backgrounds of the CSU's diverse alumni and student populations, alumni can play a unique and critical role in mentoring students and helping the university meet its goals to close equity gaps and improve career outcomes. In turn, these types of programs strengthen alumni relations with the CSU and provide them with avenues to give back to current students beyond financial support.
Alumni mentoring programs are especially beneficial to the CSU's first-generation students who make up about 30% of the university's total student population, though that figure is higher at many CSUs.
“As a university, we can't change a first-generation student's family dynamic; we can't give them a parent or sibling who has gone to college," says Justin Gerboc, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement at San José State. “But we can provide an alumni mentor who can hopefully provide similar support and guidance on how to navigate college life."
As we celebrate National Mentoring Month in January, we're highlighting some of the CSU's alumni mentoring programs and exploring ways in which CSU alumni engagement offices are creating additional opportunities for alumni-student connections.
Improving Outcomes and Retention
CSU alumni mentoring programs pair experienced alumni with students based on things they have in common including their field of interest or employment, major, first-generation status and other background information participants choose to share.
Though the format of these programs varies depending on the needs and desires of each university's community, they offer students many of the same benefits. Alumni mentors form a bond with students and provide advice on navigating the college experience, networking, resume writing, interviewing and much more.
Alumni mentors may also help support students' career aspirations by introducing them to other professionals in their field and connecting them with internships and job opportunities. Most of these programs are offered through an online alumni engagement platform, enabling alumni across the world to participate and providing students with global connections and experiences.
A key goal of CSU alumni mentoring programs is to improve retention of students as well as foster early career growth. Though it already offered a traditional alumni mentoring program, Cal State Long Beach Alumni introduced
Club 61+ in fall 2024, which pairs students who have completed 61 or more units with alumni mentors, to specifically address this goal.
“Club 61+ was born out of the CSU Chancellor's Office
Alumni-Student Connections Initiative. We [at CSULB] began asking ourselves: How can we better bring alumni into the fold of our student experience today, and where can we make the biggest impact?" says CSULB Alumni Director Noemi Guevara. “We decided to target students who are halfway through their degree program because it's the time most students get serious about finding internships and thinking about life after college."
For the first time, CSULB Alumni partnered with the university's Office of Institutional Research and Analytics to establish metrics that will help them understand if the program is working. In fact, CSULB Alumni sought feedback from IR&A during the planning process that ultimately helped narrow the focus of the program. Additional partners include the CSULB Career Development Center, which provides the programming for students, and Enrollment Services.
“Our goal for Club 61+ is to help improve the persistence rate among students, and Institutional Research is helping us track the student participants and see where they're at now, and where they're at in two years," Guevara says. “What we're hoping to see is that alumni mentorship encouraged them to continue their education to earning a degree."
'Nothing Short of Incredible'
Thousands of students have been positively impacted by CSU alumni mentoring programs across the system, and many of them attribute their success after graduation to their participation in a mentoring program.
CSU Bakersfield alumna Karen Vazquez ('17, '20) joined CSUB's
'Runner Alumni Mentor Program (RAMP), offered by the
CSUB Alumni Association, while pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree. As a first-generation college student and one of the younger students in CSUB's MPA program, Vazquez yearned for guidance.
CSU Bakersfield alumna Karen Vazquez (left) with RAMP alumni mentor Fred Plane
Through RAMP, Vazquez was paired with CSUB alumnus Fred Plane, who she says was instrumental in her success. With Plane's guidance and connections, Vazquez secured an internship with the nonprofit organization Community Action Partnership of Kern, of which Plane serves on the Board of Directors, which led to an offer of employment. Vazquez now serves as a senior community development specialist for the organization, and the pair remain close.
“After every meeting I had with Fred, I felt more confident that I was going in the right direction, not only for myself but for my career, as well," Vazquez says. “He was a great help with my growth and my professional development in many aspects; any type of question I had, he was there to help."
Current CSUB Master of Business Administration student Madison Guerrero has had a similar experience with RAMP, calling it “nothing short of incredible." After earning a degree in physics from an East Coast university, Guerrero joined RAMP to help her transition from STEM to the business world and was paired with CSUB alumna Amanda Ruiz ('09, '15), who also serves as president of the CSUB Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“Having a mentor like Amanda has been a true gift," Guerrero says. “She brings a wealth of professional experience and insight, but what stands out most is her genuine care and encouragement. Her guidance has helped me see opportunities I might have overlooked and given me the tools to seize them."
Sohini Karmakar, a senior majoring in global operations and supply chain management at San José State, offers a unique perspective on alumni mentoring at SJSU. Karmakar is the president of SJSU's
Student Alumni Connection program, the student chapter of the
SJSU Alumni Association, and in that role she helps connect students with alumni mentors, among other activities. She is also a student assistant for SJSU's Alumni and Community Engagement Department.
“Alumni Relations at SJSU serves students exceptionally well by acting as a bridge between the academic environment and the professional world," Karmakar says. “Alumni mentors understand the unique challenges students face and can offer empathy and advice, reducing the stress and uncertainty that often accompany the college experience. They can help students gain insights into industry trends, real-world applications of their studies and career readiness."
A Rewarding Experience for All
San José State alumnus Stephen Lu (middle) with SJSU Student Alumni Connection President Sohini Karmakar (third from left) and program participants.
CSU students are not the only ones who feel rewarded by participating in alumni mentoring. Alumni feel good about giving their time and professional knowledge to lift up those who come after them, and many see great value in fostering the talents of the CSU's remarkable students.
In 2020, SJSU alumnus Stephen Lu ('13) joined the university's
Professional Mentoring & Meetups program offered through its SJSU2 online mentoring platform, which Lu says is “like LinkedIn, but exclusively for SJSU students and alumni." Like similar online tools being used at many CSUs, students and alumni can connect within the platform for one-time career conversations or traditional mentoring.
Lu—who has worked for Lockheed Martin and, currently, Applied Materials—helps his mentees build their confidence, make professional connections, secure coveted internships and get into elite academic programs. He has also connected with students through SJSU's Quick Connections and participated in panel and networking events on campus.
“Whenever I can share the lessons I've learned with students and hear them say, 'because of the advice you gave me on my resume, or the mock interview you helped me with, or the suggestions you made on my LinkedIn profile, I got a call with a recruiter or I got a job opportunity,' that makes it worth it at the end of the day," Lu says.
Volunteering as an alumni mentor is also a way to give back to the university beyond financial support while strengthening the connection with the CSU. While some alumni may not be in a position yet to support CSU students financially, they can bring a lot of value to the table just by sharing their experiences and knowledge.
“Through [the Cal State LA Alumni] Mentoring program, alumni are able to donate their time, talent and unique experiences, and that gives them a different sense of fulfillment, especially being able to connect directly with current students," says Cal State LA Associate Director for Alumni Relations Priscilla Parks. “And then that also creates a sense of community that extends well beyond the confines of the university."
Additionally, CSU alumni have first-hand knowledge of the exceptional educational experience the university provides, and they routinely reach out to the university to recruit its remarkable students.
“More than 60% of CSUB alumni live and work in Kern County, and they are interested in finding good talent for the local workforce by drawing from CSUB students," says CSUB Director of Alumni Engagement Sarah Hendrick.
Reimagining Mentoring
CSU alumni associations are also coming up with creative ways to engage with students and provide additional, less traditional mentoring opportunities.
“In my experience working with students, many of them are intimidated by the term 'mentorship,' and a lot of them are unsure what that even means," Parks says. “So, for us [at Cal State LA], it's important to create low barriers as well as communicate the benefits of mentorship and what that looks like."
Many CSUs facilitate one-off mentoring opportunities in which students can reach out to alumni through an online platform to arrange a 20-minute informational interview on any topic, or even just to ask a specific question. They have different names across the system—Quick Connections, Flash Mentoring—but essentially, they remove some of the intimidation of reaching out to a stranger. Alumni specify on their profile that they are interested in engaging in these opportunities and they can choose to accept the meeting or not.
The
Cal State LA Alumni Association, which has offered an alumni mentoring program since 2009, is focusing its efforts on flash mentoring to offer alumni a chance to get involved with their alma mater that is less of a time commitment, and that benefits students as well.
“Flash Mentoring is a quick, one-time connection so students can hear from a variety of alumni mentors instead of just working with one person," Parks says. “We think that's great because both students and alumni have so many commitments, and this is more flexible. And, often, traditional mentoring relationships happen organically through those connections."
Even networking panels can be a less formal, quick alternative to traditional mentoring that still provide some of the same benefits. The SJSU Alumni Association, for example, holds a speed networking event each spring where they invite a panel of C-suite alumni to present on the skills needed for successful networking. After the panel, the alumni host roundtables and invite students to put into practice what they just learned from the panel.
During the pandemic, CSULB Alumni began hosting virtual “49er Industry Chats" to invite alumni professionals from all sectors to share their journeys and industry observations that will help prepare students for success in their field. The chats are held via Zoom and enable students to ask questions and even connect with the alumni afterward.
And for those who are unable to attend, the meetings are recorded and uploaded to YouTube. There is now a
library of more than 180 recorded Industry Chats available on YouTube, and Guevara says CSULB faculty members are even incorporating them into their curriculum.
“Many faculty like to assign their students a homework assignment in which they interview someone working in their field of interest, and the reaction to the library of recordings has been really positive as an alternative," Guevara says. “It's a less direct form of mentoring but it's still impactful."
Learn how to get more involved as a CSU alumni.