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CONNECTING WITH ALUMNI :

CONNECTING WITH ALUMNI :. THE DONALD L.WILSON PROGRAM AND THE TRANSITION FROM COLLEGE TO CAREERS. Change in my career. Earl D. Strong Professor of Social Studies Earl Grey Professor of Tea Breaks Jarl the Strong Professor of Post-Viking Studies

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CONNECTING WITH ALUMNI :

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  1. CONNECTING WITH ALUMNI: THE DONALD L.WILSON PROGRAM AND THE TRANSITION FROM COLLEGE TO CAREERS

  2. Change in my career • Earl D. Strong Professor of Social Studies • Earl Grey Professor of Tea Breaks • Jarl the Strong Professor of Post-Viking Studies Now Donald L. Wilson Professor of Enterprise and Leadership

  3. Origin of Wilson Program • 1981—Vice president of a financial services firm gives restricted endowment to the college to enlarge students’ sense of career options, especially in business • First 10 years of the program—bringing CEOs to lecture at the college to small audiences, mainly of international students.

  4. The (New) Donald L. Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership …examines the theory and practice of socially responsible enterprise and leadership in the business, government, and non-profit sectors, with the goal of empowering students to explore diverse career options.

  5. Why do we need to encourage students to explore career options? • Three cultural problems: • “I’ll think about that after I finish final exams” syndrome • Expectation that Grinnell students go into social service/activism if not academic world • Grinnell students want to change the world but they don’t want to be leaders—too hierarchical

  6. Wilson Program & the curriculum • To accomplish this goal we support interdisciplinary, discovery-mode liberal arts courses that • Critically examine theories and case studies of organizational processes, organizational outcomes, and organizational innovations • And examine the various impacts of these innovations on society, both locally and globally.

  7. Wilson Program & the curriculum • The Wilson program invites alumni to return to campus to offer, • through short-courses and class visits, • insights and salient experiences derived from creative careers and responsible leadership in business, government, and non-governmental organizations.

  8. Wilson Short Courses(3 weeks, 2 credits) • Fall 2005: Making Documentary Films, Kirsten Tretbar, ’90 • Spring 2006: Empowering Local Neighborhoods Jim Diers, ’75 • Fall 2006: Ethics in Business and in Life Clint Korver, ‘89

  9. Organizational Cultures: Working in Businesses and Non-Profits. • Interdisciplinary course • Database of 130 alumni who are willing to be interviewed by current students about the organizations in which they work (for profit, non-profit, and government) • Students interview two graduates and compare and contrast their organizational cultures. (Networking is important)

  10. Managing Enterprise and Innovation: Alumni Visitors • CASE STUDIES OF • grass feeding and rotational grazing of cattle in Kansas • creating Director of Neighborhoods position in Seattle government • creating consulting firm based on decision analysis • creating biotechnology firm

  11. Managing Innovation (continued) • Leslie Berlin—biographer of Robert Noyce, co-founder of Intel • Biotechnology intellectual property lawyer • Innovator in using garbage for energy production • Local government alliance for energy management

  12. Transforming existing courses to Wilson model • Sociology: Non-profit Organizations • Psychology: Industrial Psychology • Key transformation: incorporate alumni practitioners (not academics) into the course • Give alumni and current students time outside class to talk informally.

  13. Wilson outside the curriculum • Each summer the Wilson program funds student internships in organizations throughout the world. • Starting summer of 2006, a Wilson Summer Internship Seminar will be offered for 2 credits.

  14. Wilson Summer Internship Seminar • Preparation: Reading and discussing THE SUCCESSFUL INTERNSHIP before 8-week internship. • Processing: All members of the seminar will have weekly assignments and communications electronically • Debriefing: During the first week of school, participants meet over dinner for debriefing

  15. Further ideas • Wilson Intersession Policy Program in Washington • two weeks in Washington D.C. in January to interview key persons (including alumni) on policy issues. Final product: a policy briefing that can be presented at Grinnell • Goal: Policy analysis careers as alternative to direct service careers.

  16. Summary • Program does not intend to provide a single capstone but to infuse the curriculum with opportunities to experience the relevance of the liberal arts to careers and citizenship after college. • Students who participate in Wilson courses range from first year to final year. • Culture is changed by changing practice, not simply changing ideals.

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