The Beta Chapter at Ohio State University held their first Alumni Mentorship Program meeting at the end of September. The collegiate chapter was joined by 15 alumni with expertise in different industries including agriculture, business, engineering and more.
Brother Lewis Stearns, an alumnus who serves on the Beta Chapter Alumni Board, and collegiate brothers Andrew Flax and Will Harrison, VNR-Alumni Relations, helped organize the program and the first in-person meeting that kicked off the program.
“We talked about it a lot when we were [undergrads], that we're not only a social fraternity, but a professional fraternity, and I just felt like we talked about it, but we never really did a lot with it,” Brother Stearns said.
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Brother Flax reached out to Regional Vice President, Brother Mike Estadt, who is also a Beta Chapter alumnus, to gather more information on how to host a successful mentorship program.
Collegiate brothers at Beta Chapter received a survey over what industries or careers they were interested in. Once ten industries were selected, the brothers got to pick their focus. Most groups were made up of five or six brothers. Each group was assigned one alumnus based on their expertise.
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Brother Stearns explained that the alumni were free to conduct their meetings how they pleased. Some alumni let the collegiate members lead the conversation, while others created curriculums for their groups to follow. This allows alumni to fit the program to their schedule better, depending on work, family, and other personal commitments.
I did not call a single person who said that they weren't able to do the mentorship.
Brother Flax said some groups met for a half hour, while some met for an hour. After the meetings were over, collegiates and alumni were able to mingle for a social hour. This kick-off event served as the first formal meeting of the program, which will occur on a semester basis, where alumni and collegiates meet in person. Beyond this, some groups will meet via a phone call or on video calls more frequently, and several alumni shared their contact information with the collegiate brothers in case they had questions between meetings.
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Brothers Flax and Harrison both stated that the event will also be a great recruitment tool offering potential new members the opportunity to see how AGR will help build skills for after college and impact their career advancement.
“I’m probably the most excited to see how this translates to careers post-graduation,” Brother Flax said.
For more information on how to start your own mentorship program, you can reach out to the AGR Home Office at 816-891-9200.
