March 4, 2008

Facebook Group Looks to Connect Young Alumni

Tyler Schweitzer started a Facebook group for young NC State engineering alumni. (Photo: Nate DeGraff)

Graduating from college can mean new careers, new opportunities and new locales. One College of Engineering alumnus is working to help young engineers keep in touch with the College and each other.

To do so, he is using the website that helps keep college students everywhere connected: Facebook.

Tyler Schweitzer, a master’s student in nuclear engineering who received his undergraduate degree in 2006, started the Facebook group called "NC State Engineering Young Alumni." The group encourages recent graduates of the College to provide information about new jobs and new contact information. The group also serves as a liaison between alumni and the NC State Engineering Foundation, giving the foundation a platform to e-mail alumni about Foundation events and other opportunities to volunteer for the College.

Tyler Schweitzer started a Facebook group for young NC State engineering alumni.

Schweitzer said that the idea for the group first came about when he was attending meetings of the Engineering Foundation. The Foundation was looking for a way to stay connected with young alumni from the college, and Facebook was a natural choice for them, due to the site’s popularity on campus.

"One of the ideas that came up was using Facebook," Schweitzer said. "Pretty much everybody at NC State was already on Facebook, so we thought it would be an easy way for us to stay connected."

Schweitzer said that having young alumni stay involved with the University would prove to be beneficial for both the University and the alumni.

"Staying involved with the university helps to continue the development of the student," Schweitzer said. "You spend four years here learning the basics, but staying in touch with your professors and the NC State community helps to continue that education and benefits both the student and the university."

Schweitzer also said that having a group of young alumni who were involved with the University could help the Engineering Foundation connect better with prospective students.

"The Engineering Foundation has recruiting events in major cities throughout North Carolina, where we invite students who have applied to NC State to come and hear presentations from alumni," Schweitzer said. "It’s good to have young alumni there, because they can connect better with high school students."

Schweitzer said he was optimistic that the group could add more members in the future.

"Around graduation time this semester, we’re going to try to get a lot of the outgoing seniors to join," he said.

Want to join the group? Sign up at Facebook. If you have questions, contact Tyler Schweitzer at tmschwei@ncsu.edu.

—daniel—

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