One of the true joys of the college experience is the friends you make along the way. Classmates enhance the celebrations, commiserate during the challenges and inform and expand the journey toward a degree. At Northern Arizona University, we believe that camaraderie should extend beyond our students’ time on campus.
So, we are taking our alumni experience to them, providing fun opportunities to connect with each other and share their love of helping others, developing rich professional networks, trying new adventures and – of course! – cheering for NAU athletics.
Our graduates are a vital part of the communities where they live and work. Their unique NAU experience gives them a common ground on which to build strong connections that enhance their professional and personal accomplishments. In Yavapai County, there are approximately 5,200 NAU alumni that add to the vitality of our Northern Arizona communities. We have stepped up our alumni engagement here, providing more opportunities for local Lumberjacks to connect with each other and the university. In turn, this enhances NAU’s ties to the economy and culture of this region.
Recent data from the Arizona Department of Economic Security shows that collectively, NAU graduates since 1990 working in Arizona earned more than $3.5 billion in calendar year 2016. In the first full year of employment after earning an NAU graduate degree, our alumni saw an increase of more than 15 percent in their median wages over what a similar graduate degree holder earned just four years ago. And more of our graduates are immediately finding work after their time at NAU: More than 82 percent of the Arizona residents who graduated from NAU with a bachelor’s degree in 2016 were employed in our state that year – a new record for post-graduation employment rates.
Our “NAU Near You” alumni chapters reach our graduates no matter where that economic success takes them. The Prescott Area Alumni Chapter was formed in February, and it represents one of many new commitments we are making to bring the spirit and mission of NAU to where our alumni live and work. Thanks to our alumni volunteers and their generous service to their alma mater, chapters now exist in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Portland and Washington, D.C. We have plans for alumni chapters in Yuma, Denver, Dallas and San Diego.
It is alumni like Katherine Anderson from Prescott that make this program special. Anderson, a 2004 graduate from our online degree program, volunteers as an event planner for the Prescott Area Alumni Chapter, so she can give back to the university that gave her so much. David Williams, a financial planner who is a recent NAU graduate, and Bill Nyman, who is retired and serves on the Alumni Association Board, both work with the Prescott Area Alumni Chapter leadership committee and prove that NAU devotion exists at every phase of a career.
Our more than 160,000 Lumberjack graduates are the best evidence of NAU’s success. They are our brand. We are proud of their generosity and commitment to the world around them, and we are excited to strengthen the ties that connect Lumberjacks near and far. QCBN
By Rita Cheng
If you would like to be involved with our alumni outreach, join our Prescott Area Alumni Chapter! You can reach us at nau.edu/Alumni/Chapter-Program/Alumni-Chapter-Program, or @NAUAlumni on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Leave a Reply