Where do our alumni go?

[fovea1959]

I was having a nice exchange with our friendly local HR director (who went to MICMP this last week and was very impressed) about sponsoring some more teams.

The question she hit me with (and that I should have seen coming!)

Does FIRST run stats on what happens to participants post high-school? How many go on to technical programs, 4 year colleges, etc?

[Francis-134]

Originally Posted by fovea1959

I was having a nice exchange with our friendly local HR director (who went to MICMP this last week and was very impressed) about sponsoring some more teams.

The question she hit me with (and that I should have seen coming!)

Perhaps start with this study and check out the rest of the information on FIRST's Impact page.

[fovea1959]

that helps... thanks!

need to see if the answer to her specific question is in there: part of some of our sponsor's motivation is being able to find engineers or skilled trades in the local market...

[VexisDarksteele]

Even if FIRST itself doesn't keep a definitive tally on those statistics, perhaps your own team could keep a personal log about these things for any questions your sponsors may have? Our team started tracking that the year after I (and half of our team) graduated, and used to keep that data on our website (not sure if it's still there -- it's being remodelled right now). Sponsors and school board representatives really like seeing where these students end up, and it's a good way of maintaining strong alumni relations.

On a side note, I'm currently going to the same university as one of your team's alumni. He actually lives in the same residence hall as I do, too. He's currently enrolled in the robotics program and doing very well, currently a Junior. He and I both went with a group on a trip to the AUTOMATE conference in Chicago. It was a really cool experience and great for networking...

[1986titans]

Originally Posted by VexisDarksteele

Even if FIRST itself doesn't keep a definitive tally on those statistics, perhaps your own team could keep a personal log about these things for any questions your sponsors may have? Our team started tracking that the year after I (and half of our team) graduated, and used to keep that data on our website (not sure if it's still there -- it's being remodelled right now). Sponsors and school board representatives really like seeing where these students end up, and it's a good way of maintaining strong alumni relations.

Here's a couple examples of that:

http://www.teamtitanium.org/#!alumni/cx3
http://teamdriven.us/about/alumni/

[Chinske4296]

Our team has been updating our website with an alumni tab that tracks our previous students and what they are studying and where. Our website is team4296.org

[Jrizo]

Our team keeps track of alumni stats for sponsors we keep the following data
4 or 2 year school and where
Technical or Liberal arts degree
How many volunteer or mentor