The Office of I & AR, IIT Madras, in association with IITMAANA (IIT Madras Alumni Association of North America) hosted reception for IITM students going to foreign universities for higher education at the Westin, Velachery Chennai, on June 6, 2015.
Who Came..
40 students attended the event, and the turnout was great ... given the event was organized att short notice after the term had ended. Apart from the students, Prof Nagarajan (Dean I&AR), Mr. Robert Nathan from IITMAANA, and few members of I&AR office and I&AR Student Council were present.
What Happened..
-
The event started off at 7PM, with Dean Nagarajan informally discussing student life in the US, deriving from his own experiences there.
-
This was followed by a short speech by Bob Nathan, former President of IITMAANA, a round of introductions, and interactive discussion with the grads. He touched upon various relevant topics for student alumni in the US and other universities abroad:
-
What support systems exist for young IITM student alumni in the USA (and Canada and the rest of the world.
-
How could students make use of IITMAANA alumni network.
-
Discussion of what the students expect of IITMAANA.
-
Discussion of kinds of activities, events that students would like from the alumni association.
-
Importance of reaching out to alumni.
-
Importance of giving back to the alma mater.
-
-
After discussion, everyone posed for a group photograph, and proceeded to a nice private dinner in the Westin hotel restaurant.
Observations and Feedback..
The students liked the personalized, interactive session that was organized for them, as it had clear value proposition for them in terms of networking and engagement in the future. Almost all of them wanted to volunteer and be involved in IITMAANA activities, to help and be helped by Alumni. They are looking forward to meet IITM Alumni in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, and Australia.. where they are bound. IITMAANA with the help of I&AR will help organize welcome events this fall for our new alumni.
