Building Relationships with Industry for Student Groups
By Deb Carney and Rebecca Swanson
Deb Carney & Rebecca Swanson
Many of us in mathematics advise student groups at our institutions. The two of us founded the Society for Women in Mathematics (SWiM) at the Colorado School of Mines in 2013 with the goal of building a community of support for women and other underrepresented groups in mathematics. What we weren’t expecting was that this simple community would end up building such mutually beneficial connections with industry.
SWiM has grown significantly over the years. We started by bringing in speakers to share their “mathematical stories,” later adding professional development programming. In 2019 we were recognized with an AWM Student Chapter Award for our professional development activities. Over the years, we have established relationships with companies and individuals who work in industry, and we have found the connection mutually beneficial for both those companies and our students. We want to share with you a bit about our group, how these industry relationships came about, the benefits of them, and how you might develop similar relationships at your own institution.
About SWiM
Both of us started at Mines in 2012 and had previous experience as members of groups for women in mathematics. We recognized that such a group was missing at Mines. We knew that the women at Mines would benefit from additional support at an institution where only about a third of the undergraduate students are women. A year after its inception, in 2014, SWiM became an AWM Student Chapter. In the beginning, SWiM meetings consisted of an alum of Mines, a faculty member, or a local mathematical professional sharing their “mathematical story” with mostly undergraduate members in an informal setting. Due to its success in the first year, and with student requests for more programming, we adopted our current format in which we alternate alumni visits with professional development workshops, panels, discussions, and social events on a twice-a-month schedule over dinner. SWiM currently provides a breadth of professional development opportunities for students interested in a career in mathematics and a safe space for students to feel comfortable in discussing topics related to women in mathematics. The goals of our meetings are to not only expose students to a variety of different career options, mathematical paths, and general professional advice, but also to empower students with the professional skills and confidence they need as they move into the next stages of their careers.
Developing SWiM Relationships with Industry
Our earliest industry relationships were developed by reaching out to local alumni and inviting them individually to join us for a meeting. We obtained a list of recent math majors from our alumni office. These alumni worked in a variety of professional settings. Many enjoyed their visits and offered to return in subsequent years. In spring of 2014, our department head attended a career day event on campus and was seated next to the HR director for FAST Enterprises, LLC, a local tax software consulting company. The director expressed interest in supporting student groups on campus and was excited to learn about SWiM. FAST initially provided us with some funding and offered to hold a workshop or professional development event for our students. Since that time, someone from FAST has facilitated such an event each year. In non-pandemic years, we have taken students to the company headquarters for tours as well. More recently, we have also begun to work with the Chevron Corporation, who reached out to us through the Mines Foundation (i.e. advancement office); they also provide both funding and workshops.
We want to emphasize that we did not originally seek out these relationships with companies, as our original focus was on reaching out to our alumni and other individuals. However, now that we have these relationships, we work hard to maintain them because of the myriad ways they benefit our students. We make sure that we regularly communicate with our contacts at both FAST and Chevron, and we provide an end-of-year report to both regarding our yearly activities and how we had put their funding to use.
Benefits of Industry Relationships
SWiM has received funding to help with club operations from both FAST Enterprises and Chevron. We have received donations of swag type items (e.g. stickers, pens, mugs) that can be given to members or handed out at events. FAST Enterprises also helped to design and purchase our SWiM signage (see photo) that we display at events. But more importantly, SWiM also benefits from the programming and workshops that these industry partners provide by lessening the burden on the advisors to create and lead similar workshops. Workshops that have been led byl our industry partners and alumni connections have included: Job Skills, What is Consulting?, Career Day Preparation, What is an Actuary?, and Professional Communication Skills. Additionally, we have used some of these funds to support students in attending conferences, such as the Nebraska Conference for Women in Undergraduate Mathematics.
Funding for meetings provides dinner to students (and not just pizza!) and one SWiM student receives the FAST Enterprises scholarship each year. Students have been able to work on their own professional development skills and learn about all different kinds of industries and career paths through the workshops and programming offered. Our guest speaker events highlight a wide range of career paths and industries and our informal events allow time for students to ask questions and interact with these partners. These connections have led to summer internships or even full-time employment for several of our students. This relationship is mutually beneficial to our industry partners as they develop pipelines for their own incoming talent.
How You Can Develop Industry Relationships?
Because our industry relationships have brought so many benefits to SWiM and our students, we offer here some ways you can begin to develop your own industry relationships for your student group.
Finding Guest Speakers
First, reach out to alumni in the area and invite them to speak at your event. Given that we had not been at Mines long when we started SWiM, we utilized the Mines alumni office and colleagues to develop an initial list of contacts. If you can’t bring alumni in, or there aren’t many alumni locally, reach out to local companies that hire math majors to see if they can recommend an employee speaker with the appropriate background. You may also want to ask your visitors if their company provides any workshops or programming. Alternatively, as we are now so adept at using video conferencing, you may also consider hosting alumni visitors remotely if there are no good options nearby.
Maintain Connections with Alumni
Second, keep in touch with your own graduates. We stay in contact with our own SWiM alumni in two ways: (1) We always ask graduating members to share their permanent contact email with us. (2) One of us (Deb) connects to each graduate on LinkedIn if students have a profile. Maintaining these connections has provided us with a nearly continuous pipeline of former SWiM members that we can ask back as speakers—and additional industry connections for our students.
Campus Fundraising Office
Third, take advantage of your own university fundraising office. Make sure they know what you are doing and what support you might need as they may also know of companies that you could connect with. The fact that our own such office knew of SWiM is how they knew to direct Chevron our way.
Maintain Connections with Companies
Finally, maintain your industry connections. While we were initially contacted by companies that support us, we value and work hard to maintain those relationships. We share a yearly newsletter with updates about our group, programming we’ve done, speakers we’ve had, conferences students have attended, etc. We are grateful for the support we have, so we make sure to let these companies know it!
We hope you find our experiences helpful as you advise your student groups and develop your own industry relationships. While we did not initially seek out these relationships we recognize their importance to our organization and our students. We are happy to answer any questions and would love to hear about your own experiences and ideas.
Rebecca Swanson is a Teaching Professor at the Colorado School of Mines where she teaches a variety of courses, implements flipped learning and alternative grading, and serves her department and institution in multiple ways, one of her favorites being as co-advisor to the Society for Women in Mathematics. Additionally, she is involved in a variety of roles in the MAA, including membership on the editorial board for Math Values.
Debra Carney is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at the Colorado School of Mines where she regularly coordinates in the calculus sequence, teaches a variety of courses, and engages in SoTL research. In 2022, she was selected as an AWM Fellow for her extraordinary support of women in the mathematical sciences through personal mentorship and leadership of her local AWM Chapter, The Society for Women in Mathematics.