The University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the Raikes School look forward to returning to normal operations when the fall semester begins in August. Classes will again be held in Kauffman 110 and 112 rather than the Great Hall, and we will resume in-person events for students, alumni, and our employer partners. Read more about Nebraska’s plans for the fall 2021 semester here: https://covid19.unl.edu/.
We hope you as alumni will get involved in any or all of the following activities.
Career Fair & Employer Engagement
The Raikes School Career Fair will be held on Wednesday, September 22. Registration opens this week! If you or your company are interested in hiring our students for internships or full-time positions, we hope you will register! Partner employers should have received a save the date in mid-June. If you want to be added to our invitation list, contact Adam Britten, Assistant Director of Recruitment and Outreach, at adam.britten@unl.edu. For more information visit https://raikes.unl.edu/careerfair.
If you or your company are unable to participate in the Career Fair but would like to engage with students in other ways, we offer additional options including:
- Dinner and/or talk on business, computing, engineering, and/or data science related topics hosted in the Kauffman Center. These events are generally hosted on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings sometime between 5:00 and 7:30 pm. This could be an informal open house-style networking event to share more about your company, a more formal presentation with Q&A, or any other format you prefer. Some employers choose to bring food as an additional incentive for students to attend – we do not have catering restrictions and could coordinate an RSVP for you, as necessary. Some employers have done these virtually through the pandemic, but we assume in-person events will garner higher attendance this year.
- Employer in Residence with a booth in Kauffman during the day anytime Monday – Thursday between 9:00 am and 2:30 pm. Talk with students between classes, share flyers, gather resumes, etc.
- We send a weekly newsletter to students and a section of the newsletter provides employer updates. Send Adam Britten a short description (2-3 sentences) of opportunities available, who to contact with questions, and where to apply. These are sent each Wednesday throughout the school year.
- Alumni are also encouraged to post full-time openings and information about their companies in the Raikes School’s private LinkedIn Group.
Contact Adam Britten to receive more details or schedule a date for your visit!
RAIK 40 Senior Seminar
The Raikes School will enter its fourth year offering RAIK 40, a senior seminar focused on preparing soon-to-be alumni for life outside of Kauffman and college. A consistent theme in student feedback in previous years is that students enjoy learning from alumni because they can connect most with your experiences and life lessons. Last year, many of you shared your time and expertise with our students. A special thank you to:
- Brendan Gallo, Cohort 2013
- Ryan Long, Cohort 2013
- Michael Hollman, Cohort 2012
- Hanna Rogoz, Cohort 2013
- Ashley Guinan, Cohort 2006
- Austin Wendt, Cohort 2013
- David Socha, Cohort 2013
- Maggie Witzenburg, Cohort 2014
- Emily Wagner, Cohort 2015
- Cooper Knaak, Cohort 2015
- Rees Klintworth, Cohort 2012
- Julia Menez, Cohort 2008
We hope to involve even more alumni this fall through presentations and panel discussions. Presenters will have the option to join us in-person or via Zoom.
If you are interested in helping us prepare our seniors for adulthood in any area – personal finance, insurance, health and wellness, traveling, community engagement, finding housing, DEI, managing conflict in the workplace, transitioning between jobs, or anything else you wish you would have known – contact Anna Pressler at anna.pressler@unl.edu. We hope to have dates and sessions assigned to alumni volunteers by mid-August.
Alumni Engagement Committee
The Raikes School recently established a new initiative to strengthen the engagement of our alumni through cohort representatives who together form an alumni engagement committee. This committee will help connect alumni to current students in mentoring relationships, solicit alumni involvement in tech/business talks, encourage attendance at alumni reunions, the Design Studio Showcase, speakers, and events in various cities, and act as a liaison between cohorts, the Raikes School, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Thank you to Megan (Lyons) Calabro (cohort 2001), Sunita (Gupta) Lavin (cohort 2002), Brian Zimmer (cohort 2003), Kyle Murphy (cohort 2004), Chris Reznicek (cohort 2006), Rees Klintworth (cohort 2012), Maggie Witzenburg (cohort 2014), Emily Wagner (cohort 2015), and Karl Shaffer (cohort 2016) for agreeing to serve as the first representatives on the committee. If you are interested in joining this outstanding group, contact Anna Pressler at anna.pressler@unl.edu. We are especially looking for representatives from cohorts 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013.
If you have any other ways you would like to connect with fellow alumni, current students, prospective students, employers, or the Raikes School in general, please contact Anna Pressler at anna.pressler@unl.edu or 402-472-9097. We always appreciate hearing from you and helping find ways to get you connected!