by Lya Carrera ‘92
Published Newsletter: The Wellesley Connection:
Wellesley College Alumnae of Boston Newsletter
Published Date: Winter/Spring 2007, Volume 15, Issue 2

When I graduated from Wellesley College over ten years ago, I did not want to leave as that would mean making new connections and redefining myself in many ways-including a career.

Although I was fortunate to have explored many possibilities at Wellesley, I was still unsure as to what career I wanted to pursue. I decided to remain in the Boston area and resolved to stay connected to my alma mater. I attended some of WCAB’s events. Unfortunately, my time became more limited when I went back to school to study broadcast journalism.

Even though I was passionate about journalism, I eventually realized that I enjoyed writing and decided to change over to a different medium-print. Thus I began exploring my career options. It was at this point that I re-connected with Wellesley and prepared to make the trip to campus to research contact information for local alumnae working in the field. When I called the alumnae office, however, I was told that I could obtain the same information online by visiting Wellesley’s website, www.wellesley.edu, under the alumnae page.

First, I registered with the online alumnae community in a few easy steps. Once that was done, I found the alumnae in my field by typing a few descriptive words. When I contacted those alumnae, they willingly gave me support and guidance.

Later in preparation for this article, I investigated further to discover what other opportunities are available online to keep alumnae connected and to make it easier to access and utilize Wellesley’s resources.

The purpose of the online community "is to be a tool [to help] alumnae look each other up, but the big picture is to find another way or to have different methods for alumnae to connect with each other," said Director of Technology Michelle Gillett ‘95 of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association [WCAA]. For example, the opportunity for each alumna to have a permanent e-mail address through Wellesley, which automatically forwards to any private e-mail address of your choosing, is clearly an important way to keep alumnae connected because it provides constancy, even when alums change jobs, move away, or switch internet service providers. "We are constantly evolving the online community so that it matches different and new ways in which people generally reach out to each other. The internet keeps changing and so the online community has to change a little bit to adapt to new technology," said Gillett.

The College takes many precautions to ensure the security of the online community. "The reason behind the online community is to have a safe environment for us to put the [tools] and resources for Wellesley alums," explained Associate Director Folly Patterson ‘85 of the Center of Work and Service [CWS]. "It’s password protected, so only Wellesley alums can access [personal] information. There is a lot of [other material] in the Alumnae Association Web site that is public information."
The online community offers many resources useful in a variety of ways to stay connected. Some of these tools are:

• the online alumnae directory-search for any alumna using a variety of criteria. This enhances but does not replace the College printed directory book;
• online class e-notes-update the latest news about yourself rather than sending it to your class secretary for publication months later, possibly abbreviated, in Wellesley magazine;
• online discussion groups-post, read, and reply to messages on a variety of topics; and
• exclusive job listings contained in an internal job site-hire other Wellesley alumnae and students or look for employment.

Another unique tool is the W Network, a searchable online alumnae database using career, affinity groups, and topics of interests as points of connection. "One of the things that I think Wellesley has really done differently from [other colleges] is specifically in our W Network, which is traditionally in most colleges a career network," Patterson said. "Ours [is more], it’s also about life experiences. Each alumna has 20 pages to journal any aspect of her life, such as traveling experiences, raising kids, work, professional organizations, and volunteer work, etc. It’s embracing the idea that Wellesley women are more [than just] their jobs; it’s about their whole life." The W Network replaced the "Will Help" notebooks filled with lists of alumnae willing to offer career advice. It expanded on that concept to include life experiences creating new connections for Wellesley women.

Who are the Boston-area Alumnae?

"I think everyone in the WCAA office can tell you one story or another of how someone found someone else who was important to them [through the online community]," said Technology Director Michelle Gillett. "Our biggest success story is probably…the alumna who donated her kidney to another alumna; they found each through a list serv or a broadcast e-mail. [The story was reported] by The Boston Globe. So, it can be that dramatic or it can be as simple as finding an address for a holiday card."

In an e-mail Gillett said that "about 48% of all alumnae have signed up and visited the online community at least once" and that "on average 15% of the registered users are using the online community each month. "Wellesley is willing to be ahead or on the curve in trying to get new [tools] out," she added. "Our hope one day is to connect each of the individual areas into a comprehensive and complete network."

Boston-area alumnae have joined Wellesley’s online community at an even more impressive rate. WCCA Assistant Director of Clubs Karen Kerns ‘97 reported: "About 74% of the [~4500] alumnae living in the Boston area have an e-mail registered with the college and receive regular updates from the club via e-mail, [even though] we only have 300+ [paid WCAB] members…"

Given the strong online presence of its constituency, WCAB has taken many efforts in the past two years to increase the use of technology to connect local alumnae. For example, when WCAB wanted to revitalize the ALANA committee to increase the diversity of the club and to improve programs for its diverse membership, the first step was to ask for volunteers in the biweekly e-mail blast, and then to send out targeted e-mails to interested alumnae to ask them to join the effort.

Next, WCAB is conducting an online survey regarding programming. "It is incredibly difficult to schedule events at times that are convenient for everybody, to find the type of events that are interesting to everybody, and to make sure that we’re reaching out to people with as many different backgrounds as possible," explained Karen Whitley ‘90, WCAB Co-President. The survey will help identify the best times for, and types of WCAB’s programming-if people take the time to answer the ten simple questions online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=659722796146.

WCAB has revamped its website. Webmistress Jessica Palmer ‘90 has been responsible for the transformation and for updating the Web site every two weeks. "There is a new design and format that is aligned with Wellesley’s current Web site," Palmer said. "There is a lot more information, like board meetings and WCAB or Wellesley sponsored events, and the information is up-to-date. [Also,] new features and upgrades will be added in the future to make it [more user friendly]. It’s important for people to realize that they can still access the Web site or attend the events even if they are not a dues paying member."

TOP 10 MOST REPRESENTED CLASSES IN BOSTON-AREA

Wellesley’s alumnae community, and particularly alumnae in the Boston area, have responded enthusiastically to the use of technology to stay connected. The College, in turn, continues to add new features to the online offerings, including Discussion Groups, which are similar to list servs or Yahoo! Groups, hi fact, WCAB has just launched its own Discussion Group where alumnae can post apartment listings, volunteer opportunities, and start discussions about topics of interest in our area. Soon, the site will allow the uploading of attachments, such as photos and articles.

There are many ways to get involved, and registering with the online community "is a great way to have other alums find you, it’s a great way to meet students, and it’s a great way to connect [in such a manner] that you might not have before," said Alison Greer ‘87, Executive Director of the WCAA. "So I would love for everyone to do it!"

Whatever your stage of life, and regardless of your comfort level with computers, the Wellesley online community and the W Network can open many doors, professionally and socially. And you only have to travel as far as I did-to your nearest computer. Valuable Wellesley connections and access to the entire Wellesley community are only a mouse click away.

by Wu Zhou ‘97
Published Newsletter: The Wellesley Connection:
Wellesley College Alumnae of Boston Newsletter
Published Date: Winter/Spring 2007, Volume 15, Issue 2

Lya Carrera ‘92 contributed to this article and is also an ALANA committee member

While the 2003 motion picture Mona Lisa Smile portrayed Wellesley College students in 1953 as predominantly privileged Anglo-Saxon women, the reality of today’s Wellesley students is vastly different.

ALANA-the acronym for African, Latina, Asian, and Native American students at Wellesley College-represents 38% of the current student population. According to the Office of Admission, Wellesley’s commitment to diversity has resulted in a steady increase in the ratio of ALANA students on campus, which for the class of 2010, reached 41%.

Although the commitment to diversity is evident at the Office of Admission, it does not end there; rather, it continues into the alumnae community. Wellesley College Alumnae Association as well as WCAB are committed to providing opportunities for us to celebrate our differences and to draw strength from recognizing and validating the experiences of our fellow ALANA and non-ALANA alumnae.

According to WCAA, ALANA alumnae number more than 600 of the over -4500 alumnae in the Boston area. Currently, WCAB is focusing on strengthening alumnae bonds in general and in connecting with local ALANA alumnae in particular.

As a result, WCAB, has revitalized its ALANA committee with liaisons who serve on WCAB’s board. The goal of WCAB’s ALANA committee is to facilitate the building of community among all alumnae in the greater Boston area, and create culturally rich and socially relevant activities for us to connect with each other and with the College.

The first ALANA kick-off event will be in February 2007 to celebrate Black History Month. Some other activities currently in the works for 2007 include salsa dancing, a movie night to watch Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, and dinner at an ethnic restaurant. I hope that you will support our efforts in getting this series of multicultural events off the ground.

As members of the greater Boston alumnae community, you can join WCAB and make a difference by shaping the educational and social activities of the ALANA committee. Your efforts will enrich the lives of all Wellesley women in the area and provide us with ample opportunities to network, learn, and build new friendships.

In addition, the Office of Admission would appreciate greater ALANA alumna participation in college fairs and in conversations with prospective ALANA students. Interested alumnae can contact me at wujinz@alum.wellesley.edu.