portrait of Travis Smith

Engagement Lessons from the Workplace

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Why does engagement matter? I get this question frequently from alumni, donors, faculty, and staff. The question is often followed by “aren’t you just doing this to raise money?” It’s a fair question and my response is that while engagement can certainly lead to philanthropy, it also helps the school in so many other ways. It’s no surprise that companies and organizations ask a very similar question around why employee engagement matters. For example, HR professionals know that engagement can increase profits, but similar to alumni engagement, high employee engagement leads to greater productivity, increased employee morale, and retention of talent.

At the Carlson School, there is no shortage of opportunities to be engaged. Over 500 of you serve on one of our 39 advisory boards, helping our departments and programs remain relevant and competitive. Last year, over 1,000 of you volunteered to formally mentor our students, affording them priceless opportunities to develop before entering the workforce. And hundreds of you spent time in Carlson classrooms, sharing your expertise and real-world stories of successes and failures.

Engagement matters beyond profits or dollars raised and your engagement is a vital part of our success. As we move into the public phase of the Driven campaign, I hope you will consider how you can deepen your relationship with the Carlson School in ways that are meaningful to you. We already know it works for us.

Travis M. Smith
Assistant Dean Institutional Advancement

This article appeared in the Spring 2018 alumni magazine

In this issue, we explore how the Carlson School's Career Center is helping point the way from education to career.

Spring 2018 table of contents