Work in progress: alumni mentoring of engineers in a technical communication course

Abstract

This pilot project integrated the Vanderbilt engineering alumni council mentoring initiative in a technical communication course for all engineering majors. An opportunity for networking with alumni and learning about workforce communication was designed into a two-and-a-half-week report writing assignment working individually and in groups, 41 students interviewed 18 alumni and other professionals about workplace communication and reported their findings. Project components included an alumnus guest speaker and a post-project, alumni-sponsored luncheon attended by 27 students. Results showed that graduates spent a large portion of their work time on various written and oral communication tasks. Alumni and student questionnaire responses indicate that the project was beneficial and should be continued. Using an analytical five-point scale, students rated including a mentoring project next semester with a 4.1/5.0 while alumni rated it 4.6.