Connecting Alumni: Penn GSE Launches Alumni Directory Project
With more than 16,000 graduates living and working in six continents, more than ninety countries, and all fifty states plus the District of Columbia, Penn GSE’s alumni community is diverse and robust. A renewed priority for Penn GSE is connecting alumni to the School and to each other – whether through on-campus programming or online outreach – in order to build stronger professional networks and communicate about the work of the school.
Penn GSE is now in the process of building a more comprehensive alumni directory that will be made available, for the first time ever, to all graduates. The school has partnered with industry leader Publishing Concepts, Inc. (PCI), to gather updated alumni information as the first step in creating the directory.
Shortly, alumni will receive emails, postcards, and phone calls from PCI requesting updated contact information.
“We want to share news, initiatives, and opportunities that are relevant to alumni as they continue on their professional journeys,” says Melissa Calvert, GED’00, vice dean for development and alumni relations. “By partnering with PCI to build an Alumni Directory, we believe that we will be able to do just that.”
Once PCI has collected the information, they will compile the data to create a new alumni directory. The data will be used only for Penn GSE purposes and will not be sold or provided to a third party for any purpose that is not directly related to Penn GSE.
“We are excited to share this project with our alumni. We understand and respect that alumni would not want to provide their information without knowing the purpose of the request, so we want to make clear that PCI’s request for information is legitimate and in partnership with Penn GSE,” says Calvert.
Alumni participation will allow the directory to represent the broad scope of Penn GSE graduates’ work across the field of education as school teachers and administrators, counselors and reading specialists, college presidents and consultants, policy and change makers, and innovators and data analysts—professionals who have an extraordinary impact on the lives of the children, families, and communities in which they work every day. Alumni wishing to attain a copy of the directory will have the opportunity to do so through PCI.
More information about this project, including answers to frequently asked questions, can be found here. There is also a dedicated, toll-free Penn GSE exclusive verification line at 866.884.6620. Alumni with questions can also contact Penn GSE directly at alumni@gse.upenn.edu.
Questions frequently asked by alumni
Why is Penn GSE creating an alumni directory?
We want to share news and initiatives that are relevant to you. Having updated contact information will best allow us to communicate initiatives and opportunities in your area. We also hope that alumni will use it to reach back out to former classmates they may have lost touch with, or connect with others to create professional learning or career networks.
What data is collected?
You will be asked to provide basic primary contact information consisting of address, phone, and email, and verify information about your time at Penn GSE, such as degree and graduation year. Additionally, PCI will update your current work information, any name changes, and Penn legacy information.
What data will appear in the completed alumni directory?
We will include your name, graduation year, home city and state, preferred email, company name, and job title. If there are fields you wish excluded from the printed piece, you may indicate that when providing your update.
What will Penn GSE do with my data?
The data is used only for Penn GSE purposes, such as sharing news and upcoming events or opportunities. We will not sell your data or provide it to a third party for any purpose that is not directly related to Penn GSE.