Alumni welcome Class of 2023
Our Alumni Relations Manager Rebecca Stobbs shared an insight into last week’s Induction alumni panel sessions for our postgraduate courses. Find out more about the sessions that took place and the value this has added to the new postgraduate cohort’s academic year.
30 September 2022
Our Alumni Relations Manager Rebecca Stobbs shared an insight into last week’s Induction alumni panel sessions for our postgraduate courses. Find out more about the sessions that took place and the value this has added to the new postgraduate cohort’s academic year.
In the words of Steve Jobs, great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people. And never a truer word was spoken than during student induction week.
Last week Newcastle University Business School welcomed over 600 new postgraduate students to campus, where they will call Newcastle their home for the next year (or maybe longer). The readers amongst you, many of you alumni, will be familiar with the feeling of excitement that comes with embarking on a new journey, mixed with the sense of trepidation while entering the unknown. That sense of nervousness was something we wanted to help ease and with the support of our brilliant alumni community, it is something we managed to achieve.
Alumni panel sessions
During induction week, we held alumni panel sessions for 10 of our postgraduate courses, including International Business Management, MBA and Banking and Finance. The sessions saw our panel share their insights on how students can successfully complete their studies, tips on what extra-curricular activities to join and recommendations of places to visit in the city. This led to energising Q&A sessions led by the students who could ask questions to people who had walked in their shoes.
With 24 alumni supporting across the week, their insight was of great value to our students. Afterall, if it was me sharing top tips, the students would be catapulted back 10 years ago with recommendations for places to visit that probably no longer exist!
One of the alumni that joined the session was Tony Okonkwo, MBA 2022 who decided to take part in the session in order to support the current cohort. Speaking on the why he decided to participate Tony said:
“Helping people has always been a key part of my professional life. From setting up PDClub a few years ago to volunteering on the student-staff board on the in sessional English at the University, the goal has always been the same. Beyond that, who passes on the opportunity to connect with future CEO's. I found the session fulfilling and will wholeheartedly welcome connections from the students to further the engagements. Good luck guys!”
And did the students find it useful?
Johannes Schmalisch, Lecturer for International Business Management noted:
“The new students on the 22/23 cohort for the MSc IBM programme very much enjoyed the interaction and format of the alumni panel. Getting to learn about the experience of recent graduates, receiving tips and advice on how to navigate the programme and being welcomed to the NUBS community, way was a great part of the induction programme. The openness and willingness of recent graduates to share their thoughts, connect via LinkedIn and email, and provide advice was fantastic.”
Getting to learn about the experience of recent graduates, receiving tips and advice on how to navigate the programme and being welcomed to the NUBS community, way was a great part of the induction programme.
All in all, a successful week and wonderfully active start to the academic year. Once again, I would like to channel the words of Steve Jobs and say a huge thank you to our alumni for supporting the students. Without you, our alumni team, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve the great start to our Class of 2023’s journey.
If you would like to find out more about volunteering at Newcastle University Business School, please contact: business.alumni@newcastle.ac.uk