Alumni Board Elects New Officers
KGI's Alumni Board has elected members and officers for 2011-2012, bringing in new leaders for the postions of president, vice president and several other officer posts.
This year five alums have joined the board as new members, including two as officers. The new leadership consists of:
President - Nicole Sindy (MBS '09)
Vice President - Ryan Peeler (MBS '07)
Secretary - Aditya Kelkar (MBS '10) (new member)
Admissions Chair - Aanchal Kamra (MBS '09)
Curriculum Chair - Garry Seid (MBS '03)
Networking Chair -Jennifer Boyd (MBS '08) (new member)
The board members (non-officers) returning from last year are Darren Leva (MBS '05), Ravneesh Sachdev (MBS '06) and Louis Shamel (MBS '09). Those joining the board for the first time are Joanna Mullen (MBS '04), Andrew Peters (MBS '06) and Bill Casey (MBS '06).
Since its establishment in 2009, the Alumni Board's purpose has been to connect and support the KGI alumni network as well as the current student body.
Of the board's more notable accomplishments is its involvement with the Annual Fund, which raises money to support student fellowships and KGI academics. According to President Nicole Sindy, alumni giving to the Annual Fund has increased from 23% to 40% since the board began encouraging KGI graduates to donate.
Sindy, a 2009 graduate of the Master of Bioscience (MBS) program, has been on the board since its beginning, having previously served as secretary of the board and worked with the networking committee. She was motivated to be a part of it because of what KGI did for her career. "KGI basically introduced me to the company I currently work for, and I wanted to contribute in any way I could to make sure students continued to be given those same opporuntities," Sindy said.
One of Sindy's first goals as president is to leverage the alumni network to bring practical industry knowledge to current students. "Now that we have an alumni base with several years of industry experience, I would like to collect what they have learned and translate that into workshops or other components of the curriculum," she explained. The plan is to introduce KGI students to specific programs and topics that might not be currently covered.
Other initiatives that the board will continue include an interactive mapping tool accessible to all alumni. This database will connect with LinkedIn to provide information of alumni, Advisory Council members and KGI trustees from across the nation.
Sindy also said the board wants to have a stronger presence in supporting career services as future classes graduate and the alumni base grows.
The board met on November 2 to officially set its goals for the coming year. The admissions committee will continue to work with the admissions department to increase alumni interface with prospective students at KGI visitation days and provide support for off-site recruitment events. The committee will also utilize alumni expertise to provide constructive feedback towards career services development.
Chair Garry Seid will work to fill gaps in the curriculum that have been identified by alumni, Advsiory Council members and trustees.
The networking committee will continue to host events in Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area that feature panels of noted industry leaders. The committee also will work with the admissions committee to develop a workshop for current students to discuss and practice proper networking etiquette.
By Megan Hill (MBS '12)