SOAR and Cardinals Connect join forces to provide an exceptional experience for Miller College of Business students

The Miller College of Business’ SOAR (Success, Opportunity, Acumen, and Readiness) program provides each enrolled undergraduate student with an invaluable launching point in their careers. SOAR consists of a one-semester course during each undergraduates’ first three years of study. These three courses provide meaningful engagement opportunities for students to focus on career exploration and professional development while connecting with industry professionals, career coaches, academic advisors, community leaders, and alumni mentors.

SOAR launched its initial mentoring cycle this fall to second-year students enrolled in MCOB 200: Job Search Skills. Each student is assigned an alumni mentor based on their major and interests. These mentoring relationships last one semester, with mentors and students connecting a minimum of four times throughout the semester. There are currently 220 active mentoring relationships in progress, and milestones are set up for students and mentors to complete as part of the class requirements.

The Cardinals Connect Connection

SOAR participates in the Alumni Association’s Cardinals Connect, an interactive platform that allows Ball State students and alumni to network personally and professionally with fellow Cardinals worldwide. This exclusive virtual network provides users a safe space to reach out for mentoring guidance and professional direction.

Over 900 messages were sent via the Cardinals Connect platform between SOAR students and mentors within the first couple weeks, with more communication occurring via phone, Zoom, and personal email. There are over 3,600 current users on the platform—a 24 percent increase since the beginning of the year.

Cardinals Connect also serves as a one-stop resource for access to an alumni directory, event postings, a jobs board, mentoring, groups, and a space for alumni to promote their businesses. The platform allows alumni to give back and share their professional expertise with students and other alumni navigating careers in similar fields. Its flexible settings allow mentors to customize how much time they invest in ways such as limiting the number of mentees and providing options from a 30-minute industry-specific chat to an academic-year commitment. Most importantly, Cardinals Connect provides everything students and alumni need in one location, including video chat, calendar scheduling, messaging, and more.

Alumni from all majors and colleges are needed—sign up today.