Cardinals Connect offers alumni many services that help you grow both personally and professionally. One of the most exciting features of Cardinals Connect is the unique way you can help current students by becoming a mentor through this online portal. Alumni-to-student mentoring promotes fellowship and networking for career development purposes and can form open lines of communication and meaningful long-term relationships.

Cole Van Lue is a Miller College of Business (MCOB) student who recently connected with an alumnus from Edward Jones through Cardinals Connect and the college’s Success, Opportunity, Acumen, and Readiness (SOAR) program.

“I spoke with a Ball State alum who is a financial advisor with Edward Jones through Cardinals Connect,” Van Lue said. “I was interested in learning more about his career and the process of obtaining a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) license. We had a great conversation and later connected on LinkedIn.”

Once you are a member of Cardinals Connect, mentoring a student could include offering valuable networking opportunities, conducting practice interviews and resume reviews, sharing resources, and providing information about internships or job openings.

“By using Cardinals Connect, I was able to get great advice from someone in my field who graduated just a few years ago,” Van Lue said. “He also emails me regularly and sends me articles and webinars that I might be interested in. Having a contact like that is invaluable.”

Cardinals Connect also features a Business Directory, where alumni can promote their businesses, offer specials to other users, and support the Ball State alumni community. There is also a mobile app called “Graduway Community” on iOS and “Cardinals Connect” for Android.

Other features allow you to access the alumni directory where you can connect with classmates and friends, network with other Ball State alumni in your field, and look for job or post a job.

Cardinals Connect is your personal link to helping Ball State students succeed and an alumni community – more than 200,000 strong. Learn more.