Office of Student Advancement to get 75% of original ask.

Students will have a chance to get ahead thanks to a new partnership between the Student Association (SA) and the Office of Student Advancement.

At the Oct. 17 board of directors meeting, Sri Krishna Rajan, director of communications and internal, proposed a motion to give funds to support the SA Advancement fund.

Cindy Gouveia, vice president of advancement and Krisztina Arany, director of advancement and alumni engagement, originally asked for $250,000 over two years, at an Aug. 15 meeting.

The motion presented will see the SA provide seed funding of $94,000, which equates to 75 per cent of the proposed $125,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year. This funding will be used to for collaborative initiatives to assist students and alumni.

“The Student Association advancement fund will play a critical role in ensuring GBC students are well positioned for future success by providing support to build a legacy after graduation. The fund will further strengthen the SA and [GBC] foundation’s collaboration in supporting students,” said Rajan.

The SA will not charge students an extra fee to support the SA Advancement Fund. The seed funding will be managed from the surplus fund from the previous year.

The motion was passed without any objection from the board members.

The fund will potentially be used to provide entrance scholarships, student support opportunities, alumni engagement, mentorship programs, awards, celebrations, and to support and leverage alumni network and industry connections.

Rajan read in the mission statement, “We (the SA) are currently concentrating more on the existing students which is crucial, but we also need to identify the most crucial gap that will enable our recent graduates and our college to gain longer term support and assistance from the wealth of experience and knowledge.”

The Office of Student Advancement engages more than 250,000 people, including present and past students, with the aim to strengthen relations with alumni and be a part of their continued career development.

They offer exclusive events and programs so students and alumni can enjoy opportunities by ways of lectures, seminars, and other direct interactions and engagements.

The SA advancement fund will help further this cause and build goodwill and better relations with students and alumni.