COVER STORY SIDEBAR
Get connected: Keeping alumni in touch with Cornell and each other
CornellConnect is exactly what its name suggests – a way for Cornellians to connect with the university and with each other.
Part online directory, part social network, CornellConnect allows alumni to update their personal information in Cornell's database (and to choose how much of it is displayed to other people), sign up and pay for events with credit cards, send messages to each other, access class and club websites and even post a photo of themselves. Discussion groups and career networking services are coming soon.
With more than 215,000 alumni living and working all over the world, an interactive, virtual space to connect is a natural extension of the face-to-face work done in Alumni Affairs and Development, says Andrew Gossen, senior director of social media strategy for the Office of Alumni Affairs.
"Only Cornellians are granted access, so unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, you can be sure that you are dealing with actual alumni," Gossen says. "We know from the extensive beta testing we did that this exclusivity is a very appealing reason to use CornellConnect."
The university just recently began promoting the network and has already seen 6,500 alumni register.
"Based on conversations with peer institutions that have launched similar initiatives, we're right on track with the quantity and the quality of interactions we've seen so far." Gossen says. "Once word starts to spread organically and people begin to see the benefits of tapping into one of the world's most impressive and helpful alumni networks, I'm betting we'll see even stronger numbers."
Use of the Cornell directory and other premium features requires members to sign in with a Cornell-issued NetID. Any graduate of Cornell who does not already have a NetID can obtain one in about 10 minutes by calling the Office of Alumni Affairs at 607-254-2288.
To access CornellConnect:
Go to http://cornellconnect.cornell.edu
To obtain a netID:
Call 607-254-2288, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.