Connecting Cardinals to one another is a key way to live out the Spirit of Beneficence, no matter where you are. Create a Cardinals Connect profile so you can be matched with the opportunities that align with your interests!
Cardinals Connect
- Tell us how you want to be involved using Ball State's online community.
- Find out more about opportunities, join a group, post a job or photos!
- Ball State offers countless opportunities for contributions of time and talent.
- Please visit here to learn how to connect with a campus mentoring program.
ACCESS CARDINALS CONNECT
Cardinals Connect, that’s how We Fly. Generations of alumni, friends, parents, and students have contributed to the vitality of the University through volunteerism. Ball State offers countless opportunities for contributions of time and talent. You can mentor a current student, participate in career center activities with undergrads, attend a Club or regional event, speak with a class, offer student internships, and more. It’s a great time to be connected as a Cardinal!
Career Center Resources
Ball State is dedicated to helping you beyond the classroom.
For questions about these and other opportunities, email careercenter@bsu.edu.
Alumni Webinars
Just because you graduated, doesn't mean you stopped learning. As an alum, you have exclusive access to a range of webinars and online events.
ALC WEBINARS
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs for Mentors
As a Ball State alumnus, you have a unique perspective and voice to share with our students. You’ve not only been in their shoes as a student, but can offer advice on the job search and post-graduation endeavors. The Cardinals Connect alumni-to-student mentoring program promotes fellowship and networking for career development purposes and can form open lines of communication and meaningful long-term relationships.
- Log into www.cardinalsconnect.com using LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Apple, or a username and password
- Complete/update your registration profile. Be sure to select “Student Mentorship” under the “Offer Mentoring” option (please note: it can take up to three business days for our team to review applications)
- Select which job function you’d like to be a mentor for (i.e. Education, Sales, Marketing, etc.)
- Within your profile, you’ll have the opportunity to include a summary about yourself, your education path, and experience. The more you include in your profile the more information students have in their mentor search.
As a mentor, it’s important to set professional expectations through example with students. We encourage this by responding to your mentee in a timely manner, engage in frequent conversation via phone or email, be honest, trustworthy, professional and personal, and help students understand how to discuss transferable skills through NACE Career Readiness they can carry with them into the workforce. If you are mentoring through a department-specific program, like SOAR, you may be required to work with your mentees to set more formal guidelines and track milestones.
We encourage mentors and mentees to meet with students on a regular basis, but you can determine your own cadence. Research indicates that it is best practice to have the formal relationship last for a minimum of one academic year. If an academic year is not possible, a semester may also work as an alternative option. 30-minute mentors could be used for information gathering.
Throughout the year, mentees may message you to consider mentoring them at some capacity. You’ll have a chance to review their profile and accept/reject their request. Please make sure you have notifications sent to your email to ensure you receive the student’s request in a timely manner. We tell students to give you 2-3 days to respond to a request before moving on to another alum. Some students may be within a specific program, like SOAR in the Miller College of Business. Students will specify if they are with a specific department vs. reaching out organically.
You may mentor as many or as few students as you’d like. We do encourage you to keep your profile up to date in terms of how many students you’re open to mentoring and whether you’re available. Once your max number of mentees is reached, your "willing to help" button on your profile will go away.
Again, this will determine how many students you are able and willing to mentor. If you only have capacity for one student (which is completely acceptable), then your profile will update once that one student number is met. If your profile isn’t up to date, students may still reach out. You may then decide to take on the student or not.
Make sure your profile is updated with how many students you are or are not accepting and that should indicate to students whether or not they are allowed to message you. If you’ve reached your max number of students and are still receiving messages, please double check your profile settings.
We encourage you to complete your Cardinals Connect profile by including all relevant professional, academic, and volunteer experience. Making this information as specific as possible will help students identify you on a personal and professional level.
This is completely up to you and your mentees! You may mentor on a 1:1 basis, or if your mentees have similar interests and availability, you may do it in a group setting – either via Zoom, phone, or in-person.
If you are having technical difficulties, please select the “Info & Support” option on the left-hand main menu. You can search the technical support database for common issues or submit a ticket for assistance.
If you are participating in a specific program, please contact the program coordinator who recruited you to participate.
General inquiries can be sent to Sue Godfrey, Director of Mentoring Programs, Ball State University Foundation, at segodfrey@bsu.edu.
FAQs for Mentees
As a Ball State student, you have exclusive access to a robust network of alumni who are eager and willing to meet you and share their wisdom and advice about life beyond Ball State. This mentorship program is designed to connect you with alumni who share similar interests and educational paths as you, to learn from them, ask advice and develop a deep relationship as you prepare for life after Ball State.
- Log into www.cardinalsconnect.com using LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Apple, or a username and password
- Complete/update your registration profile. Be sure to select “Student Mentorship” under the “Seeking Mentoring” option (please note: it can take up to three business days for our team to review applications)
- You can search mentors via their name or a series of specific filters, such as degree, field of study, specific companies, location, or graduation year.
We expect mentees to take initiative and reach out to the mentor, respond to your mentor in a timely manner, strive to set and reach SMART goals, take the relationship seriously, be open to feedback and advice and always be personal and professional.
We encourage mentors and mentees to meet on a regular basis, but you can determine your own cadence. Research indicates that it is best practice to have the formal relationship last for a minimum of one academic year. If an academic year is not possible, a semester may also work as an alternative option. The 30-minute industry specific chat option is a way to connect with alumni for general inquiries and information on their specific position, company, etc. without a long-term commitment.
Each mentor will have either a “willing to help” button or a “offering mentoring”, depending on what you’re hoping to get out of the relationship. Once you’ve identified a mentor, you can select either of these to request help with something like a practice interview, or more of a long-term mentor/mentee relationship.
- Request help: This will offer a dropdown menu of what services the mentor is available for.
- Request mentoring: This will allow you to choose a mentor option and provide a message template that you can customize in your initial outreach to your mentor.
- Mentors will accept or decline your request through the platform
Please allow 2-3 days for the mentor to respond.
While there is a sample message for you to start with, we encourage you to introduce yourself (name, year, major) and include any relevant experience you have on or off campus. You should also include what you hope to gain from the mentorship experience and why you feel like they will be a good fit. Conclude by asking if the mentor is interested in mentoring you and ask them for their consideration.
If you are part of a department-specific program, like SOAR, please indicate this in your message.
There is no limit, but please be mindful and intentional in why you are asking for a mentor and what you hope to achieve. We recommend focusing on no more than three to maximize efforts, rather than several relationships with less of a focus (think: quality over quantity).
We ask that you give alumni enough time to respond, typically 2-3 days. Keep in mind that mentors are busy with their professions and personal lives, so please be considerate of their time. If you do not receive a mentorship request acceptance, please do not send a follow-up message asking alumni if they received your request and would like to be your mentor. Just go ahead and cancel your request, and make a new request to another potential mentor.
Once a mentor has accepted their preferred number of mentee matches, their profile will update automatically to indicate that they are no longer accepting requests. Unfortunately, you will need to select another potential mentor.
You may absolutely continue this relationship, as both parties are available. Please work with your mentor to determine how to expand and extend the relationship and what that looks like.
If you are having technical difficulties, please select the “Info & Support” option on the left-hand main menu. You can search the technical support database for common issues or submit a ticket for assistance.
If you are participating in a specific program, please contact the program coordinator who recruited you to participate.
General inquiries can be sent to Kate Webber, Senior Director of Alumni Engagement, at kwebber@bsu.edu.