Integrating Alumni in the Sustainability Field into Coursework

Washington and Lee has alumni working in all aspects of sustainability whose experience may be relevant and beneficial to sustainability-related courses across the curriculum.

How Can I Find Alumni With Relevant Expertise?
Faculty who would like to identify alumni to visit their classes should contact Molly Steele, Dean of Career and Professional Development (CPD), who can help to identify alumni with relevant experience and interest in engaging with the university in this way.

Who Does the Initial Outreach?
CPD prefers to do the initial outreach and connect the alum with the faculty member to finalize details once interest has been established. If a faculty member has an established relationship with an alum and prefers to do the outreach themselves, CPD requests that the faculty member let the office know of the invitation so that it can be added to the alum's record.

Why Work Through CPD?
Working with CPD has several benefits for faculty and the university as a whole:
• It reduces the legwork for faculty. CPD can run a list of candidates and manage the initial outreach to alumni.
• It helps to identify alumni who would be ideal for this type of engagement but are unknown to specific faculty.
• It allows CPD to track the engagement of our alumni and avoid those who may be asked too often, are otherwise committed, or are not inclined to give back to the university in this way.
• It spreads the wealth, providing an opportunity for W&L to engage more alumni on sustainability issues, building support for our sustainability efforts across a wider group.