The University of Portland Academic Quad. Photo by Pilot Thomas Le Ngo '08.
We're excited to announce that we are partnering with the University of Portland to launch a Switchboard for the UP community.
The University of Portland is home to over 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students, who study everything from business to engineering to nursing to the liberal arts. The UP community's commitment to generosity and hospitality makes it special, says UP's Director of Alumni Relations, Craig Swinyard '98:
All Pilots have remarkable gifts to offer their community, and because of our culture at UP, our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents are all eager to support one another.
—UP Alumni RElations Director, Craig Swinyard '98
UP's network is large enough that the Pilots it comprises have a "diversity of opinions, experiences, and perspectives," Craig says, but small enough that they share a common ethos and a strong bond.
Switchboard helps UP unlock its community's abundant goodwill. "Prior to Switchboard, we always lacked an efficient way to connect our community members to one another for the purpose of asking for help and offering support," says Katie Mitchell '09, who manages marketing, communications, and online engagement for UP's Alumni Relations office. Now, Pilots can access their entire network whenever they need help or want to lend a hand:
In the past, people's requests were fielded by a single staff member. Switchboard has been the perfect solution because now our community members have access to everyone's network.
-UP ALUMNI RELATIONS Marketing, Communications, & Online Engagement, Katie Mitchell '09
In the past month alone, hundreds of Pilots have signed up for the UP Switchboard and made useful, lasting connections. The variety of asks, offers, and success stories on the UP Switchboard reflects the diversity of experience Pilots have when they study at UP and after they graduate.
Pilots have used Switchboard to connect over, well, everything from business to engineering to nursing to the liberal arts. We at Switchboard HQ have been eagerly watching the UP Switchboard grow and cheering with each new success story.
Katie and Craig have already done an outstanding job introducing Switchboard to the Pilots network, and we look forward to working with UP to strengthen that relationship further. This year, Switchboard will be an integral part of UP's campaign to launch alumni chapters across the country, Craig says:
