Alumni mentoring was the big buzzphrase in alumni relations and career services in 2016.

But the rise in such programs has some people asking, "What is mentoring anyway?" Is it a Karate Kid-style, one-on-one relationship that the institution has to set up from scratch? Or is it something more organic? What can mentees expect to get out of it, and what should mentors expect to do?

To help answer these and other questions, we picked six articles that cut past the hype and clarify what alumni mentoring programs look like at their best.

Colleges and universities are turning to "career communities"—organized, clustered networks of alumni spread across different industries and fields—to serve their students' career needs at scales larger than ever before.

Colorado State University's Career Communities program is one shining example of the success of such a strategy. CSU's 15 career communities helps its 33,000+ students (and even more young alumni) find their way into the careers of their choosing.

Barb Richardson is Associate Director of Assessment & Strategic Initiatives at CSU's Career Center. We asked her to tell us how CSU has implemented its Career Communities program and made it a success.

Why do students go to college? Most academics would be horrified to discover that it’s not to get a great education and become educated citizens of the world.

Today’s students still want high quality academics, but they take the educational benefits of college for granted. What students really expect from today’s college, as reported in the Higher Education Research Institute’s survey of incoming freshmen, is to get a leg up. Three of the top four reasons for coming to college (and the percentage of students who cited that reason) are related to careers.

Alumni career services is a rapidly evolving field, and newbies and experts alike face no shortage of questions. We compiled this list of alumni career services best practices and strategies to help you get results for your school.