Boosting networking and mentorship opportunities for the Yale-NUS community

A screenshot of the Cross Campus platform.

To forge even deeper connections between Yale-NUS College’s students, alumni, and Yale’s global community, Yale University welcomed the College’s students to Yale’s online networking, community-building, and mentoring platform – Cross Campus – on 4 March 2022.

Cross Campus offers students a platform to connect internationally with more than 14,000 Yale alumni, more than 5,000 Yale students, and other Yale affiliates such as Yale-NUS alumni to exchange advice, wisdom, and ideas. Since launching in April 2020, the platform has generated thousands of unique connections among its members.

Stephen Blum, a Yale alumnus who also serves as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Yale Alumni Association said, “The past two years have been challenging for so many of us, often separating friends and classmates. During that time, Cross Campus has served as a bridge to connect and engage the Yale community – and it will continue to do so well into the future. Cross Campus reaches alums for whom coming back to campus isn’t easy, giving them many ways to connect with their fellow Yalies.”

Cross Campus also helps students and alumni to connect via shared interests. The platform offers more than 40 groups, with interests in areas such as service, climate and the environment, graduate studies, not-for-profit fields, and career choices. Cross Campus members can view other members’ profiles and connect with each other individually. Using intuitive filters, members can find and immediately connect with alumni who share industry, academic, geographic, or other commonalities.

Besides making connections, Yale-NUS students can look forward to the upcoming launch of a one-to-one Cross Campus mentorship programme with Yale and Yale-NUS alumni. Students joining Cross Campus will have access to an expanded pool of potential mentors across industries. Sign-ups for the mentorship programme are expected to open by April 2022, with students being matched with mentors during the following month.

Yale-NUS student Hunter Davis (Class of 2022), who has been involved in the testing of Cross Campus prior to its campus-wide launch, expressed his excitement at having access to this large and varied community.

“From my experience using the platform, it seems like there are a lot of great potential mentors on the site, with experience across a variety of fields,” he said.

“I feel much more comfortable reaching out to people on Cross Campus because everyone on the network comes from the wider Yale community. This makes Cross Campus feel less like cold calling and more like asking faculty members or classmates for advice.”

Having used Cross Campus as an alumna, Florence Feng (Class of 2017) is hopeful about the opportunities the platform can offer Yale-NUS students.

“The launch of this platform is terrific because this would give our current students the additional platform and avenue to connect with not only their fellow students on campus, but also the Yale community and affiliates all over the world,” she said. “Having access, even virtual access like this, will be a boost to their careers.”

“With a liberal arts education as a shared language, we are all able to connect,” Florence added.

Another Yale-NUS alumnus Adrian Stymne (Class of 2017) shared his enthusiasm about making new connections on the platform.

“One of the things I’ve loved about being a Yale-NUS alumnus is running into my old classmates all over the world,” he said. “It’s really exciting that there’s now a platform that’ll help me connect with Yale graduates as well, to chat, share experiences, and support each other.”

Yale-NUS Vice President (Engagement) Dr Trisha Craig reflected on the positive outcomes that Cross Campus could bring to the Yale-NUS community.

“Whether students are looking for advice about specific industries or graduate programmes, inviting a Yale alum to speak to student groups, joining a global community of professionals with common interests such as sustainability or entrepreneurship, working with a mentor, or creating the kind of networks that they can tap on beyond their time at Yale-NUS, the platform offers incredible opportunities,” Dr Craig shared. “This will be another element of the Yale-NUS experience.”