Northern Network Debuts

The NMU Alumni Association recently launched an exclusive online community that promotes social and professional networking among Northern graduates. The free service enables alumni to connect with old friends, create personal Web pages, recruit talented NMU candidates to their companies, post resumes and search for jobs. More than 2,400 have signed up for the “Northern Network.” Faculty and staff are welcome to register and keep in touch with former students they had in class or supervised as employees.

“We’ve received very positive feedback,” said Brad Hamel (Alumni). “It’s easy to register and use. Alumni really enjoy the Northern Network and appreciate the fact that it’s a secured site accessible only to a limited NMU community. The database is searchable, so people can look for information most relevant to them. We can also post announcements for targeted groups. It makes it easier to reach alumni from a certain academic department, athletic team, residence hall or graduation year. If we’re having an alumni gathering in another city, we can send advance notices to people in that geographic area.”

John Frick (JOBSearch Center) had personal and professional reasons for registering.

“My biggest motivation was catching up with people I knew when I was a student at Northern,” he said. “I have reconnected with six people I lost contact with since graduating in ’87, including one person who lived on my floor when I was an RA in Hunt Hall. The Northern Network is very good for allowing alumni to connect with one another.

“In my professional field, one of the timely issues being discussed is the effectiveness of networking sites – whether it’s Facebook, MySpace or a site like the Northern Network – on career services. So it’s important for me and my staff to keep abreast of emerging technologies and services and to see how they supplement what is already being offered by the JOBSearch Center.”

To register, visit Northern Network.