Upstate Connect

Upstate Connect will strive to connect Upstate businesses and Upstate universities.  Both human resource and career service departments, for businesses and universities, respectively, are busy places and do not, under normal circumstances, have the resources to stay in contact with all of their counterparts on a regular basis.  Such a disconnect results in job opportunities not getting to students who may be interested.

The Foundation, through our Upstate Connect initiative, will tackle this problem by:

• Developing an online employment opportunity clearinghouse. 

  • We will encourage Upstate firms of all sizes, interested specifically in recruiting graduating students in the Upstate region, to input employment/ internship opportunities into this website, specifying not only the standard information (job description, general qualifications), but also more specific criteria on the level of skill desired.  Based upon this information, Upstate Connect will, on a weekly basis, forward specific job opportunities to partner schools whose students best fit the given criteria.  These opportunities will then be forwarded directly to students.

• Establishing and maintaining connections with Career Service departments at universities across Upstate New York

  • We will assist in "first-contact" assistance between individual firms and universities to ensure the recruitment process of Upstate graduating students is both as efficient and effective as possible.

  • One of the biggest challenges Upstate New York faces tomorrow, is stepping off of the path it walked today.  The way we market our region must change from the bottom up.  The Upstate Foundation, through Upstate Connect will be hosting online seminars and information sessions with university Career Service centers across the region to discuss how Upstate New York can be marketed as a viable job-opportunity region, and what resources are out there for students considering sticking around.

 

Downtown Ithaca, NY (Courtesy)