Alumni website earns top honor

In the fall of 2013, Tulane University Vice President for Alumni Relations James Stofan agreed to an in-person interview with a virtually unknown company from London called Graduway. The start-up wanted to launch a cutting edge networking website exclusive to Tulane alumni and students. Stofan wanted the same.

The result was Tulane Connect, an online platform where alumni and students can network, find jobs, and volunteer to mentor other Tulanians. The site was recently named “Best University Network” by Graduway at the company’s annual Global Leaders Summit held on April 5-6 in California. Tulane beat out other leading universities for the top award including UCLA, Oxford, Johns Hopkins, Rice and Temple universities.

At this time, Tulane Connect has more users than any other Graduway network.

"The response from our alumni has been extraordinary – it proves their dedication to the future of Tulane University."

James Stofan

“Online mentoring was a key to this project, a feature that Graduway built into the platform as it developed,” said Stofan. “There are now almost 6,000 Tulanians on Tulane Connect that have volunteered to help you with your resume, help you network, and help you find a job. The response from our alumni has been extraordinary – it proves their dedication to the future of Tulane University.”

Incoming Tulane Alumni Association President Larry Connelley is one of the many volunteer mentors.

“Tulane Connect makes it easy to reach out to someone for virtual networking. I was able to help someone with a resume, and provide guidance about internships to a mentee. I recently ran into my mentee on campus and was thrilled to hear that she secured a summer internship in Washington, D.C."

Joining Tulane Connect is easy. Accounts can be created using LinkedIn, Facebook or an email account.