News

By Ingrid Benirschke-Perkins

In the fall of 2024, Chris Simpson Brent (Northern California Chapter) recruited members for the inaugural ARCS National Scholar Relations Committee to strengthen engagement with our Scholars, particularly Scholar Alumni.

Once the committee was formed, several subgroups were established to address specific Scholar-related initiatives. One of the first was the Scholar Alum Seek'n Find group, charged with updating the approximately 12,750 Scholar Alumni records in the ARCS National database. Beth Wainwright chaired the group, working alongside Ingrid Benirschke-Perkins, Chris Simpson Brent, and Sue Dintelman.

Following an extensive evaluation of corporate and independent database researchers, the committee selected two highly experienced freelance contractors to update the following information:

• Full name

• LinkedIn URL and other professional website URLs

• Current work or professional email address (when publicly available)

• Current work or professional telephone number (when publicly available)

• Current employer

• Current position/title

• Geographic location

• ZIP Code

To ensure the integrity of the project, the committee established strict research protocols. All data must be gathered manually and exclusively from publicly available, self-disclosed sources. Contractors may not use scraping tools, automation, browser extensions, bots, data-mining software, or third-party data brokers, and they must comply with the terms of service and acceptable use policies of all websites accessed, including LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and employer websites. Direct contact with alumni by email, telephone, text, or social media is strictly prohibited.

To help chapters assess the reliability of each update, contractors assign every record a Research Confidence Rating from 1 to 5, with 5 representing the highest level of confidence, and provide a brief explanation in a Notes field.

The contractors began work on June 1 of this year. As records are completed, Sue Dintelman distributes them to the appropriate chapters, allowing each chapter to review the updates and begin developing strategies to reconnect with its Scholar Alumni.

Recognizing the importance of this initiative, Chris secured national funding to support the project, which is progressing at approximately 1,000 Scholar records per month at a cost of $35 per hour.

With updated contact information in hand, chapters are well positioned to strengthen relationships with their Scholar Alumni. Opportunities include inviting local alumni to speak at chapter events, arranging workplace visits, encouraging alumni to join ARCS, highlighting their achievements in chapter newsletters, and developing other creative ways to reconnect.

Nothing demonstrates the long-term impact of ARCS more powerfully than the accomplishments of our Scholar Alumni. These updates will give every chapter a clearer picture of where their alumni are today and the remarkable contributions they are making to science, research, academia, and industry, while providing a strong foundation for lasting engagement.