Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: California State University, Long Beach

Title of entry: Senior Send Off: Invest in Your Success

About this entry: Senior Send Off: Invest in Your Success transformed CSULB’s traditional senior celebration into a strategic alumni transition initiative embedded within commencement season.

Developed collaboratively by Alumni Engagement and the Commencement Office, the program addressed a key institutional challenge: meaningfully engaging students at the pivotal moment they transition to alumni status.

Rather than hosting a passive send-off, we implemented a competitive, application-based professional development experience. 172 graduating seniors applied; 75 were selected. Ultimately, 58 students attended, alongside 15 alumni mentors and university staff.

Hosted at the Anna W. Ngai Alumni Center, the evening combined a formal four-course dinner with live etiquette instruction, structured alumni mentorship by industry, elevator pitch development, and philanthropy education highlighting lifelong engagement and the Senior Class Gift.

University leadership—including the President and the Vice President for University Relations & Development—attended, reinforcing institutional commitment to student-to-alumni transition.

Delivered at a total cost of $5,810.54, the initiative leveraged volunteer speakers and mentors to maximize impact and efficiency.

Senior Send Off shifted senior programming from celebration to preparation—creating a scalable, leadership-supported alumni pipeline model.