Where Will Students Go? Hope College Takes PeopleGrove to New Places.

We are always humbled when we meet with our university partners and hear about the impact they’re having on students and alumni. Regardless of the size of school or department, our partners share one thing in common: they’re passionate about shaping and changing the future of higher ed. We are too.

Each institution we partner with is unique. Each has innovative approaches to supporting their community with technology. At PeopleGrove, we wanted to find some way to celebrate their creativity and impact. With hundreds of partners doing amazing work with your product, how do you recognize the best of the best?

Enter: The Innovators Award. 

This August, we hosted our first in-person PeopleGrove Innovators conference since 2019. There’s no better place to launch our first customer award. We are pleased to announce Hope College and their “Where Will You Go?” project as winners of this year’s award.

Anatomy of Innovation: Where Will You Go?

A senior capstone project, “Where Will You Go?” was developed by four students, with direction from two senior members of faculty. The Boerigter Center for Calling and Career and Hope’s Department of Computer Science also collaborated on the project.

“Where Will You Go?” is an application that provides students with a visual representation of jobs around the country that can be pursued through the network of Hope alumni. This innovative app is featured on an 85-inch touchscreen in a hallway shared by the DeWitt Student and Cultural Center and Boerigter Center. 

The application focuses three main things:

1. It surfaces the many alumni who have said they’re interested in talking with students about career exploration
2. It highlights career opportunities across the globe
3. It shares in-depth narratives of alumni callings and career stories to inspire students and graduates on their own career journeys

Since its installation on campus in May 2021, students’ use of Hope College Connection, powered by PeopleGrove, has increased by 20%. Students working the career center welcome desk estimate roughly 85% of visitors share a positive verbal response when first seeing the monitor. 

While certainly not the only contributing factor, the team believes the interactive monitor has contributed in part to an increase in admissions applications. As of January 2022, Hope saw a 15% increase year-over-year in applications to attend Hope College.

Industry Recognition for Hope College

PeopleGrove isn’t the only fan of “Where Will You Go?”. This summer, Hope received the 2022 NACE Award for Technology Excellence-College from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The NACE Awards honor members’ outstanding achievements in the career services and HR/staffing professions.

We love seeing PeopleGrove partners recognized for the excellent work they do. And we’re proud to support them in the important role they play in expanding career access.

Congratulations, Hope College, for being the first recipients of the Innovators Award! We look forward to highlighting more accomplishments from our partners in 2023.

If you missed Innovators and want to catch a recap of the event, check out our recent blog.