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YAI recently won the Stony Brook Virtual Engagement Champions award. The honor recognizes organizations that have used virtual resources to garner engagement in the campus community.
“This is important and speaks to the quantity and quality of engagements we’ve held with Stony Brook students,” said Director of Human Resources, Ava Padmore. “Stony Brook University is a selective school and a large school with students who are sought after by every employment sector.”
YAI has a long-standing partnership with Stony Brook and is a member of the Career Center’s Partnership Council. The agency helps recruit both graduate and undergraduate students looking for internships and full-time jobs in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field.
Since the onset of the pandemic, YAI has had to look for new and different ways to approach engagement. Fireside chats via Facebook and Instagram were among the numerous virtual events YAI hosted for Stony Brook students.
“It's been a very challenging year with recruitment, not only because of the pandemic, but a lot of students that are virtual would typically be working on Long Island have been dispersed all throughout the region, said Human Resources Assistant Manager, Andrej Drofenik. “It’s still been a great support and we have a really strong connection with Stony Brook and we are looking to keep going.”
Moving forward YAI hopes to use a hybrid model to recruit and connect with students.
“Hybrid is going to be the way of the future,” said Human Resources Manager, Andy Chung. “There is definitely a need for the in-person stuff and I hope we get back to that in the near future, but I also think there is a good need to continue the virtual methods as well."