if you work in academics...

groovygrl

how do you deal w/ former students requesting a connection on linkedin?

I am not searchable on FB and in the few instances that former students (I would not even consider linking in any way on anything w/ a current student) have come across me via mutual FB friends, I have ignored their requests.

However, I feel like Linkedin is a little different and obviously I can't 'hide' myself on there.  It would still a professional relationship but if s/he is linked to other former students, I fear they'll see my name in the other person's feed or whatever and then will try to link also & I don't know that I want a ton of linkages to former students...I'm not too sure how to feel about it, this is not a student that I had a close relationship with, just had in class.  On the same time, I can understand that new grads are trying to expand their professional network.

thoughts?

jf198400

I don't work in academics but I am connected to several former professors, all in my major. I dont think there's anything wrong with it.

aelhunt

jenniferb123006:

I don't have a LinkedIn; however, I don't see how former students are an issue. I'm a HS teacher; I won't friend students on Facebook until they graduate. This year I had three friend requests by the time I left the parking lot! My profile is very private, but if current students find me, I ignore the request and remind them of the graduation rule. Once they have graduated it no longer worries me. I'm also friends with a few former professors of mine. Again it means nothing major to me; just a way to stay connected now that I've moved on. Of course your personal comfort zone may be different than mine. My Facebook only talks about my kids [yes I'm one of those]. If I partied at all ever, I may have a different opinion. [Not saying you party; just giving an example as to why you may have a different comfort level than me.]

this. I have students friend me only after they graduate and I also keep my posts and pics pretty boring (family, vacation and baby). I would not worry about a professional connection at all.

KL777

I work in higher ed, on the administrator'side, and I get LinkedIn requests from students and sometimes their parents that I have interracted with, and I ignore all of them.

XCrissCrossX

I'm not on LinkedIn (nor do I work in higher ed- I'm a HS teacher too) so I'm not sure how it works but I assume it doesn't tell you when someone ignores your request. So I'd accept the ones you feel comfortable with (you'd feel good giving them a letter of rec, you are interested in furthering their networking, you think they may further your network, etc) and ignore the ones you want to ignore.

groovygrl

theresat858:

I am a postdoc and I'm connected to a large number of professors at the institution where I got my PhD...but no one from undergrad.

Thanks to everyone for your responses...to the pp, I am also connected to a few professors from my graduate program but I don't know why the undergrads seem different to me (esp when I haven't seen/communicated w/ them in 1-2 yrs...)...the level of relationship/interaction I guess if they were just in my class and no more and that I try to be very careful about not crossing any weird boundaries, but of course linkedin is not a personal boundary or anything. Though I'm surprised that many h.s. teachers would be friends on a personal FB acct with students right after graduation, but maybe I'm just really conservative & weird about FB. 

The other thing w/ linkedin is you never know if someone specifically initiated a connection w/ you or just did the big blast to their entire contact list, so who knows if they'd even notice you didn't accept.  I'll probably just ignore for now.

 

catsinawindow

I'm also a post-doc and I am connected through LinkedIn to most of my graduate professors and a few undergrad professors as well.  I always had a connection more than just the classroom with the undergrad professors that I am connected to (ie. research advisor, second reader on my senior thesis, mentor).  I would not have connected with professors who I only knew from class.

That said, if I were in your situation, I'd probably accept the connections.  What harm do you think accepting them will do?  If anything, as they advance in their careers, it might even help.

I do completely agree about not putting these types of connections on a private site like Facebook.

mle5d

I am a career counselor in a university, and we push our students to use Linkedin.com as a networking tool. That said, I only connect to former students once they have graduated. If I get requests from current students, I just ignore them. I have never had a student approach me about it, but if I did, I would simply explain that I will connect with them once they graduate.  I'm unsearchable via FB, and don't connect with co-workers, so there is little chance of connecting with any students.

massdreams

I'm on the administrative side of higher ed. I don't friend students on facebook until they have graduated, and even then, it's not many. I'm also hard to find. However, on Linkedin, most of my connections are current or former students (I'm really not very good about using it). The way I see it, part of my role is helping students find jobs, both current students and alumni. If a student I worked with 5 years ago is at a company and a current student wants to get in at that company, they could discover that I'm a connection and reach out to me to provide an introduction. The amount of times that has happened has been so infrequent it is not an inconvenience, but I think it's valuable. Plus, we want to know what alumni are up to, and staying connected online in some format really is the way to do it.

mhickey426

I think a college professor is fine to make friends with students but I personally don't and wouldn't. I work in a HS and ignore all requests from students and former students.  I ignore the former students because they are still friends with my current students.  I feel it is better to keep the 2 separate.  If they want to stay in touch for professional reasons they can always email me through the school email address.  

This day in age you have to be very careful.  My professional life and personal life remain completely separate.  I do not want to ever do anything that could be misinterpreted in any way.  It may sound a bit extreme but I worked to hard to get where I am that I don't want to risk it.     

Stephorse

I just make a policy not to connect with any students period. Former or current. I just think it's not the place to do that and it could potentially look bad to any future employers, so I just don't do it at all.

Manda-Kay

I work in high school and tell my students they can facebook me when they graduate (which has yet to happen).  My FB is 100% clean (has to be when you're FB friends with your parents and grandma) so I have nothing to hide.