20A- Growing Your Social Capital

Domain expert in industry
A.UF Registrar

Expert on Market
B. CLAS advisor

Supplier
C. Student Senator in Student Government

Domain expert in industry
1) I chose a faculty member in the UF Registrar. This person has been working here for the past 15 years. She was present when UF made the changes to the current grading system we have now.

2) This person fills the spot of being a domain expert in industry because she has an idea of how the new grading policy has effected the university as a whole.

3) I found this person by walking into the UF Registrar office. I told the front desk that I needed to speak with someone and they set me up with this lady. Then I took advantage of that meeting and spoke to her about my opportunity.

4) The person provided me with the benefits and drawbacks of the current grading system we have and reasons why the old grading system was reformed. She was also offered to speak with someone higher up than her that I can maybe implement my proposal to them. The return expectation is a contact that I can pitch my proposal to.

5) This person will enhance my ability to exploit my opportunity because they will be providing me a contact for pitch my proposal to.

Expert on Market
1) I chose a CLAS advisor. This person has been working here for the past 5 years. He advises alot of students on the daily on their major critical tracking.

2) This person fills the spot of Expert on Market because they have statistics and hands on experience with the amount of students that have to switch their majors or take on a different career path because of their grades, which the new grading system can be to blame.

3) I found the person by going to the CLAS advising center and scheduling an appointment with the advisor. They took me into their office so we can speak about my opportunity.

4) The advisor told me that he would provide me with the statistics of the number of students that had to change their major because of poor grades. The return expectation is to show them the draft of my proposal so they can help me revise it and even ask what else there is it add.

5) Including this person will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because they will provide me with important statistics I will be able to include in my proposal.

Supplier
1) I chose a Student Senator currently in Student Government. This person has just been elected. However, I chose this because Student Government has a huge influence throughout campus.

2) This person fills the Supplier role because they have a reasonable amount of influence around campus, so they're able to help advocate for a cause that is affecting most students.

3) I found the person through a mutual friend. We sat at the Plaza of the Americas and I talked to her about my proposal and whether it was something Student Government is interested in helping me advocate.

4) The Student Senator told me that before proposal I need to show statistics that this is affecting more than half of the student body at the university. She told me that she can speak with a few other student senators and see if they are interested in looking into this. In exchange, she asked me to update her on the status and statistics of this opportunity.

5) Including this person in my network will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because she has a reasonable influence throughout campuos which is what I need to be able to pass this proposal.

Reflection
This experience has taught me that networking is very important because if you know the right people, they will be able to help you out. This experience gave me hands-on experience for my future networking opportunities. This was my first time doing such a thing so I was able to gain alot of knowledge and skill on how to speak with people.