30 Minutes a Month is a micro-volunteering program – where small acts on your part make a big difference to our students. You give 30 minutes out of your month to complete activities that benefit you, current students, and your fellow graduates. These activities further your professional development, help students get the most out of their education and help the University demonstrate the impact our alumni are making in our communities.
The program is an annual, 9-month program that runs from March to November.
Each month, participants are sent a priority activity, which will take around 30 minutes to complete. As an alternative, you can also complete one of the standing activities. When you complete 2 months, 3 months and 9 months, you receive a reward. Simple!
Read below on the range of activities that are part of this year's program. You can also find the most frequently asked questions our participants have raised.
From a Certificate I to a PhD, if you have graduated with a CQUniversity qualification, you are eligible to join this program.
Sign up
Sign up using our online form.
Complete your activity
Complete your activity for the month.
Submit
Submit your activity so we can send you your rewards.
| Months completed | Reward |
|---|---|
| 2 months | CQU Alumni phone pop grip |
| 6 months | Reusable cutlery and straw set in a CQU-branded storage bag |
| 9 months | Free access to the PDC54055: Resilience and Change micro-credential that teaches strategies for building and maintaining personal resilience and that of the communities in which we live. Alternatively, participants can pick a micro-credential of their choice and have the cost of the above micro-credential contributed to the cost of their chosen course. |
Additionally, participants completing at least 6 months of activities will receive a ‘CQU volunteer’ digital badge. These will be issued at the end of the program, after November 2024.
*Rewards are subject to change based on availability.
Feeling Good
Get those warm, fuzzy, feel-good feelings knowing your participation is helping students prepare for graduation and fellow graduates pursue their careers.
Impress employers
This program is designed to get you to complete activities that expand your professional experience and online presence.
You can build a portfolio of demonstrable experience by adding the tasks you complete to your resume.
If you’re publishing posts online, you’ll also be demonstrating your knowledge and communication skills to your network. When (not if) potential employers do background searches online, they’ll be presented with evidence of your thought leadership through the posts you’ve made – impressive.
When you were studying, did you ever have a moment where you weren’t sure where your study was taking you; or how to approach the leap between study and your first job? Many of the tasks in this program are designed to help students in these times – and the people best positioned to give advice are those who have experienced it.
This program is designed to involve alumni in simple activities that make a big difference - both to your professional development, but also to current students and the University.
We want to reward you for getting involved because your contribution through these carefully selected activities really helps students get the most of their education, and helps the University demonstrate the impact alumni are making in our communities.
Below are this year's activities for the 30 Minutes a Month program. We offer one priority activity each month, as well as some high-impact standing activities. You can choose whether to complete the monthly priority activity or one of the standing activities.
Once you have completed your activity, you must submit it via our online form or via email. Your month cannot be marked as complete unless a submission notification is received. Please make sure you have signed up as a participant before submitting your first activity.
You'll receive more details on each activity in the monthly activity announcement email, which is sent to all participants.
| Month | Activity |
|---|---|
| March | Take a selfie in your workplace and post it in either the Alumni Facebook or LinkedIn group. Write a 50-80 word caption to accompany the photo. If you’re not big on socials, don’t stress! You can also send us an email with your photo and the caption. |
| April | Share some thoughts on how you engaged with a CQUniversity service when you were still at uni. This could be any service at CQU, including (but not limited to) mentoring, Academic Learning Centre (ALC), Careers, Counselling, Scholarships, Clubs and Societies etc. The purpose of this exercise is to encourage students to access services and activities that could enhance their university experience. Did you know you can still access some of the CQU services even after you’ve graduated? Check out our Alumni Benefits page to see which services are available to you as a graduate. |
| May | Complete an alumni profile to show current and future students where their qualifications could take them in their careers. Profiles must be 150-250 words and include an image of you. If you’ve already completed an alumni profile, review it and email us any updates. Complete the submission form to let us know you’ve supplied or updated your profile in the past three months. |
| June | Sign-up to our new digital alumni community and join the group for 30 Minutes a Month participants. If you're already a member, make sure to say hi to fellow participants (especially the new members) in the group! Get regular updates about the program, activities, and how your content will be distributed to students! Be involved and witness firsthand how your half an hour contributions each month are making a big difference to students and the University. Additionally, the group is the ideal space to meet other 30 Minutes a Month participants, and network with alumni who are also keen to support students. |
| July | Sign up as a mentor (and/or mentee) in the CQU Industry Connect Networking & Mentoring program. If you are already signed up, check your current profile and update it if necessary. Complete the submission form to let us know your profile is ready to go in Industry Connect! |
| August | Share your best tips and answer the most recent mentoring ‘listings’ question in our new digital alumni community. All the responses will be collated into blog posts that will be shared with students in the new MyCQU platform. Your tips will also be shared with your fellow alumni on social media and in our new digital alumni community. You never know – your 80-word answer might help someone connect with a mentor who will help change their career! |
| September | It's nearly the end of term, and thousands of students are preparing to graduate! Share your experience of transitioning from being a student to being a member of the CQU Alumni Community. |
| October | Donate to and/or share this year’s CQUniCares Annual Appeal with your networks. |
| November | Complete this year’s program closing survey. |
An activity is set for each month (see "Monthly activities' above). If you don't want to complete a priority activity, you can choose to complete one of the activities below.
Once you have completed your activity, remember to submit it via our online form. All standing activities should take no longer than 30 minutes.
- Volunteer to be a guest speaker or a panel member to share:
- updates about what’s happening in your industry or
- your insights about your job or
- your insights about job opportunities in regional areas
- your experience in navigating the job recruitment process or
- your experience in starting in a new role or
- thoughts on job opportunities for international students or
- your insights and experience about diversity in the workplace or
- a presentation about another careers-related topic
Send us an email to register your interest: alumni-enquiries@cqu.edu.au
- Tell us about your favourite CQUniversity academic. It could also be someone else who was an influential figure or a role model during your university studies. Answer the below questions and submit them via our online form.
- What did that person teach you?
- How did that person influence or inspire you?
- Can you think of a specific moment when that person made a difference in your life?
- Do you still stay in touch with that person?
- Anything else?
- Tell us about a lesson you learned at CQUniversity that didn’t come from a book, and submit your response via our online form. To help you with this, we've listed some sentence starters below:
- A life lesson that I learnt while studying at CQUniversity is.…
- I learnt this lesson by.…
- That lesson helped me.…
- Without learning this lesson, I would have never.…
- Anything else?
- Film a 5-minute ‘a day in the life’ video about your job and send your submission to alumni-enquiries@cqu.edu.au. To help you narrate your video, we've listed some sentence starters below:
- The first thing I do when I get to work is.…
- The three activities I’m most likely to do in a day are.…
- Something people might not realise I do is.…
- Something students who are considering being a [job title] need to think about is.…
- Something I wish I knew about being a [job title/field/industry] is.…
- The best bit about my job is.…
- Anything else?
- Write a blog post: How is Artificial Intelligence/automation impacting your job/industry? To help you with this, we've listed some sentence starters below. All you have to do is share your blog via our online form, and that’s your 30 minutes done.
- Artificial Intelligence/automation has impacted my job/industry by.…
- I believe that Artificial Intelligence/automation can be helpful in.…
- I believe that some of the issues with Artificial Intelligence/automation include.…
- My tips for using Artificial Intelligence/automation to the best of your advantage are.…
- Anything else?
- Write a blog post: Tell us about a difficult subject or term and how you overcame it. Answer the below questions and submit them via our online form.
- The most difficult subject/term I faced was.…
- It was difficult because.…
- I overcame it by.…
- The biggest thing I learned from it is.…
- Anything else?
- Were you a scholarship recipient while attending CQU? In 4-6 sentences, share how your scholarship impacted your life, and submit via our online form.
- Post a piece of content in the new digital alumni community. This could be an article you’ve written, a social media post, a presentation/video, or something interesting you’ve read or seen recently. Let us know once you’ve completed this activity via our online form.
- Share a photo of your time at CQUniversity! This could be a graduation photo, a study-group photo, a photo of when you’re living at student residence, or a photo of you being involved in a co-curricular activity. Share it in the Alumni Facebook group, the Alumni LinkedIn group, or the new digital alumni community. Let us know once you’ve completed this activity via our online form.
- Complete the Alumni Advice questionnaire to share your study insights with current students.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You can choose to complete the monthly priority activity or one of our standing activities. You can view the monthly priority and standing activities above.
No. You can only submit 30 minutes of activity each month.
The 30 Minutes a Month program rewards alumni for continuous participation. But we understand that life happens, and you may not be able to complete your 30 minutes of activity each month. If you miss a month you can keep participating in the program.
Rewards are sent when you complete two, six and nine months of the program.
Yes! You can register and start participating at any time – but you will only be able to complete the months remaining.
More Information
If you have any questions or would like more information on the program contact the Alumni Relations Team on alumni-enquiries@cqu.edu.au or +61 7 4923 2875.
