I plan to use the current structure that our academic department utilizes. We plan to roll out the thought of starting an alumni assocaition and incorporte their thoughts into our plan. We are fortunate to have alumni in our staff and faculty. I plan to utilize them to get us started with brainstorming as well. This will be the start of my alumni committee.
Brad,
It's good to make your list of potentials. No one feels like they have 'time' for one more commitment. But if you can approach them with why you chose them for the list and what you feel they can contribute to your team, it may help.
June Gudeman
I will speak to our director about helping me put together a short list including staff, faculty, employers and potential employers, and grads. After we come up with a list, I'll contact everyone to gauge interest and whether they have the time to commit to the Advisory board.
Camille,
You got it! Arm twisting or guilting someone into being on your team won't work, you have to find the people who really are passionate about alumni.
Good luck!
June Gudeman
Yes, some of us know what we are passionate about! Finding the individuals that can make this program successful is key. I cannot wait to find those passionate ones.
Camille,
Glad to hear it! There are probably a number of individuals who are passionate about alumni -- you just have to find them!
June Gudeman
Yes! i hope it works out well. I am already thinking of some candidates that are perfect for this.
Camille,
That sounds like a good start. It may be helpful to target a staff member representing your admissions and career service department. Remember also that people like to be asked. Your and your administrators may just want to target specific staff members that you want to invite to be part of your team.
June Gudeman
I work at a Branch school and at the main campus we have to organize most of the Alumni organization. To set up an Advisory Board I will meet with the Owner and Campus Director to figure out what type of members will be chosen in order to make the Board successful. I would then send out a mass email to the alumni, current students and faculty and staff to see if they would like to volunteer an hour of their time each month to set on the Board.
Lisa,
You have some great ideas on including a variety of members for your team and I like the idea of inviting anyone who might be interested. Certainly, you want to involved people who are passionate about alumni. Just another thought - people like to be asked. So, you might think about a couple of key people you might approach and let them know you think they would be a great addition to your team.
June Gudeman
I would send out invitation to our Alumni, and I also send out email to our office and all other departments to see if anyone who are interesting to become a member of the board. Hopefully I would like to form a mix team with staff of administration, volunteers, graduates, instructors that can be help out the different needs.
Tawny,
Certainly looking for individuals who may be passionate about your alumni and willing to serve (as opposed to being arm-twisted) is a great idea. I might suggest actually targeting some graduates and staff members that you think might be good candidates. Frankly, people like to be asked. You communicating to them that you believe they would be a good fit, may encourage someone to agree to something they might never step up to do on their own.
June Gudeman
As the Career Advisor for our campus my steps to create an Advisory Board are to decide who would be the most beneficial to ask to particpate on the Board. Ensuring that all levels are met and all participants asked to join had a true passion for making the Alumni Association become something that all want to take part in. Seeking for guidance in innovation, leadership and ability to stick with something until we make it all it can be.
Michael,
As you look for individuals to invite to be part of your team, look for individuals who are passionate about your graduates. Try to represent different departments and include some graduates to give you that alumni perspective as you decide on direction.
Good luck!
June Gudeman
We would first have to identify who the director would be, which would probally be assinged to me. After that, our office staff would have to send email/invites to see who would be interested in becoming a member of the committee, our office staff would also be involved and since we are a small facility, there would not be a lot of people around the table. It would be very manageable. Hopefully if we were able to gather a forum, the next focus would be to brainstorm and possibly get with other institutios on what they do to help get our board off the ground and running.
Christine,
It sounds like you are well on your way. I'm glad to see you are involving people from your industry as well as your graduates.
June Gudeman
I have helped in the selection of our Advisory Board Members by contacting alumni that have current experience working in the field. We also ask experts that work in the industry to volunteer their time and give advice to assist in our program development and career workshops for ongoing improvements.
Andrew,
It sounds like you have some great ideas to get started! You may want to consider some key administrators representing different areas (ie: Career Services, Student Services, Instructors) to help give their guidance and input beyond just your alumni.
June Gudeman
After identifying a director, the primary focus will be to invite all grads from our institution to join though email, text and formal invitations. We also have a volunteer student club on campus and would ask those individuals to become a part of our Advisory Board.
Christina ,
Many smaller institutions like yours double up their Career Services Coordinator/Alumni Director. These two areas fit very well together and research has shown that the number one reason graduates reconnect with their institution is for Career Services help.
June Gudeman
