Public Relations Opportunities
What public relations opportunities do you envision as a result of an Alumni Association at your school?
Cesar G ,
This is a very creative way to engage your political figures and make a statement about your institution.
I like it!
June Gudeman
Our local politician are always looking to make a positive impressions in the community. If we invite our county, city and state officials to become honorary alumni the school will be seen as a staple in the community that provided career development and educational programs that really make the workforce stronger. This is great PR. We can also invite them to speak at our yearly graduation. Honoring them as alumni during the ceremony will help with getting our graduates to get involved.
Maria Rosario,
I like your idea of tying in philanthropic projects with your graduates and submitting to the media and even your own publications.
June Gudeman
Submit news item/photos to local media (newspaper, radio, television). Focus on an initial philanthropic project that graduates are involved in. For example, if there is a group of former military veterans who graduated from the school and who raised funds for a charity of their choice, that could be good publicity for both school and association. Graduates could also be invited to on-campus career fairs and talk to employers how their education helped them with their careers.
Elizabeth,
Good ideas!
You may want to consider how you might get your 'grad success stories' out into the community as well.
June Gudeman
I see our alumni as connecting with graduates for employment opportunities, making a difference in the communities through service projects and contributing to our admission and retention efforts through new student referrals.
Karen,
Good thoughts. I'd encourage you to think about some ways to gather your alumni success stories and then some ideas about how to share them. Your graduate stories are VERY powerful tools!
June Gudeman
What better way to promote your school and to increase enrollment than by word of mouth and first hand experience. Fortunately, so far our alumni seem to have had good experiences at our school. They are willing to share that experience with prospective students. Also, our alumni have their own practices and clinics and they have shared their experiences at our school with their patients, vendors and contacts, which is and will continue to be a great public relations tool. Getting alumni involved more through an Alumni website with future events for the school will also be a great way to spread the word about our school.
Laurie,
Thank you SO much for your feedback, Laurie. I appreciate your kind words and I'm so glad I've given you some 'food for thought'. I find it SO helpful to share ideas and discuss 'thoughts'. I really don't have any control over the curriculum and, in fact, haven't looked at it in a long time. I do REALLY enjoy interacting with students regarding the questions.
I would really love to stay in touch if you're interested.
If so, shoot me a quick email at jgudeman@pmi.edu - I'd be interested in hearing how your phone meeting went today and I'd love to share a little more about how we handle alumni at the career college level.
June Gudeman
Dear June,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response to my questions. You have given me "food for thought"
which is exactly what I needed. I also want to thank you for your support during the course. In my evaluation I gave you high marks but I gave the course low ones. I think the curriculum needs some attention. I did not find it particularly inspiring. I also found that it did not "speak" to career colleges like the one that I lead.
Sincerely, Laurie
Laurie,
I just responded to your questions in the previous question. I can appreciate what you've already done to set a tone of appreciation for your graduates. I see no issue with charging member fees in your case.
June Gudeman
Since we began investing resources in building a better relationship with our alumni, the PR effects have been rewarding. Our alumni had been feeling very cut off from the school. Personally, this was very painful. For a long time I had wanted to invest in our alumni. They had been our precious students. I wanted them to be our precious alumni. So, about 4 years ago I started a free on campus program for alumni. The numbers were small to begin with and have steadily grown.
Then, last September we hosted a 4 day Alumni Gathering. I knew we needed space for alumni to share their feelings of being cut off.
The 4 days were quite miraculous and word since then has spread about how our alumni are feeling connected once again to the school they love. Out of that Gathering we set several goals (projects to serve our alumni). We have met all of them. Now, we are establishing a formal Alumni Association and are planning our next Gathering for September. I would love some feedback from you as to why it is not advisable to charge member fees. We do not have the budgetary luxury to continue using resources ( though I do understand that some of the best PR we can do to attract students is to have happy, valued alumni). I would love your thoughts about this. We have just formed our Alumni Advisory Committee and we meet for the first time on Monday July 8th. Thanks.
Jodi,
Great idea! Partnering with agencies is a great way to get your name out there.
June Gudeman
I see a huge opportunity for partnerships with a variety of agencies not only for training and professional development, but also for fun social events.
Kathryn,
You are absolutely correct and I like your "billboard" analogy. It is so true. They are by far our best marketing tool.
June Gudeman
Graduates are a 'walking billboard'. There work ethic and performance can either build up or tear down a schools reputation.
When our graduates are working in their field of study, each and every person they encounter could potentially hear about our school. If they are doing well in there position, the HR could contact our school for more placement opportunities in the future.
Having an alumni association certainly is an advantage to the school as well as the graduate.
Mary,
These are certainly all areas that build into a positive perception of your institution.
June Gudeman
It will have positive effects on the following:
Employment opportunities
Internships
Mock Interviews
Increased networking opportunities
Volunteerships
Mentoring
Enrollment
Increased community awareness
Lauren,
This is also a great idea! Again, if you a venue to share their stories and how your institution contributed to their success -perfect!
June Gudeman
