Alumni Associations
The benefits of having an active Alumni Association are many; however, only a small percentage of career colleges have them. Does your institution have a robust Alumni Association and if so, what difficulties did you face getting started and how did you overcome these challenges? Has your institution tried to start an Alumni Association and failed? If so, what happened?
Laura,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I agree that Career Services activities need to be a team commitment. That also extends to working with students from specific programs. By that I mean, that more than one Career Services professional should work with each program, so that more than I person knows the students employers and nuances if each industry. That way if someone is out or leaves the company placement for that particular program will not suffer.
Sheri Leach
Laura,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I agree that Career Services activities need to be a team commitment. That also extends to working with students from specific programs. By that I mean, that more than one Career Services professional should work with each program, so that more than I person knows the students employers and nuances if each industry. That way if someone is out or leaves the company placement for that particular program will not suffer.
Sheri Leach
My school ventured into the world of Alumni Associations because there are many benefits. It took some time, but actually began to take off somewhat, but then lost its steam. The reason that I can tell, is the person who was in charge of the association and really had a passion for this association left the company due to a personal issue. After that the duties were given to someone else, but the project ended up falling by the side. Hindsight being 20/20- we needed more employee buy in from the beginning, with multiple people involved in calling and contacting the graduates. Additionally, there needs to be regular communication with the alumni and it needs to be communication of value. Not every week, or even every month but quarterly at least. Our association communication became hit and miss in the end, after awhile alumni interest waned.
Jennifer,
As you know, there are many benefits of driving your Alumni to a social media page for their "Alumni Association Information" not least of which is that it feels more like an "open invitation" than a "club" which may increase participation. Additionally, it is a great "value-add" for your schools admission team.
Ann Cross
Ann,
Mainly via email and phone. Social Media is becoming a popular mode of communication. For now, Facebook is where we are venturing into. LinkedIn works will for the Business and IT graduates. The majority of our graduates are in allied health.
Jennifer
Jennifer,
This is the approach that I have found most successful; one that is Alumni driven with support from the institution. Jennifer, do your alumni mainly communicate via social media or do they meet in person? Which social media site has been most successful in supporting the AA?
Ann Cross
Ann,
It was actually both. In my experience and after much research of Alumni Associations, it is driven by the alumni themselves and supported by the institution. There were specific Roles and responsibilities, terms of service, routine events. An individual at the institution is designated to be the point of contact for the needs of the association.
Jennifer
Jennifer,
The WIIFM's are important. In the past, have you had more success driving the Alumni Associations or inviting a graduate or current student to start an AA?
Ann Cross
At this time, our institution does not have a robust Alumni Association. It is something that we plan to develop in due time. I have set up alumni associations in past colleges. The biggest challenge was getting Alumni to participate in events. Many of the alumni of career college see our type of institution as a "means to an end" and not realizing that there does not need to be an "end". We had to develop ways of identifying WIIFMs in order to keep them active in the association.
