June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

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

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Mission Statement Development

Michael, Most institutions include the direction of their schools mission statement with an emphasis on what you want to accomplish with your alumni. June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Public Relations Opportunities

Christine, Perfect! Our graduates are walking, breathing advertisements for our schools. Our challenge is setting up systems to make those communications between grads, employers, prospective employees/students easy. June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Challenges to Setting Up an Alumni Association Website

Christine, You're right, it is so important to set up a system whereby your grads get prompt responses. Anyone who has any experience running a website knows both the importance of changing it often to keep it fresh and the challenge of doing that regularly. It is very time consuming. I like your incentives. We constantly need to be thinking about what will bring alumni back to our sites. Remember that the main reason graduates come back to their institution is Career Services. June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Advisory Board Membership

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

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Public Relations Opportunities

Ruth, Could you explain with more detail what you are thinking about? June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Public Relations Opportunities

Ruth, Could you elaborate on that? What involvement are you intending? What other opportunities might you take advantage of? June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Barriers to setting up an Alumni Association

Andrew, It sounds like you've thought through your areas of possible resistance and have a plan in mind. One of the things we've done is to gather alumni success stories and then used some creative ways to share them (ie: alumni success story posters, pamphlets in the lobby for prospective students, alumni success story books, 'thank you' emails to staff/instructors, etc.) There is nothing like the power of a 'story' to encourage staff and recruit potential students. Reminding your administrators and corporate employees that every alumni is a walking, breathing advertisement for your institution, it may help them grasp the… >>>

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Benefits to Offer Your Grads

Andrew, It sounds like you have some good ideas for services to offer your grads. The number one reason alumni come back to their institution is for Career Services. Providing opportunities to provide placement assistance will be a great resource. June Gudeman

June Gudeman

Discussion Comment

Measuring Alumni Association Results

Andrew, It is difficult to measure your ROI with your alumni beyond participation, with the possible exception of job placement numbers. So, you are right on with that. Remember that your alumni group is all about relationships - you with them and them with you. They have much to give back to their institution. See if you can identify or quantify the benefit of those relationships. June Gudeman