We don't really have a challenge in setting up the website as we have a brilliant "idea person" leading our web activities. The challenge is in having it attentively maintained. Do you recommend having one person dedicated to that task or have you seen positive results out there from having 2 or 3 persons participating?
Laurie,
It sounds like you have a good group of people around you to discuss and think through the value and direction of where you want to head. I agree it is important to keep your alumni connected to your school. My guess is even when you get to the point where you are able to put together a dedicated alumni site, you'll still want to link it off your main site.
June Gudeman
We have discussed this topic quite a lot in our office. At this point in time we are dedicating part of our existing website to our alumni. They access their part of the website with a password.
Once we have created a formal Alumni Association we set up a separate website. However, we want our alumni to remain connected to the school. We don't have transcripts so their own dedicated website will not keep them circling back with updated personal info. At this time we see how the special alumni section works for us and then reassess.
Matt,
I believe you have a pretty clear grasp of the time and energy that needs to be devoted to keeping an alumni site up and running. As you mentioned, keeping content fresh and relevant is a huge job. Plus, no matter how prepared you believe you are, there are always unexpected challenges. I like your thoughts on eliciting assistance from other departments and grads themselves.
June Gudeman
The challenges for my institution would be related to time and resources. The main drivers of the AA, the Career Services staff, are already involved in many activities on and off campus. Further, adding content that is relevent, timely and interesting to the target audience must be a focus if we are to keep the members engaged.
In order to overcome the challenges, the department can elicit assistance from other departments and to share responsibility among all members of the CS department. Additionally, after the AA is up and running, trusted grads could be permitted to add and monitor online content.
Linnet,
I would agree this is certainly a challenge trying to keep any website 'fresh'. Do you have any creative ideas or solutions?
June Gudeman
The biggest challenge is to setting up an alumni website is keeping it up to date.
Kathryn,
I totally understand the 'time' issue and, to be honest, you would need someone who can be intentional about meeting the needs of your alumni. I know many schools ask people to do double-duty, for example they hire someone who can be a Career Services Advisor/Alumni Coordinator, but that's a tall order. I'm thankful you're seeing the advantages of connecting with your graduates and I'm hoping you'll be able to creatively begin connecting with them, even on a small scale.
You have to start somewhere - maybe that's your challenge!
June Gudeman
One of the challenges to setting up an Alumni Association at our school is 'time'. I know that this answer is probably cliche, but, it is a commodity that we can always use more of.
Because we are a small school, we have a small number of people who work within administration. Our staff already feels the pressure and to add another department would be difficult to squeeze in. However, this online class has really opened up my eyes to the advantages of having an alumni association to both our graduates and our school.
Suellen,
I like your creative solution to the financial obstacle of creating a dedicated website. Wordpress has some incredible components that would give you an opportunity to including many services that would benefit your grads, as well as a place to share your success stories.
June Gudeman
With tight financial concerns over websites. A possible solution would be an initial alumni website created in a blog format such as Wordpress. This format would work very well in publishing Success stories and making announcements.
Mary,
I like your idea of learning about social media. It changes almost daily and it's important to stay on top of what's out there. I would also challenge you to talk with some of your grads and get their feedback on the services they are looking for that you could provide with your alumni website.
June Gudeman
The first challenge in setting up a website will be learning the in's and out's of social media.
This will be solved by taking a social media course and through researching what media is most used by our graduates.
Lauren,
Agreed! The exit interview is where we give out a "Graduation Packet" which includes a letter from our Alumni Coordinator encouraging them to stay connected and explaining the benefits of visiting the alumni site regularly. We also include a wallet size card - Alumni Card with info on the alumni site and a window decal for their car with our institution's name and "Alumni" for them to proudly display.
June Gudeman
Lauren,
You are fortunate to have the support of a good marketing department. It sounds like you have some good ideas for your site. You will be amazed how many of your grads 'find you', once you get your site up and running!
June Gudeman
I like the ideas of an Alumni Directory. Any way to help keep classmates connected and talking is beneficial for alum and the school alike. And I didn't think about loan information! 90% of our students have to access loans. During exit counseling, it would be great for our financial aid department to hand out information on the alumni association to help encourage students to be part of what has helped them succeed.
I am extremely fortunate to work at a school that offers a marketing department. They have experience already with setting up websites and have wanted to start an alumni association for the past couple years. To have that type of support and access to technology reassures me I will have help in the process of designing an easily navigated site that allows students and alumni alike to participate in developing our association. I really like the idea of having students request transcripts as a way to keep updated records. We often lose track of former graduates due to the short length programs we offer, but they are always coming back to ask for assistance. I have already encouraged registrar and admissions to help with ideas of what needs alumni have that will allow us to direct them to the alumni page. Past graduation, we are still working with students on resumes and cover letters, job placement, copies of diplomas and certifications, as well as when students ask to do an address change. All of these items can be leads from the alumni page that grant students the assistance they need while keeping them up-to-date on our up-and-coming Alumni Association.
Jeane,
Certainly, there are difficulties one faces in setting up an Alumni Website and probably the most difficult is the financial piece. You may want to consider starting small by using a Facebook format or, possibly, a simple content management system that someone on staff at your institution can handle. As you begin to 'connect' with your grads and gather alumni success stories and graduate involvement, it may be easier for the administration to see the incredible benefit of these connections and budget accordingly.
June Gudeman
I have a small school. My greatest challenge will be "financing" an alumni association. I feel my best way to overcome this is to involve all the current faculty and administrative staff into the creating of an aluni association. We will each share the tasks that need to be acomplished and work together to create this association.
Coryne,
You have nailed the biggest issue setting up a site -- keeping it fresh and up to date. I takes lots of 'someones' time. I think you are on the right track thinking about what kind of services will draw your grads to the site (transcripts, tax forms). If they have to come to the site for these services it will force them to keep updating their information and, if your site is set up well, they'll want to keep returning. Your site will be the 'connection' you are looking for to provide them with information you want them to know, as well.
June Gudeman
