Alumni relationships in a university are essential to the sustainability of any given vision. According to Margaux, a well-known educational administrator and writer, alumni relations are essential to the success of your institution, whether recruiting students, promoting training, boosting employment, encouraging donations, or adding to your resource pool. Neglecting your alumni or connecting with them carelessly makes it less likely that they will feel responsible to remain involved and invested with your school. Connecting in a careful and positive way, on the other hand, can help bridge the gap.
This gap can be created either by the alumni or by the university. It can be helpful to do studies in this area to identify ways to improve the situation. Disorganization and excessive bureaucracy can make it difficult to implement the recommendations from this sort of study, but it is important to work through these difficulties. Getting alumni involved with improving the university enhances their institutional attachment, and this encourages them to become even more involved with the goals of the institution. The contributions of the alumni to the institution in terms of growth and development correlate with stronger attachment to the school.
Communication is the key factor in bridging the relationship between alumni and the university. Studies show that alumni of any institution are willing to contribute their best to every facet of the institutional life; however, this willingness is often stunted by bureaucracy and ambiguous channels of communication. Alumni asked about how their university could connect with them more effectively often emphasize that there is a lack of ample communication.
Alumni of an institution should be given the opportunity to connect with their school and contribute to its continued success. Every institution should create an alumni society where each alumni can have access to the opportunities and resources that they need to be able to contribute to fulfilling the vision of the school. Through this channel, a sense of responsibility and accountability can be built among the alumni. Communication methods such as this can play a major role in creating bridges between universities and their alumni.
There are other methods of communication that can help alumni to become connected, engaged, and committed. A well-defined note with Christ-filled intentions can help alumni connect to the goals and values of the institution. It can be also be helpful to combine an explanation of the school’s vision with practical ideas for how alumni can help with accomplishing that vision. Finally, when the heart of every alumni is touched with a resounding love for their school, they will stay committed. Let’s cross more bridges and stay better connected with our alumni.
How can we seek to cultivate stronger relationships with our alumni members?
Author
Ranjith Gladstone
Ranjith Kingston Gladstone, PhD Candidate (C&I, Instructional Technology), the Coordinator at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) Academy, lives in the Philippines with his wife, Mrs. Carol Linda Kingston, and son, Carl Jason Harston Kingston. He has 14 years of teaching experience at Spicer College and at AIIAS in the fields of education, research & sciences. He has been awarded the "Nemesio E Prudente Excellence in Research Award 2015," and the "EDU-SAU Best Research Paper Presentation Award 2016" for research excellence, and has presented dozens of research papers at different international venues.