Running Against the Wind by Wartell Michael;

Author:Wartell, Michael;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Alumni

Alumni as a group own the most complete and in-depth corporate memory of institutional environment of any of a president’s/chancellor’s constituents. After all, from deep inside, they have seen the institution’s workings. And they have personally experienced the individual changes that result from the institution’s pursuing its mission. They can be the most positive public relations tool of a college or university, or they can have a most devastating effect on the institution’s reputation.

So the institutional leader’s first responsibility to alumni occurs during their student years. Their experiences as students shape their attitudes as alumni. Then after graduation, the continuing responsibility to alumni is to remind them of the value and quality of their earlier experiences to engender future loyalty and convince them of the institution’s continuing value to them. It is their feelings about the college or university that will cause them to be donors, recruiters, and cheerleaders for the institution.

Developing productive interactions with alumni is not rocket science. Reminding them of their memorable and good experiences as students, treating them well when they have contact with the institution, and providing services that reinforce their belief in the importance of the institution to them personally are the basics. And that means staffing an alumni office with people who are of positive mind and attitude toward the institution and believe in treating customers well, because alumni are, in fact, the customers.

Contact and communication are of great importance, and the institution must balance the use of old-school mailing and telephone contacts with modern social networking technologies.

Structural issues surrounding an alumni organization are slightly more complicated. Ordinarily, alumni organizations are of two types, internal to the institution or independent of the institution. Choice of one or the other often depends on institutional size, institutional goals for the organization, and whether an institution is public or private. Several examples are useful.

If the organization is internal to the institution, it is governed by applicable institutional policies. Public institutions are subject to state rules and regulations. And for very large public institutions, the broad spectrum of activities in which an alumni office is officially engaged can present massive challenges to those rules. So separating the alumni organization from the institution can be prudent.

However, the loss of institutional control of the alumni organization can be challenging. To be sure, institutional officials serving on the board can restore some control, but the organization is fundamentally independent. Thus, imagine the difficulty if the university makes a decision that is negative for, say, athletics and the independent alumni organization publicly disagrees. The consequences for the institution and for fund-raising, reputation, and external relations can be devastating.

Private institutions (free from suffering the governmental control of public institutions) most often include their alumni functions within the institution to enhance the development function. However, very large, private institutions may choose to separate the organizations entirely.

In contrast, integrating alumni organizations (internal or independent) into campus activities has many positives. Having current students and alumni interact and current faculty and staff interact with alumni,

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