You’ve heard it many times: We’re in the relationship business. But how do you build and maintain relationships with your alumni when they’re scattered across the globe? Should you even try?
For educational institutions pondering whether to implement an international alumni program, or for those wishing to improve their existing programs, Being Global: Making the Case for International Alumni Relations can offer guidance and insight.
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Their personal history with your academic institution is of incredible valuable to your prospective students.
To get them more involved, you may need to give your alumni relations a boost.
The guide on Managing International Alumni Relations, co-published by Go Global LLC and International Education Advantage LLC can help.
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Does your institution want to strengthen its academic presence abroad? Are there goals for diversifying the student body by recruiting more international students? Is a primary goal to encourage more giving from alumni overseas?
These goals are often intertwined as this figure illustrates. How do the “four pillars of engagement” fit into your institution’s goals and strategy?
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The Importance ofToday across the world, institutions are weighing the pro’s and con’s for investing in international alumni relations. Making the case for engaging international alumni via regional chapters or networks is easy when you consider these eight reasons…
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– James Kennedy, Director International Office, University of WarwickThe University of Warwick is one of the UK’s leading new universities, with a strong international focus: of 23,000 current students, over 8,000 come from outside the UK from over 120 countries. We asked Gretchen to help us to engage more fully with our international alumni during the Fall of 2012. Gretchen undertook an extensive round of interviews and focus groups with existing students, alumni, academic and administrative staff, and presented us with a comprehensive set of recommendations, many of which we expect to adopt. People responded well to her approach, which enhanced the quality of the report, and gave us a flying start to begin implementation.
– Professor Michael Earley, Principal & Chief Executive, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and PerformanceAfter engaging Gretchen, within a matter of 4 months we had an alumni association. She was persuasive, she was clear, she was direct, she could use case studies, and deal with very tiny institution.
– Ada Leung, Associate Vice-President (Development), City University of Hong KongGretchen’s workshop excelled in its capacity to tailor for the needs of teams with different portfolios, to render in-depth analysis to specific case studies, and to provide useful pointers that help us to land on possible solutions.
– Professor Michael Earley, Principal & Chief Executive, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and PerformanceI think Gretchen, in her book Being Global, makes quite good points all the way through. She really makes the point about the lifecyle of alumi: from a student, into an alum, into a donor, into a major shaper of policy within an institution.
– Holly Peterson, Deputy Director of Development and Alumni Relations, University of ExeterWith her years of experience, Gretchen was able to look at our programme and quickly assess its strengths and weaknesses. Her input was invaluable.
– Professor Michael Earley, Principal & Chief Executive, Rose Bruford College of Theatre and PerformanceUltimately, Bruford Connects is looking for opportunities for the institution. This new network of alumni engagement raises the flag for us. It’s really helped now because when I go around the world people know who we are and they didn’t know that three years ago.
