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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? Is the strategy to develop and support admissions efforts, alumni communities, academic programs and partnerships, all in an effort to build a strong case for support? Can the three “A’s” (admissions, alumni and academics), and their relevant activity abroad, provide enough evidence to institutional leadership, prospective students and prospective donors that they should support a strengthened presence in a particular region of the world? Can the three “A’s” lead to an increase in participation?

International Alumni Relations is about Relationships

Alumni relations has the opportunity to facilitate “Brand Management 101” by building relationships with alumni who want to give back their time, talent or treasure to different areas of the institution. We recognize that managing the institutional brand abroad is a high priority for schools, colleges and universities worldwide. International alumni volunteers play an important role in helping maintain their alma mater’s reputation. Whether international alumni volunteer to help organize chapter events, interview prospective students from their region, or mentor students studying abroad in their home city, the volunteer management cycle has three distinct stages: recruitment, retention and referral.

The recruitment process may be different based on the activity, as volunteers are often referred by their peers or are selected based on their personal or professional backgrounds.

Much time and attention goes into the retention stage: training, mentoring, skill-building, rewarding efforts and time for regular evaluation and reflection. Volunteers succeeding in their efforts may want to become more involved as regional leaders.

The referral stage is highlighted when alumni volunteers share their positive experience with others. At this point in the process, alumni have been through the volunteer cycle and want to share opportunities with others.

Throughout each stage it is important to provide incentives for alumni volunteers to continue their interest in assisting the institution. They should feel valued and empowered to continuously improve the experience for themselves, the staff and others involved or served.

Download summary whitepaper on alumni relations.  Listen to a podcast conversation with Gretchen Dobson.

I just returned from an 11-day trip to Ireland with my graduate school cohort from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (http://www.gse.upenn.edu/execdoc). The purpose of the trip was to study Ireland’s higher education system. We visited 7 institutions and met with key governmental contacts, advocacy groups and quality assurance professionals. It was a fascinating experience and I have decided that future blogs in this space will be written “from the field” per se so I can provide perspectives on how international alumni relations impacts (or is impacted by) the overall goals of institutions and organizations around the world.

There is a lot of good news to share about higher education in Ireland: the country’s completion rate (defined as the completion of a certificate or tertiary degree program) is 60%. The number of 25-34 year-olds completing a tertiary degree is 48%, ranking higher than the United States (41%) and the OECD average of 37% (source: OECD, 2011). A challenge, however, is that 40,000 who complete the Leavers application for college enrollment do not find out where they have been accepted until mid-August. It’s not an ideal time line compared to traditional first-year programs in the U.S. that include a summer orientation period for students and families. In Ireland the Central Applications Office notifies students where they have been accepted and students, in turn, are required to confirm entrance and a course of study within a week of notification. International and other non-traditional full-time students are held to the similar deadlines and requirements upon entry.

There are other challenges during these first weeks. According to Sarah Moore, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Limerick (http://www3.ul.ie/ctl/first-7-weeks) students enter their course without knowing the exact curricular requirements. Moreover, a study she conducted showed the number one thing first-year students worry about is the fear of boredom. Students today are choosing courses they know nothing about and are afraid that they will not be interested in the courses they choose. Institutions like Limerick recognize that transition to college is problematic and are developing new student support services to address these challenges.

Assuming Irish institutions have the ability to mobilize a cohort of alumni both at home and abroad I believe an alumni network can serve as a support network during times of transition in three different ways:

First, with no formal summer orientation alumni can help make up for this lost time by sponsoring send-off events in their city or country for new students. Informal receptions or family-friendly events such as picnics can be venues for sharing the tacit knowledge about college life, courses and the first year with students and families. Young alumni can be tapped to speak about their most recent experience.

Second, according to the Minister of Education and Skills, Ireland wants to double the number of international students in the next 8 years. International students have different needs than domestic students and they may benefit from a class designed just for them: an acculturation class. This type of class can offer international students their own forum for discussing academic or social challenges. The class empowers students to persist and succeed by helping them work through cultural differences at the beginning. John Leedock of Benedictine University in the Chicago area has sponsored such classes (see: http://www.academicimpressions.com/news/steps-support-international-student-success) that include group trips to enjoy an American meal or invitations to professional networking events so students can observe how the locals share career advice and job opportunities. Local alumni can easily get involved with these types of outings and be resources to student service departments.

Third, new students in general have a fragile relationship with their institution in the first semester. Human relationships are central and additional interaction from alumni can help. In Ireland institutions are under pressure because of funding cuts for career guidance. If institutions are worried that students entering their first year choose their course “blindly” and there are scare employability counseling services available could alumni be invited back to campus to participate in student programs such as “Conversations with…” series featuring a set of young and mid-career alumni who share an insider’s view of studying law, finance or art history. Ireland’s Institutes of Technology may benefit from alumni career panels on careers in animation or engineering. The overall idea is to create opportunities to re-engage alumni in the life of alma mater and the current students.

As Moore stated during her presentation to the Penn group: “It’s not that we don’t have the right ingredients, it’s just that those ingredients are not joined up properly.” I would hope that Ireland may consider how to add a bit of “support spice” by engaging alumni in their retention efforts.