University alumni are a key stakeholder for their alma mater and if effectively engaged, they can play a crucial role in expanding the reach and visibility of their alma mater, not just locally, but globally.
Traditionally, universities have collaborated with their alumni for bettering their students’ placement and career opportunities. However, with the renewed focus on internationalization of higher education, coupled with India’s National Education Policy’s (NEP 2020) encouragement to Indian higher education institutions (HEIs) to create Alumni Connect Cells within their institutions, there couldn’t be a more opportune time for HEIs in India to rethink broader alumni engagement strategies.
There are several institutions in India which have been effective in leveraging their alumni connections to achieve a wide variety of institutional goals, including bringing global curriculum to their campuses by way of masterclasses, lectures and webinars, fundraising to improve the institution’s facilities and offerings, providing expert mentorship to their students, and widening the job pool. Using innovative methods, these institutions have been able to harness their alumni networks for mutually beneficial engagement .
Explore key alumni engagement strategies and best practices from select Indian HEIs. These insights offer valuable guidance for institutions at any stage of leveraging alumni connections for growth and development.
I. Alumni Association: Alumni associations can play a critical role in connecting alumni with each other around the world, as well as providing support to their alma mater in organizing alumni events and get-togethers, mobilizing financial resources, and disseminating information to new graduates on job market trends and opportunities. This ultimately strengthens not just alumni-to-alumni connections, but also those between current students and alumni across the globe. IIT Madras has an informal buddy program, ‘YAARI’, which matches a current student with an alumni. This is an excellent example in the context of facilitating learning and sharing knowledge between alumni and students on campus.
II. Alumni Relations Office: An Office of Alumni Relations within a HEI provides resources and structured engagement opportunities for alumni to network with the larger alumni body and strengthen the institution’s education and research collaborations. Emphasizing the importance of an Alumni Relations office, Dr. Rohit Singh, Director of Alumni Relations at MAHE, Manipal, shares, “Globally, our alumni serve as our goodwill ambassadors. They strongly uphold the Manipal values and carve a radiant image of their alma mater. Our office of alumni relations at MAHE has been instrumental in creating opportunities to network, share nostalgic moments, celebrate alumni accolades and achievements and also help alumni to engage and partner in the further advancement of their Alma Mater.”
III. Alumni Database: Having contact information for institutional alumni is crucial for keeping them updated on the institution’s activities. Using contact information in the database, one of the most common ways of keeping in touch with alumni is through e-newsletters highlighting fundraising initiatives, alumni chapter elections, regional meet-ups, and upcoming events. Some newsletters also highlight alumni who are change-makers and young achievers.
IV. Alumni Events: Several institutions have active alumni “chapters” that engage alumni by hosting regional alumni meet ups and reunions, either annually or more frequently. In some cases, senior university management organise events like dinners, breakfast meetings, and open days to keep the alumni informed about institutional goals and activities, as well as to better understand alumni interests and potential collaboration opportunities.
V. Fundraising and Donations: Alumni also play an important role in financially supporting their alma mater through various contributions. Universities seek out alumni donations to either support an activity or a range of initiatives including research fellowships, scholarships, and endowment funds. For example, IIT Bombay has signed an agreement with its Alumni Associations to fund a large-scale project,’Project Evergreen’. Under this Project, IIT Bombay’s alumni will fully fund and execute the building of a new hostel complex.
VI. Department Engagement with Alumni: For continuous improvement in teaching and learning practices, ongoing engagement between faculty and alumni is imperative. This can include lectures on topical issues, webinar series, workshops, curriculum enhancement, the development of new academic programmes, alumni talks, mentorship, and joint projects.
Stressing the role of a structured alumni engagement strategy in achieving overall institutional growth, Professor Arya Kumar, Dean Alumni Relations at BITS Pilani, shares, “The alumni have greatest concern for the growth of an institution and are the precious treasure to bring name and fame to the institution through their achievements. BITS Pilani has been continuously strengthening engagements with alumni across the globe through a well-developed strategy for academic innovations and entrepreneurship excellence that is paving the way forward in their contributions, be it – setting up centers of excellence, scholarships to talented needy students, research fellowships, infrastructure development etc. resulting in achieving educational excellence.”
