Working with Alumni
These webpages were written by Carol Ormand, based on ideas compiled from the 2009 workshop on Strengthening Your Geoscience Program.
Your alumni can be a wonderful resource for you and your students, with a little effort on your part. If they had positive experiences in your program, many alums will be happy to "give something back." An ongoing relationship with your department offers them opportunities, as well.
Benefits
Staying connected to your alumni builds community, keeps your department informed about careers and career trends, can help students get jobs, gives alumni an opportunity to have input and offer advice about your programs, and can build connections from your department to potential employers, graduate schools, internships, local K-12 schools.
Getting Connected
- Conduct an exit survey, and ask for long-term email & address information. See examples of exit surveys from geoscience departments.
- Use an online form on your departmental website to connect with alums. Read about online survey tools.
- Produce a newsletter, and ask recipients for help contacting other alums.
- Ask for contact information at events (alumni events at professional meetings, etc.): have a mechanism for collecting business cards.
Staying Connected
- Create a facebook group for alumni. Or have some of your current students create the group and invite alums to join.
- Publish a departmental newsletter. (See examples in the Carleton College Geology Department newsletter archives.) You can collect information for the letter online, as the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences does with its alumni update form. You can also start small and work your way up to a more comprehensive publication.
- Have an annual picnic for your department and its alumni.
- Schedule gatherings at professional society meetings.
- Schedule a gathering during your annual institutional reunion. (Some departments team up with other departments in the STEM disciplines.)
- Invite alumni to special events such as faculty retirements or a building dedication.
- Invite alumni to speak on campus (at Homecoming, career fairs, or your seminar series).
- Invite alumni to send their poster presentations to decorate your hallways.
Alumni and Careers
- Maintain an alumni database; check in on an annual basis to ask about career changes. Track ALL alumni, not just those with careers in the geosciences. For example, here are the Carleton College Geology Alumni web page and the Bowdoin College Geology Alumni page.
- Develop an online form for alumni to enter their career information, like the UND Department of Geology and Geological Engineering Alumni Occupation Updater.
Alumni and Program Assessment
- Form an advisory board made up of alumni in the geosciences (& beyond?). Ask for their input on curriculum and other program elements.
