There are dozens of platforms that cater to the needs of alumni relations and career services offices. In talking with schools who use these platforms, I’ve learned that most of them share the same set of flaws. If you’re considering signing on with a company that sells one of these platforms, make sure that they don’t receive these six common complaints.
Marlene Scheel of the University of Guelph-Humber on Planning Beyond Young Alumni
"Young alumni" is a buzzphrase in higher ed right now, and for good reason. Young alumni represent the future of their alma maters, and reaching and engaging them requires new programming and new strategies.
But what happens when our young alumni aren't so young anymore? What kind of programming and strategy do we have then?
At the University of Guelph-Humber, Marlene Scheel is already looking ahead to the transition from young to established alumna. We asked her to share how she and her team think about the issue.
Chaim Shapiro of Touro College on Networking, LinkedIn, and the Future of Career Services
Switchboard Helps Antioch College Students and Alumni Connect Across Generations
Antioch College is a small liberal arts school in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They're a member of the Colleges that Change Lives, and the lives of their students aren't the only ones that they change. Just look at their motto: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." That determination to serve sets the Antioch community apart.
You can imagine why we're so thrilled to work with them.
For the past six months, the Antioch Switchboard has been helping students and alumni connect with one another and their alma mater. Antiochians have used Switchboard to connect about everything from Co-op opportunities to having breakfast together.
We talked to Matt Desjardins, former Director of Communications; Jonina Kelley, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations; and Tanya Couch, Career Communications Coordinator - Cooperative Education about how the Antioch community is using Switchboard. They love the Antioch Switchboard because it creates connections and opportunities that weren't possible before, and because it strengthens the relationship of students and alumni with Antioch itself.
Switchboard Becomes Partner of Alumni Career Services Network
We're thrilled to announce that Switchboard is now an official corporate partner of the Alumni Career Services Network.
Since its formal founding in 2008, ACSN has connected and empowered alumni career services professionals across the country. As the changing higher ed landscape has placed increasing pressure on colleges and universities to generate positive career outcomes for their students and alumni, ACSN has been there to help make those outcomes possible.
We at Switchboard believe that integrating career services and alumni relations is not only an excellent way for higher ed institutions to build community, but also the best way to secure economic mobility for college graduates. ACSN has been at the forefront of this work for nearly a decade, and we're excited to be a part of that effort.
Members of Team Switchboard will be attending the annual ACSN conference this July in Forth Worth, Texas. If you're going to be there, shoot me an email to say hi! We'd love to catch up with you there.
Learn more about Switchboard's alumni networking platform.
How SMU Increased Its Alumni Volunteer Base by 500%
Managing volunteers can be time-consuming, but anyone who runs a successful volunteer program will tell you that the time spent is well worth it. A committed network of volunteers is an invaluable resource for any institution.
Southern Methodist University uses the metaphor of "barn raising" to define its volunteer strategy, and it recruits its volunteers with the promise of what they can accomplish together. SMU has used this strategy to increase its volunteer base by 500% since 2009.
The barn raising metaphor resonated with us so much that we had to talk to SMU about it. We caught up with SMU's Director of Annual and Alumni Giving Astria Smith after her CASE District IV conference presentation, "Barn Raising: What the Amish teach us about volunteer management."