Alumni Relations

Alumni are graduates of a particular school, college, or university. However, former students who did not graduate from a particular school, college, or university are also considered alumni of that institution. An alumna is a female graduate or former female student of a school, college, or university. The plural form of alumna, used to refer to more than one female graduate or former student, is alumnae. The singular form of alumni is alumnus. When referring to a male graduate or former male student, use alumnus as the singular form and alumni for the plural. According to the American Heritage Book of English Usage, coeducational institutions usually use alumni to refer to both male and female graduates and former students.

Professionals who focus on alumni relations not only build relationships with alumni, but they also nurture and maintain these relationships. Most institutions employ an entire department devoted to alumni relations, and many large institutions have separate organizations that exist to support alumni activities.

Although students who attend or graduate from a school, a college, or a university are automatically considered alumni of that particular institution, they are usually asked to pay dues to join an alumni organization or association. Alumni organizations exist to help sustain a particular institution, and public relations practitioners may be asked to help identify those alumni who are willing and able to give (not just financially) and to facilitate the ways in which alumni are recognized for their efforts. Often, alumni organizations or associations offer various levels of membership, with [Page 26]increasing increments of membership dues. Many associations offer a lifetime membership to those alumni who are financially able and willing to support the organization at a higher level.

Public relations practitioners who work in the area of alumni relations are faced with the critical task of directing, implementing, and evaluating all communications with alumni. Equally challenging is the fact that alumni tend to be scattered across the globe. Keeping track of alumni who graduated more than 30 or 40 years ago is not easy, and part of the responsibility falls to the alumna or alumnus to provide the alumni organization with updated personal contact information. If alumni organizations offer services and benefits that appeal to alumni, then those alumni should want to keep their information current so that they can stay current on news about their former institutions and therefore be contacted about upcoming events, such as reunions and homecomings.

Another way to keep alumni connected who do not live close to the university is to form constituent groups of alumni who are based in other regions of the country or world. This enables alumni who live near one another to meet and hold events and still feel connected to the university and other alumni.

Research is essential to learn what alumni want and how to effectively maintain relationships with them. Surveys are an important and simple tool for alumni organizations and universities to gain an understanding of how their alumni view their respective institutions and how willing they are to support them, whether with time, money, or both.

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