Alumni Relations

Alumni are graduates of or former students who did not graduate from a school, college, or university. Alumni relations, a function of public relations, centers around relationships—not only forming them, but nurturing and maintaining them throughout their duration. Most institutions have an entire department devoted to alumni relations, and many of the large institutions have separate organizations that exist to support alumni activities.

Using the proper terminology when addressing or referring to alumni is critical, especially for the public relations practitioner who is employed by an alumni organization or an educational institution. An alumna is a woman graduate or former student of a school, college, or university. The plural form of alumna, used to refer to more than one woman graduate or former student, is alumnae. The singular form of alumni is alumnus. When referring to a male graduate or former 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 graduates of both sexes.

The word alum refers either to one of two colorless crystalline aluminum-containing compounds or a colorless aluminum salt used to purify water. Therefore, this word should not be used when referring to graduates or former students of a school, college, or university.

Although students who attend or graduate from a school, college, or university are automatically considered alumni of that particular institution, they most likely will be asked to pay dues to join an alumni organization or association (not paying dues does not mean that a person cannot claim alumni status of a particular institution). This is where the role of public relations becomes essential. Alumni organizations exist to help sustain a particular institution. Here the notion of “giving back” to an institution comes into play, and the role of the public relations practitioner is to identify those alumni who are willing and able to give (not just financially) and facilitate the ways in which alumni are recognized for their efforts.

Often, alumni organizations or associations offer various levels of membership, with increasing increments of membership dues. Many associations offer a “life” membership, often at a high dues level, to those alumni who are financially able and willing to support the organization at a higher level. Memberships at all levels are an important aspect of alumni relations, especially the acknowledgment of all donors, whether they can give $10 or $1,000.

Upon joining an alumni organization or association, alumni undoubtedly expect to receive benefits as dues-paying members. Benefits such as continued use of the university's library services or free parking in student lots should appeal to local alumni. When the objective is to appeal to nonlocal alumni, benefits will mean less; but if they support the university, they should join regardless of whether they intend to continue to use the university as a resource.

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, and communications cannot be limited to local alumni. 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 may be contacted about upcoming events, such as reunions and homecomings, and stay current on news about their former institutions.

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