Alumni - The passive resource!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Posted by Radhika

Social Networking sites have enabled a strange phenomena. It has helped you keep in touch with those away from you, near you: your family, best friends, friends, and not-so-close friends too! I have experienced that after graduating from school and college I seem to be more in touch with those whom I hardly spoke to during my entire tenure in school/college. I finally discovered commonalities after I stopped sharing the same campus, the same food-court, the same class and perhaps the same bench! So after a while factors like diverse needs and interests, differences start to fade away and what remains is the common memories, the laughter, the togetherness.

In much the same way, colleges should recognize this loyalty for the roots (in this case the alma mater) and choose to associate themselves with the alumni once they have graduated. They must seek to collaborate them, keep them informed, demand their services and add value to the existing system. When we are part of an institution we have an innate tendency to handpick the demerits but once out of those "captive" gates its only the merits you advertise. Why? You don't have any assignments to hand over, no classes to attend nor any detention to sit through - all you are left with are the pranks you played, the friends you cherished, the classes you bunked and your evolved personality, thanks to the institution.

Alumni is one of the best ways for advertising, one of the best bets for campus hiring, one of the best judges for various fests and initiatives and one of the best connects to the existing students. A little effort for a yearly reunion, a quarterly e-mail regarding the campus activities, a call to be involved can go a long way. With the current Web 2.0 technologies, colleges have an extra mileage to ensure a simpler, hassle-free and effective process.

An evolved food chain, its the way of life!