Leveraging Alumni to Increase Student Success and Achieve the Goals of the College

Presented by Lisa Hollinger, University of North Texas

Recorded by Brett DiMarzo, Boston College

Your alumni are a valuable resource in providing support to your students and your institution. In her presentation at the 2023 NAGAP Summit, Lisa Hollinger from the University of North Texas shared her motivation for engaging with alumni to participate in a host of various activities. Regardless of the activity, involvement from alumni only adds to the success of students and the institution as a whole. In her role as the assistant director of marketing and outreach for the College of Information at UNT, she constantly engages with alumni to encourage them to participate in a variety of programs. She shared some of her successes during her session.

Lisa first shared some of the literature that indicates why schools should implement mentoring programs on their campuses, highlighting how students benefit from engaging with alumni and the value alumni participation can have in assisting in program success. With an understanding of the why, she then outlined the steps she took to create the Mentorship Program on her campus, from identifying potential alumni to serve as mentors to the importance of collecting survey data after program completion. She also provided examples of the expectations set prior to the start and testimonials of those who participated in the program when it concluded.