MY WO R D
OAR CAN ALSO CREATE THE PLATFORMS AND OPPORTUNITIES AND LET PEOPLE EVOLVE THE IDEA FROM THERE. WE SHOULD ALSO RECOGNISE GROUPS AND NETWORKS THAT MAY NOT HAVE PHYSICALLY BEGUN IN NUS AS PART OF THE LARGER ALUMNI FAMILY. THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE SHOULD BE PROUD OF.
GOOD UNIVERSITIES THRIVE ON THEIR REPUTATIONS AND BECOME A “BRAND” FOR BUSINESS OR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AMONG ALUMNI. NUS IS GROWING RAPIDLY IN REPUTATION AS A GOOD UNIVERSITY SO OUR ALUMNI WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS IN THEIR WORKING LIFE. Assoc Prof Victor R Savage
Mr Bernard Toh
BT: How would you articulate what the benefits of being an active alumnus are, to an alumnus? VS: Alumni benefits reflect a two-way street. In some Western universities, the achievements of alumni are taken into consideration in university rankings. The alumni impact the [public’s] perception of the university. And being an [active] alumnus also helps you create networks from which you can develop into business relationships. Good universities thrive on their reputations and become a “brand” for business or career opportunities among alumni. NUS is growing rapidly in reputation as a good university so our alumni will benefit from this in their working life. During one of our networking events in 20
Bangkok, a junior alumnus was offered a job by a senior alumnus without the latter asking to see the former’s CV. This reflects the trust placed in an NUS education. Those are the kinds of relationships that OAR helps to forge. BT: In five words, how would you describe your experience as Director of OAR? VS: Challenging, interesting, enjoyable, satisfying and rewarding. I enjoyed the time as Director of OAR, and it was a real feather in my cap . The OAR sojourn capped my entire career of 36 years in NUS! It is also a tribute to the people I have worked with in OAR.
FURTHERING ENGAGEMENT
A familiar face on campus, incoming Director of OAR Mr Bernard Toh
continue to come back to pursue interests they developed as students, eg. the volleyball group who come back regularly to bond over a game of volleyball. I am heartened by the much improved levels of engagement, and there is room for us to deepen the relationships that we have built. I will need to discuss, understand and then explore with my team on how we might do this.
takes the view that successful alumni engagement is always evolving. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR VICTOR R SAVAGE (VS): From the outside looking in, how would you describe current alumni relations? MR BERNARD TOH (BT): Alumni relations have come a long way since the early 2000s, when Professor Shih Choon Fong was President of NUS (2000-2008), and created the Office of Alumni Relations (OAR), bringing in the American alumni traditions he had been exposed to, and giving OAR a renewed focus. Since then, alumni relations have improved markedly. More alumni are coming back to do things with their alma mater in numerous ways. Some are using their professional expertise to mentor students, others are serving in the many committees on campus to help NUS become a leading global university centred in Asia, yet others
Photos by Ealbert Ho
shops. Initially there were about 10 of us, but the group just kept growing. At the 25th anniversary of our graduation in 1997, we had about 110 tables. Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong attended the dinner. We were also among the first cohorts to launch a bursary fund. The Class of ’72 Bursary Fund sparked the spirit of alumni and that’s what is most important — having an alumnus that participates, engages and has a real relationship with the University. That is more important than the number of alumni.
VS: So what would you like to see happening, ideally?
VS: How do you view NUS alumni?
BT: I’d like to see wider participation and engagement. Right now, OAR is still mainly the party that initiates and funds activities and events. We need to reach a stage where our alumni proactively initiate and garner the resources to support the things that they want to do themselves — it is only then that we will be able to say that our alumni are truly engaged.
BT: NUS President Tan Chorh Chuan (Medicine ’83) describes alumni as the third pillar of the University, the first two being students and staff. Our student population is about 38,000 and our staff number about 12,000. Together these two pillars constitute about 50,000. The alumni today is 278,000 strong — about five times the first two pillars combined. It is clear that this pillar presents great possibilities and potential.
BT: You have already done much work to better alumni relations, and I want to work with the various teams to explore how to take this a step further. You and your team have been successful in broadening the range of activities and events. I would like to build upon this good work and move to deepening our engagements. For example, Thirsty
VS: What are some of the initiatives that you are excited to push to the next level?
Thursdays connects younger alumni, and is a useful platform for them to come together. I wish for us to move beyond coming together. A possible way to deepen this programme is to get alumni themselves to share insights of the professions or careers that they are in so that others who are thinking of switching careers will have expanded possibilities. The Alumni Mentoring Programme is another wonderful initiative that was recently introduced — connecting those willing to mentor with those seeking mentors. As the programme has only just started, it is still a very loose and casual arrangement. Logically, the next step would be to give it slightly more structure without making it too organised and run the risk of becoming bureaucratic in its approach. This year, we are also enhancing the NUS tradition of giving back to society — Mr Jeremy Ee (Engineering ’05), one of our younger alumni, is spearheading the NUS Day of Service which will be held on Saturday, 3 September 2016, to encourage alumni groups to ‘donate’ part of their day to service. Whether it is cleaning a beach, distributing food to the needy or donating blood, the intention is to give back to the community we live in as one united NUS Community. It deepens the relationship among alumni and between them and NUS, and adds meaning to us as an alumni community. JUL– SEP 2016
21