Alumni Forum March 2012

Notes from the Selwyn College Alumni Forum

Engaging Alumni •

It was striking in this session that there was no consensus between the groups or even within the groups on the best channel to actively engage and encourage alumni. Some felt that contacting alumni through Year Group Representatives was a waste of time, while others said that they would only engage with the College through their year group. This is confirmation that the College must continue to engage alumni through many possible routes (i.e. through the current Association and Association Committee, Year Groups, Subjects, Activities (sporting and musical), Regional Groups, Business sector). The alumni are a very diverse group, and the College needs to be reaching out in varied ways to reflect this.

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Look for hooks. There was however one type of event which both groups hit upon as an idea that would attract a large body of alumni. Both groups felt that a programme of a day/afternoon/weekend of lectures and discussions by alumni and Fellows of the College would be well received. There was a strong sense that alumni would want to actively engage with the topics (perhaps in a symposium style) and that there was a desire to connect intellectually with fellow members and the Fellowship. There was a suggestion that this kind of day might be themed (such as the event a few years ago celebrating 25 th Anniversary of Women at Selwyn). One of the reasons this event was felt to be such a good idea is that it gives alumni something to chat about – so even if they have nothing else in common, they can discuss the lectures and it is a springboard to further communication. It was felt that this is something the office should always look for when planning events; what is attractive about the occasion apart from seeing old friends?

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What is in it for me? This question came up in both groups. There is a sense that if the College is going to ask alumni to give (of their time, their ideas, their effort, and their money), then the College needs to be offering alumni services so that it is a two way process. There was a strong sense that the College could be doing more towards this, specifically offering networking and career building events. However, there was also a sense that alumni had a lot to offer College and could be put to work more effectively – using their skill sets and knowledge to get free advice and help for the College and Selwyn students.

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Keep the Year Group Representatives current. It came across clearly that Year Group Representatives felt that they were not holding the latest information about their year (in terms of addresses and emails) so that they could contact the whole year easily. There was also a call for a section on the website which laid out best practice for Year Group Reps along with a forum for them to be in touch with each other. Finally, it was suggested strongly that each Year Group needed at least three YGRs if they were going to be able to reach out effectively to all members of the year, as there are multiple friendship groups in each year.

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In order to maximise contact with alumni, engage their ‘clouds’. There was a sense that the College is not doing everything it could to maximise the benefits of alumni networks.

The new website was seen as crucial to this endeavour. The College should be tapping into groups of friends and letting alumni know when their friends have signed up to an event or have done something interesting. Simple things like having a button on the website which

allows alumni to invite friends to join will make a difference. Another easy way to do this is to ensure that guest lists for events are available so that alumni can see who else will be coming along.

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Embrace informality (sometimes). Again, what came across strongly is that different groups wanted different kinds of events. There was a strong call from some to make Reunions more informal and fun – to get rid of seating plans and have an informal buffet so that alumni are free to roam the room. However, others were completely against the idea and said that the reason Reunions are enjoyable is that they mimic a formal hall. There was a general call however for more informal events otherwise (especially ones for families), and cheaper events.

Selwyn publications and on-line presence Email: •

The College needs to be aware that alumni receive many emails. There was a consensus that alumni do read their emails from Selwyn because currently there are not too many sent out. There was also a strong consensus that the College must continue to produce both email and printed publications.

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There was a clear divide between the groups in terms of how many emails are enough. Group B said that the current level of communication was enough; Group A felt that email communications could be increased. This shows that our email communications need the capability to be more nuanced in terms of which groups of alumni they go to. As one group put it, the options for contact are currently too brutal as there are only options for all or nothing. The office needs to devise a way of creating different levels of communication options (e.g. perhaps one group could get a monthly newsletter, while others could subscribe only to a termly one). It was also regarded as important that alumni could delve deeper into the subjects they wanted to read about, whilst ignoring those they didn’t. ‘Read more’ buttons were suggested for the e-newsletters, instead of long news stories.

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The difference in printed and electronic mediums was flagged by some in attendance. It is very important to keep emails brief and succinct, therefore they are suitable for event reminders, invitations or short updates but messages from the Master or longer involved pieces should be sent out in printed form.

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If the message is sent out electronically, it needs to be able to be replied to electronically. So if we send out an event invitation by email, the alumni need to be able to book for the event online. This process will become possible once we have

the new website. Another example which was given is news for the Calendar, which was felt to be too onerous by post or the online form.

Printed Publications: •

There was a consensus from both groups that they were happy with the design and layout of the current printed publications. There was good feedback on all of the publications, but perhaps especially the Events List and the Calendar. There was also a feeling amongst both groups that the right number of printed publications were produced.

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There was also a consensus that the archive copies of the publications should be put online, especially as this is a free service. It was felt this is mainly used by those living outside the UK. It was strongly suggested that Kiwi should be added to this online service.

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Although the Calendar is very well read, there was a request that we expand the alumni news section as this is one of the most popular sections. There were also requests that this news could go online as well.

Social Media and Website: •

There was strong agreement that the current website is not being used, and was not fit for function. It was felt in particular that the current news section was ineffective, and that there needed to be a better space to find out information about the alumni programme. The website should be a central place for updating information, booking for events, getting news, and finding out about your year group. It was also felt that the new website should be launched broadly to encourage alumni to visit it.

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The new website should have the capacity to share more with other alumni. For example, there was a consensus that it would be useful to be able to search alumni by geographical region, and other means. It also needs to engage and interact with Facebook and LinkedIn to ensure that alumni are constantly pointed back to the Selwyn website.

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It was felt that social media is useful (even key) to engaging some year groups, but completely irrelevant to others. However, it was thought that especially for alumni overseas or for getting news out quickly, social media definitely had its uses. There was also a strong feeling that because some groups don’t use Facebook, the information on our page needed to be repeated somewhere else where alumni could easily access it (it was suggested on the website and in e-newsletters). Just because alumni are not on Facebook, they should not lose out.

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The website should facilitate more engagement with current students. The Careers Network should be expanded, and more actively promoted, both to students and also to younger alumni or those alumni looking for a career change.

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Diversity of alumni, diversity of voice. As in the other session, it was felt that in order for the website to appeal to the diverse group of alumni, it needs to showcase a range of voices. Those present wanted to hear from fellow alumni, students, fellows, the Master, and others and they wanted to ‘hear’ their voices in a variety of ways (video, text, sound, photos, etc). Just as we need to vary events and our communications, our website needs to be varied as well.