Alumni Engagement Policy

Preamble

An institute campus is a hub of fond memories and experiences. It is here that the students not only learnt a thing or two about industry topics and set themselves up for career success, but they also built a relationship with their college that grew to ingrained loyalty.

For universities, the love and commitment of alumni can be a powerful tool for fundraising opportunities, marketing and brand awareness for which the university/college need to maintain a relationship with the students even after they receive their degree. In this digital age, the alumni engagement activities can assume a more consistent and impactful activity.

The UGC Quality Mandate mentions one of the initiatives as the “Student Career Progression and Alumni Network of Higher Education Quality Improvement Programme’. Under this initiative it is imperative that each institute should evolve a mechanism to monitor student career progression at every stage as a part of student centric learning.

Objectives

Fostering connections among graduates to create a supportive community.
Pairing students with alumni professionals for guidance, internships, and job opportunities.
Facilitating connections between alumni and current students for career advancement and collaboration.
Strengthening alumni’s emotional connection to their alma mater, promoting loyalty and advocacy.
Encouraging alumni to share their expertise, experiences, and insights with students and faculty.
Leveraging alumni networks to attract prospective students and promote the institution.
Creating opportunities for alumni to reconnect, socialize, and build relationships.
Offering alumni access to continuing education, workshops, and resources for personal and professional development.
Empowering alumni to serve as ambassadors, promoting the institution’s reputation and values.

Centralized Alumni – Relations Wing:

IMS has a centralized Alumni – Relations Wing that is responsible for the alumni engagement initiatives. This alumni-relations wing will suggest / plan various initiatives and programs to engage alumni. They will also approve the activities being planned by either students, faculty or alumni groups.

Strategies for Alumni Engagement

Alumni Database:
In order to be able to contact the alumni in various ways (by phone, email, physical mail, etc.), a comprehensive database of the alumni should be maintained, which has the information regarding the career progress of the alumni. The initial data may typically be compiled by migrating the student admission data to the alumni database after the graduation of the student.
Career Progress of the alumni is periodically updated by sharing the form of Alumni Success Stories to our distinguished Alumni (Form) and the team of IMS Alumni Engagement publicize these success stories to retain the legacy of excellence.
Alumni Contact:
Information about the latest initiatives of the institute should be shared with the alumni.
- Newsletter: A variety of ways for indirect contact in order to keep the alumni updated about the latest developments at their institute should be there. Initiatives like newsletters (e-newsletters) incorporating information that invite alumni attention, alumni-contact-alumni network programs, etc.
- Alumni Meet: Alumni meets should be periodically held. Networking events and get together must be periodically organized. Emails may be sent on various occasions.
- Social Media: Effective use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may be used for enhanced reach and interaction with the alumni. Professional social media platform like LinkedIn may be used for networking. Twitter may be used for brief and quick update with the alumn
Alumni Engagement Activities:
- IMS Alumni Relations Wing must encourage the alumni for active participation in various alumni activities.
- Alumni may be invited for participation in conferences / seminars as resource persons.
Alumni Participation:
- The alumni may be invited to participate in various academic and non-academic advisory bodies of institute so as to bring their professional experience to these bodies
- Alumni may be involved at policy-level in the different bodies of Alumni Relation Wing and Institute. Proven alumni at a higher lever may typically be invited so as to bring their proven leadership skills, and also contribute their knowledge of the finer points in the institute’s functioning.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs):
Special Interest Groups (SIGs), of alumni with common interests may be formed to provide opportunities for exchange of leadership and career development, etc.
- Awards: The institute should honor the distinguished alumni for their support in brand building exercises and overall development of the institute. The alumni who reach positions of eminence or are otherwise role models to the students may be recognized by the institute by bestowing them with distinguished alumnus/alumna and other similar awards.Special Interest Groups (SIGs), of alumni with common interests may be formed to provide opportunities for exchange of leadership and career development, etc.