Do you want to keep in touch with your Romanian university?

At the beginning of 2011 I made quite a thorough research among Romanian public as well as private universities in order to find out the answer to a very simple question: “If I was a graduate and wanted to get back in touch with my faculty, what would that be like?”

Since many Romanian higher education graduates can be considered to be “young alumni” (starting from 1994 the number of graduates increased exponentially) and the usage of the online environment and various gadgets that offer easy acces to it has been going up in the past years among Romanian buyers, I assumed that it is likely for a graduate to do an online search to find relevant information for him.

From the 84 universities that I analyzed, 36 universities had a special section for alumni on their main websites. Together with these universities, 4 more higher education institutions had alumni sections on faculty pages without having a central section on the university website, while another university explicitly included alumni communication among the responsibilities of the university’s career center. On the other hand, 43 universities had nothing on their websites dedicated to their alumni (except from the employability survey that many universities have developed and conducted either online or offline). I didn’t took into consideration the presence of a special section on the universities’ websites for the national project from European Funds that was initiated in the fall of 2010 by the Ministry of Education and deals with the employability of certain university graduates cohorts as this project has nothing to do with the development of alumni communication strategy and various services for graduates.
In terms of the presence of alumni communication sections on the websites of public and private universities, 29 public universities out of 56 do have an alumni section (roughly 1 in 2 public universities has a special alumni section), while 7 private accredited universities out of 28 have an alumni section (1 in 4 private universities has a special alumni section) (see table 1).
Apart from the facilities mentioned in table 1, there are some associations that include among their plans activities such as development of alumni clubs, alumni magazines, career services for graduates, alumni travel options, alumni awards for students (mainly for academic performance), or summer schools. One association states that it can offer services for companies that need the specific expertise of the graduates that are part of the association.
Other initiatives that are rather isolated (one or two universities have them) are the inclusion of the Trendence Barometer Study results in the alumni section, details about getting one’s diploma after graduation, Google map with the countries where graduates that are part of the association are located, and tourist offers for graduates. Only one university included a section for donations as well as causes that graduates could support.

As a graduate who hasn’t kept in touch with the university for some time but is willing to reconnect, only 1 in 2 graduates from public universities can find an alumni section on the official website of the institution, while 1 in 4 graduates from private universities can do the same. While engaging alumni using online platforms can be the easiest and cheapest way of reconnecting with your graduates, these results indicate that Romanian universities are not yet aware of how helpful their alumni can be in front of challenges that each higher education institution has to face.
Regarding other characteristics of the online sections like functionality and updated information, only 23 out of 36 universities have a completely functional section, while 14 universities have updated information. These results indicate the lack of continuity and ongoing interest for the development and maintenance of an alumni section. The people responsible may be engaged in other departments of the university and be unable to constantly monitor and improve the website.
In terms of content, the most interesting results come from the observation that 5 out of 36 universities have the “graduates search” option while 12 universities have “lists of graduates” on their websites. Considering the fact that there must be a functional database with enough information behind this option, one can state that universities lack a centralized database with updated information about their graduates. In addition, there is a lack of clear privacy options, in terms of “who can contact who”, with the extreme situation being the publication of “lists of graduates” that contain not only the name and graduation year, but also contact information, such as e-mails (two universities had this major privacy problem in December 2010). The chances that all graduates had willingly given their contact information to be published on a public website are small, and even so, private data should be handled with great consideration.
Another interesting result in terms of content is the fact that only two thirds of the alumni associations/clubs/departments have their complete contact information online, forcing the graduates to contact the faculty or the university and ask for more specific information. Considering also the fact that more than half of the universities that have a subscription form keep it more than 2 clicks away, one can state that most of the universities are trying to “hide” their alumni association/club/department rather than make it more visible and easy to reach online.
While one in two universities have a description of its alumni structure, the rest of the content strongly reflects the “offline” activity in the university that is alumni focused. One in four universities have alumni news included, while one in six universities have a photo gallery and an events section for graduates. Only one in 18 universities have a publication for graduates (either print or online version), and the career services have the same occurrence.

Staying connected with higher education graduates can bring many benefits for the universities and using online communication has never been easier and cheaper. There are plenty of open source resources as well as open software communities that can support a small initiative from the university to turn into a solid community. Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as a dedicated page on the university’s web domain are main instruments that Romanian higher education institutions can use to attract their “lost” and “unengaged” alumni at low costs, as well as “compensate” for the initial lack of human and financial resources.
Romanian universities are on the verge of identifying the role of online tools in alumni communication and have taken a few steps in the right direction of engagement. One can still encounter large mistakes (like offering private information about one’s graduates on a visitors’ section of the website) but many universities have made the step of building an association or some kind of structure to deal with graduates and also built the first elements that indicate their interest in alumni engagement. However, this interest must be a genuine one, build not on external requirements from governmental agencies or international evaluation bodies, but on purposeful objectives as well as perceived and measured benefits.

Sustin Programul Mentor Alumni!

Ideea unui program de mentorat pentru studentii UBB a venit firesc in contextul in care cautam sa aducem absolventii mai aproape de studenti, de facultati si unii de altii.
S-au alaturat oameni minunati care cred ca viitorul educatiei incepe cu ei!

Gasiti toate detaliile la http://alumni.ubbcluj.ro!

Employability vs “angajabilitate”

Ocazional strecor pe acest blog articole ce au de-a face cu diferite aspecte “tehnice” dintr-o universitate, fara de care munca unui fundraiser nu poate fi completa. Sunt elemente ce tin de calitatea serviciilor oferite si de calitatea relatiei pe care o poti construi cu sponsorul. Nu zabovesc mult asupra problemelor din universitatile din Romania, ci ofer alternative la neajunsuri. Azi abordez “employability”, un “buzz word” ce face si desface multe in invatamantul superior de pretutindeni.

Educatia costa prea multi bani si prea putina pasiune

O universitate (din Romania sau de aiurea) poate fi obisnuita sa isi creasca veniturile prin taxarea unor servicii adiacente procesului de predare precum cele de consiliere si orientare in cariera. Dar ce se intampla daca percepi un tarif pentru un serviciu pe care il faci mai prost decat altcineva care il face gratuit?

“Smile and the world will smile with you”

Printre atatea reguli despre cum sa scrii un proiect bun pentru finantator, cum sa ii multumesti sponsorului si cum sa folosesti retelele sociale pentru a-ti castiga noi sustinatori, nu uita sa te opresti o clipa pentru a admira privelistea, a lua o gura de aer si a te reinventa. Poti incepe cu acest articol.

Catalina

Ce iti trebuie sa fii un bun fundraiser?

Acum doi ani am avut o discutie cu un consultant al Richmond Associates despre ce inseamna sa fii fundraiser junior si cum iti poti construi o cariera din strangerea de fonduri. Din discutie nu a lipsit, in mod evident, intrebarea: “Ce competente trebuie sa imi dezvolt pentru a fi un bun fundraiser?”. Raspunsul pe care l-am primit mi-a ramas intiparit in minte si s-a confirmat de atunci de fiecare data.