The reputation and success of any educational institution including higher educational institutions lies on its students – past as well as present. Faculty, administration staff and placement personnel also play a vital role. The reputation grows when it keeps producing successful graduates and post-graduates continuously – intelligent, innovative and effective in their fields.

Alumni can help institutions sustain through their donations, and voluntary help. If a big chunk of the money that institutions require come from alumni it will help those institutions remain competitive. They can provide their students newer technology, better facility, and nicer campus. Let us now study and review the possible areas in which alumni can provide a strong support to educational institutions:

Brand building

With mushrooming educational institutions around the world, one way for institutes to stand apart from domestic and international competition is to promote its brand. And an institute’s alumni are its best bet. It is not only the alumni’s professional successes that drive a brand but also factors like alumni driven campus recruitment, social campaigns go a long way in promoting a brand.

Grading

Year after year, the race for ranking has gained more prominence as more and more institutions have entered the fray. Apart from factors like infrastructure, quality of faculty, curriculum, research facilities, now alumni success and engagement are also being taken into consideration.

National Assessment and Accreditation council’s (NAAC) Revised Assessment and Accreditation framework indicates a shift in several metrics – one of it being to bring in enhanced participation of students and alumni in the assessment process. NAAC has specified that alumni engagement can contribute in academic matters, student support as well as mobilisation of resources – both financial and non-financial.

Naming rights

With the intention of encouraging significant contributors’/donors, higher educational institutions have embarked on a policy of granting naming rights to major facilities and programs.

Programs in this connection refer to scholarship, fellowship, chair-professorship, endowment, etc

Facilities in this connection refer to movable and immovable properties, research lab equipment, etc.

The name of the person, in respect of whom the Naming Rights have been granted, shall be prominently displayed at all times on the immovable or movable property during the tenure of the Naming Rights.

Placements

The alumni network of a college/university is one of the biggest sources of placement opportunities for students. Alumni can help students get placed at their respective organisations.

Mentorship and career guidance

Alumni can play an active role in voluntary programmes like mentoring students in their area of expertise. Further alumni are a huge talent pool whose guidance can be beneficial to many students in their respective areas of study.

Networking platform

Alumni network by itself is one of the biggest professional networking platforms available today.

So, it may be concluded that former students or alumni of an institution can play an immensely positive role in higher education transformation. The alumni have the great potential to promote institutional development. It has equally great ability to build a skill and knowledge-sharing network. It is therefore strategic for institutions of higher learning to establish and maintain good relations with its alumni by inviting them in decision making, network building and developmental processes for the overall advancement of the institution.