Activating Alumni Engagement: The impact of an engaged alumni community on an institution’s strategic goals

  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
  • Purpose: Engaged alumni have the potential to make a profound impact on an institution’s
    strategic goals as mentors, teaching partners, advisors, lifelong learners, employers and donors.
    Although alumni relations and engagement have been studied for decades, few researchers have
    attempted to connect the impact of alumni involvement to the goals and objectives of an
    institution’s strategic plan. This study aims to close that gap by asking, in what capacity do
    alumni want to be involved in activities that may help advance the strategic goals of their alma
    mater?

    Method: Through semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with five engaged alumni from
    the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, this qualitative study connects alumni engagement
    activities to the objectives outlined in the institution’s five-year strategic plan. Results: The
    results strongly indicate that an engaged alumni population can significantly impact an
    institution’s strategic goals and that alumni engagement professionals should be seen as valuable
    partners on its road to success.

    Value: The data presented in this study provide alumni
    engagement offices with ideas for future alumni programming and research opportunities that
    may inform those programs.

  • Date created
    2022-07-17
  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Type of Item
    Research Material
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-gafp-sd59
  • License
    Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International