Students these days have got immense pressure on themselves and therefore there arises a need of a community where the entire group of Students can come together and share and explain the problems which they come across during their academic year. Joining student communities is not only beneficial in terms of solving the problems related to their College projects during the academic year, but it may also be helpful for the students in organising some creative events or extracurricular activities for themselves where the students can have an opportunity to showcase their talents not in only in front of their seniors but also to the entire college faculties. Every University has a Alumni Association in it where the head of the association plays an important role in taking major decisions regarding the Benefits of the students. The year 2012, we witnessed a major chaos amongst the students where one of the Question papers got leaked and the university now has decided to take a re-examination of the leaked paper. Here in this case the entire Students committee came together in filing a petition to the university against re-examination.

Your Alumni are all the students who have passed out from any course of your institute.  By any course, we mean any full time or part time core or non-core course that you as an institute have offered to the public.  A simple internet search would lead you to numerous training programs on networking skills. You may also find in the curriculum of many management institutes that ‘business networking’ is an elective for those who wish to ‘crack super deals’ with high-profile clients.  As a management institute, you need to be in touch with all your stakeholders as well. And your alumni association is an important part of this group of stakeholders.  Why do you think you should bother with connecting with your alumni at all?  They have of course taken their inputs and passed out from their courses and your duty as a management institute has been done.  So, why then invest in reconnecting with your ‘ex-students’?

There is an explosion of management institutes in the last decade all over the world.  The reasons are many, some of them being the unrestricted access to knowledge sharing by industry experts, social networking opportunities, industrial visits,  multiple job offers and considerable higher pay.  Aspiring management graduates get to know in a regulated and simulated environment what the corporate buzz is all about.

The curriculum is also evolving in these management institutes to include more contemporary subjects such as entrepreneurship, creativity, talent management, microfinance as well as modern technology such as ERP, virtual technology and the like.  Most of the management institutes have industry experts, subject matter experts and university officials on their board of studies who review the curriculum periodically and propose relevant changes.  A good idea would also be to include some of the alumni of the institute on such a alumni community to propose changes in the curriculum.

Points of comparison between The Alumni Portal and Facebook:

Exclusivity:

This is the biggest drawback. No one thinks about their school/college when they are on Facebook.

Event Calendar:

Facebook has an events.

An Alumni Association acts as a bridge between the old and the new blood of any institute.  It helps to strengthen the bonds between the institute and the students who have benefited from the institute.  It does the institute a lot of good to keep in touch with its student base who have grown and developed over the years and can give back to their Alma Mater.  Opportunities for job placements, donations, sponsorships, faculty positions are also possible through such platforms that help connect alumni members with the institute and present students.  So, ever thought of having an Alumni Association Website for your institute, but don’t know how to start?  So, here’s your answer.