Role Of Alumni In Higher Education

With gratitude and reverence in their hearts, the alumniCAT, SET, NET, CSIR, and IAS and so on.
wish to contribute to the enrichment and enhancementThey can purchase equipment, machinery and other
of the quality of education being received by theresources for the use of the institution. The alumni can
students, in whichever manner possible and also makepass on information through on-line by developing
contribution to the society at large. They associate and‘blogs' which enable the students to post their
involve in fostering professional, academic and socialresponses. Through on-line, the alumni can share their
links with the institution. The alumni as a stakeholder isinformation in the following manner:
significant during the different stages of institutional- e-alerts
activities such as need analysis phase, curriculum- Quick paging
design phase, implementation phase and in evaluation.- e-message centre
Need analysis phase Alumni continue to be the largest- Hints & reminders
source of private contribution to education. They are- e-Newsletters
instrumental in gaining valuable insights about various- On-line discussions
industries, employers and society. They identify what- e-seminars & Video conferencing
kind of experience and skills are needed to obtain- PowerPoint presentations
specific position in profession. They provide feedbackThe alumni can arrange for business forum, guest
through which the institution can update academicspeakers, workshops, lectures, conferences, exhibitions,
courses most relevant to current requirements.field trips, surveys, and symposia, programmes to
Besides they identify career opportunities available in aenhance the students' employment potential, and
particular field based upon which academicimprove their awareness on career options. They can
programmes can be decided.also establish on a temporary or permanent basis, a
Curriculum design phase The alumni can help thetraining/coaching centre to offer free coaching to the
institution to include courses on entrepreneurship skillsdeserving students. Alumni awards for outstanding
and leadership qualities for students by giving thestudents can be given every year.
feedback periodically. They help to identify theThey can assist the institutions
currently appropriate requirements for development- For establishing MOUs and industry-institution linkages,
relevant to successful employment, ensuring thecounselling centers
inclusion of essential skill elements. They also help to- Self-employment training centers and organising
identify the professional organisations which are usefulcampus interviews.
to the particular field and to know what type of skills isEvaluation phase The alumni are instrumental in getting
most important for industry.the opinion of the parents, employers and society
Implementation phase In this phase, alumni can involveabout the performance and functioning of the institution.
themselves in providing orientation programmes orGathering feed back from the alumni helps to improve
bridge courses for freshers. The alumni may instituteteaching-learning process, research and development,
awards prizes and contribute books to the library orinfrastructure development and industry-institution
establish book bank. A Corpus Fund may be raised topartnership. They provide support services viz.
cater to the needs of the genuinely deservingHelp to identify areas of research and development.
candidates. They can provide educational CDS,Develop an alumni web-site which is a powerful data
software packages and other types of learningacquisition tool to capture demographic participation
resources to further the knowledge of the students.and behavioural data base over years, offer
They can help the differently abled students byopportunity through that website to personalise what
providing special learning resources, scribes, supportinformation they will share, type of news to receive,
services and act as scribes. They can provide financialhow website looks to them, by what methods they
aid to support the poor, needy and meritorious andwant to be contacted and their frequency and provide
also provide coaching to slow learners, preparingopportunities to integrate ‘friend-raising and fund
students for competitive examinations like TANCET,raising'.