Comments on: Which universities use social media to connect with alumni?

By: marywoodalumnionline

marywoodalumnionline — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:09:24 +0000

Our alumni department at Marywood University (Scranton, PA) is just delving into the social networking arena by utilizing Facebook, Myspace, a blog on the WordPress platform, widgets, and a Ning Page.

http://marywoodalumnionline.wordpress.com

http://marywoodalumnionline.ning.com/

http://cwis.marywood.edu/www2/prweb/alumni/

By: Wild Apricot Blog : Business and Nonprofits Find Value in Twitter

Wild Apricot Blog : Business and Nonprofits Find Value in Twitter — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:11:44 +0000

[...] social media tools and their social-media networks to bring about real change in the real world;Which Universities use Social Media to Connect with Alumni? — The responses to Joseph Thornley’s question suggest that Alumni associations have lot of room [...]

By: Inga Wheeler

Inga Wheeler — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:16:14 +0000

Thank you so much, Joseph.

By: Joseph Thornley

Joseph Thornley — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0000

Hi Inga,
I’ve found that the responses to my question was pretty much the same both in the comments to this post and on my Twitter stream – universities and colleges are still using the same channelsthey’ve used for years – primarily email, snail mail and telephone solicitations – to stay in touch with their alumni. There’s a smattering of Facebook – but to no great effect.

I’m starting a project with a Canadian university that is looking at the potential to incorporate social media and social networks into their alumni relations. I’ll encourage them to publish their experience as a case study.

By: Inga Wheeler

Inga Wheeler — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:07:07 +0000

I am writing my Masters thesis in Public Relations on the use of Social Media at Canadian colleges and universities, specifically how they communicate with current students and the community.

If there is any published (or unpublished) research that might help me, I would appreciate the information. Will the information gathered here be available?

In my research so far, I have not found any institution that does a good or even decent job employing Social Media – does someone know of a school in Canada or the US that is agressively pursuing Social Media as communications tools.

By: Eliana Sutton Balaban

Eliana Sutton Balaban — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:21:00 +0000

My alma mater, huron university college, has a facebook group for Alum

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:50:48 +0000

I graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in June of 2007. I was very involved in PR student organizations on campus and I landed a job at a large agency in Portland right out of college. Since then, I have had numerous students from Oregon contact me asking how I liked my job, what it is like working for a large agency, and if I could pass their resumes onto HR.

How did most of these students contact me? Facebook. Although we didn’t directly learn in college to use social media as a networking tool (although who knows? PR curriculum is changing so fast I could just be out of the loop ) many of these students are taking the principles of what they learn about social media in their PR classes and transferring the information to other areas. I think it is really interesting how young PR professionals are using social media to network with recent graduates, and I predict that this might become the norm as more people join the social media world.

By: Michelle Sullivan

Michelle Sullivan — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:36:33 +0000

Undergrad – Western (UWO) – I asked them to stop sending me their newsletter for environmental reasons. They continue to send me letters with life insurance offers, and the occasional invitation to networking events. I generally hear from them quarterly, by phone, when they’re soliciting a donation. Nothing email or social media based.

Master’s – UQAM – nothing

Diploma – McGill – nothing

I’ve also taken the odd course at l’Université de Montréal and Concordia – nothing from them either.

By: Joseph Thornley

Joseph Thornley — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:23:30 +0000

Thank you all for your comments. Together with the responses I received on Twitter, I have a much better picture of what is, or in this case, is NOT happening out there.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:21:52 +0000

Many students at the University of Georgia seem to take it upon themselves to stay connected through communities like facebook or MySpace. UGA/Grady College communicate via list-servs and snail mail for the most part.

However, as Grady is working to incorporate social media into their curriculum, I think we’ll see this new wave of graduates connecting more and more via twitter, class blogs, etc. I’ve found several professors and classmates online and hope that more alums from previous years will take advantage of these social media connections.