What do alumni want

Those are the types of things I would hope we could explore. Q: The university is also going through a comprehensive program review. This is going to take roughly 18 months or so. Particularly how we established the University of Puget Sound as a liberal arts college, as a place to come to study the sciences, and that we do particularly well in helping to develop women in science.

Our atmosphere here is one that really nurtures young women, and we rank nationally in terms of undergraduate institutions who prepare women who go on to earn doctoral degrees. So it might that we can expand upon and take further advantage of that. We are a liberal arts college, right? So there are elements here that will continue to undergird all that we do and the way in which we go about this self-examination. Q: What is your opinion on the role graduate programs play at Puget Sound?

Are they needed for us to be viable in the long run? A: I think the board of trustees and the presidential leadership that was in place at the time that made the decision to hold on to our select graduate programs chose very, very well.

One, our graduate programs enrich the university; they create a wonderful mix to our educational programming and allow us to be a unique liberal arts college. Our graduate programs in education, occupational therapy and physical therapy have established strong national reputations and bring great distinction to the university, and I think they have opportunities for expansion and growth. There may be some other opportunities there, particularly ways we might recruit students who might come to us as undergraduates, knowing that they may have seats available for them in these graduate programs.

Our graduate programs do help with the financial bottom line in some important ways. They also provide us with fantastic faculty who enrich our university community, and our undergraduate students benefit by the opportunities to work with our graduate students. Grad programs also create opportunities for clinical work, internships, research opportunities for undergraduate students, and provide our graduate students the opportunity to mentor undergraduate students, and that adds to a sense of community.

You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Cookie Duration Description cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement 1 year The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".

The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".

The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". It does not store any personal data. Functional functional. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance performance. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics analytics. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report.

The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. These institutions need to increase alumni giving in order to raise revenue and remain competitive in university rankings, which take alumni contributions into account.

Then, they must maintain those connections over time. The word alumni refers to a former student of a school, college or university. Typically, the term refers to a graduate, although not always. In effect, colleges and universities need to view students as lifelong commitments that do not end at graduation. Alumni are resources that can provide meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships over time. More on the evolution of technology and what it means for higher ed pros in our ebook "Humanizing AI in Higher Education.

For example, alumni are a prime target audience for continuing education opportunities. Unlike undergrad programs, advanced credentials are quite profitable because they rely on very little tuition discounting and financial aid. Therefore, the revenue they produce can be used to offset any deficits that occur at the undergrad level.

Jobs and the skills they require are changing much faster than ever before. In , Doug Thomas and John Seely Brown predicted that the half-life of a learned skill was about five years and decreasing.

This means that what is a cutting-edge skill today could become outdated in a decade or less. Not only are jobs themselves changing. Often, employees hop from one job to another, spending around three years in the same role.

All of this means that lifelong learning is critical to career success. As Huntington Lambert, Dean of Continuing Education at Harvard, predicts, higher ed for each adult who enters the workforce will need to occur on and off for about the next 60 years. They are also competency-based, meaning they allow learners to display real-life skills that are used on the job.

In turn, this gives graduates a leg-up when they apply for jobs. Chris Dellarocas argues that a unique feature of colleges and universities that sets them apart from other vendors in the crowded professional education field is their personal relationship with students. What sets apart colleges and universities from private industry competitors are.

Because they already have a connection with their alma mater, alumni are a prime market for certificate programs. Colleges must create positive relationships with undergrads so that they want to return to their alma mater.