Listening to alumni

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Tags: alumni, summer-2011, survey, Vice-Chancellor

By Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield AO

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paul Greenfield

In mid-2011 more than 6600 alumni in almost 100 countries took the opportunity to express their views of UQ by being part of an online survey. Thank you to all the respondents, whose answers will inform our efforts to offer alumni the programs and benefits that they want.

Hundreds invested extra time to write comments about their relationship with UQ, and many of these were particularly instructive.

Overwhelmingly, people had positive memories of their student experience and gave high ratings to the education that UQ now provides. For example, 94 percent felt proud to be a UQ graduate, 91 percent said they had an overall great experience as students, and almost 90 percent would recommend UQ to their friends. These ratings are a tribute to past and present staff, and to the quality of our alumni community.

On the other hand, alumni were generally cool about their present relationship with UQ. Only 40 percent agreed that they had a strong relationship with UQ, almost one-third were neutral about it, and the remainder disagreed with the proposition. Also, most people did not feel that they were a valued part of the UQ community.

Clearly, the University’s strong performance towards students is not flowing through to alumni. As engaging with alumni is integral to the University’s vocation, and we strive for all-round excellence, this is indeed a serious concern.

If you are someone who finds UQ’s performance towards alumni lacking, please be assured that alumni are valued as intrinsic to UQ, irrespective of whether they are quiet achievers, celebrities, or people who studied purely for the love of learning. When I take the University’s increasing success as the pervading theme of this magazine, I cannot isolate it from the work of countless people whose stories are not documented.

I was gratified by the magnanimity of the thousands of alumni who would consider volunteering, especially if it enables them to help students. Half of the respondents signalled interest in giving guest lectures or joining discussion panels, 42 percent were interested in being career mentors, 44 percent would consider assisting with UQ humanitarian projects, and more than a quarter were interested in inviting a new international student home for dinner.

I know that many hundreds of alumni already volunteer as adjunct academics, student mentors, fundraisers, advisors, reunion organisers, UQ Senators – the list goes on. It is now up to UQ to expand opportunities for people to serve in these roles and other ways.

More than half of our alumni live within an hour’s drive of central Brisbane, but altruism is not limited by borders or datelines. This is proven by the members of the new board of The University of Queensland in America Foundation, the dynamos running our 10 Asia-based alumni associations, and the residents of Vietnam who supported a group of current students who performed exceptional deeds for children of a community in the Mekong Delta.

A similarly generous disposition towards UQ students of today and tomorrow came through in alumni’s answers to questions about donating, with scholarships being the most popular target for people who were able and willing to give funds to UQ.

People shared valuable insights on activities that interest them, and their preferred avenues for receiving communication from the University. On the basis of this you should expect to see more email invitations and notices about seminars, cultural events and professional development.

Judging by answers relating to benefits and services they would like to receive, many alumni treasure knowledge and scholarship as ongoing links with the University. Their most popular choices were library access that is free or discounted (the latter is already available), and lifelong learning.

The take-out message for the University is that actions speak louder than words. Busy alumni took the trouble to tell us what they like and dislike about their relationship with UQ, with some even inviting the University to partner with them to improve offerings for their fellow alumni.

There is now a decisive onus on the University to digest the criticisms as well as the compliments to communicate better with alumni who want to maintain or reinvigorate contact with their alma mater, and to harness the enthusiasm and creativity of alumni who want to share their wisdom, energy and connections. Stay tuned.

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