Strategizing alumni to encounter financial sustainability issue: insights from public higher education institutions of Pakistan

PurposeThis practitioner paper intends to explore how Public Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in Pakistan could strategize alumni to encounter the financial sustainability challenges and achieve their organizational potential relevant to academic, research and public services.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenological approach, this study used interviews and focus group discussion data with 26 alumni from eight different PHEIs in Pakistan to explore their attitudes toward engagement with their institutions.FindingsThis study shows a clear shift in institutional strategies between the developing and developed economies regarding the importance and value given to alumni and engagement practices employed.Practical implicationsThis study recommends that PHEIs in Pakistan can enjoy alumni engagement benefits to strengthen their organizational standing, provided they view alumni as a valuable entity and observe a proactive approach to engage alumni in a manner that may reflect the mutually beneficial and trustworthy relationship. Further, it would help institutions attain long-term financial sustainability, which is threatened by state-funding cuts and, more recently, COVID-19 pandemic-led recession.Originality/valueScholarship shows that institutions in the developed economies have built a strong bond with their alumni to seek their support. However, the voices of institutions from the developing economies have not been heard yet. In this regard, this study appears to highlight the current alumni engagement practices and how institutions could improve on them to strategize alumni for a sustainable future.

"Trying to be positive in the face of the storm": The experiences of independent college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created multiple stressors for college students, particularly for young adults experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage. Little is known about the pandemic experiences of independent college students, many of whom are emancipated minors, former wards of the state, and other students who lack familial financial and practical support as they pursue higher education. Twenty-three independent students, ages 18-23, from one northeastern university were interviewed to understand how independent students were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and their needs for support from the university during this time. Most participants were identified as Black or Latinx, and two thirds were first-generation college students. Participants reported an overall lack of support from their families prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, they experienced compounding academic, economic, and mental health-related stressors. Students responded to these stressors in resilient and resourceful ways, by adapting to their new realities, expressing gratitude, and finding opportunities for self-growth. Participants recommend that institutions of higher education support independent students during periods of emergency through providing financial assistance, offering opportunities for connection with both adults and peers, and demonstrating administrative flexibility and understanding of their unique needs.

The impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTQ+ foster youth alumni.

BACKGROUND: LGBTQ+ youth frequently experience disparities in outcomes related to permanency and overall well-being while in out-of-home care. These negative outcomes often persist after youth have transitioned out of care, particularly in the domains of housing, education, employment, and mental health. Initial research has found that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated negative physical and mental health outcomes, as well as decreased economic stability among transition age youth. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to determine if COVID-19 has resulted in unique impacts on foster care alumni, and if these impacts are the same for LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ transition age youth. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study used data from the 2020 Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative Opportunity Passport Survey to explore these questions. METHODS: This survey was administered electronically to a national sample of 1223 youth ages 18-26 with lived experience in foster care. RESULTS: Results indicate that relative to non-LGBTQ+ foster care alumni, LGBTQ+ foster care alumni experienced more negative outcomes in housing stability, employment, and mental health/trauma due to COVID-19. No significant differences were found for education-related impacts. Outcomes varied by sex assigned at birth, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) of respondents, with female respondents, black, indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) youth and LGBTQ+ youth being most frequently impacted. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that relative to non-LGBTQ+ foster care alumni, LGBTQ+ foster care alumni experienced more negative outcomes in housing stability, employment, and mental health/trauma due to COVID-19. No significant differences were found for education-related impacts. Outcomes varied by sex assigned at birth, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) of respondents, with female respondents, BIPOC youth and LGBTQ+ youth being most frequently impacted. Implications for practice and policy are explored.

MANAGING ALUMNI LOYALTY. POLAND FROM AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

The aim of the paper is to identify the loyalty management determinants of university alumni. As the pandemic has influenced all walks of life, including university performance and, as a result, the relations between the university and the alumni. The paper also addresses the impact of COVID-19 on selected alumni loyalty programs. The critical literature research was enriched with the analysis of loyalty programs of selected 15 universities under the EU-sponsored "Forge of Professionals 7” project, with the follow-up analysis of 2 universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, alumni loyalty determinants were developed. Managing alumni loyalty could be divided into three groups: alumni-based, university-based, and mixed. The most important factor influencing alumni loyalty is not the organization of alumni loyalty management, but the communication tools used by a university. The implementation of the results can bring numerous benefits to the universities: they can enjoy great flexibility in managing alumni relations systems. The university willing to strengthen alumni relations must take this from a strategic point of view. Establishing flourishing alumni relations is always a long process, requiring bold planning and consistent execution. Its value is a practical approach to the management of the relationship between a university and its alumni, and as such, it can greatly contribute to improving policy and practice in higher education. © 2022, Czestochowa University of Technology. All rights reserved.

Key components of effective remote engineering work: Factors learned in school and on the job - Study motivation, design, and preliminary results

This Research Work-in-Progress Paper focuses on the change in collaboration practices within engineering and design (E&D) teams caused by COVID. A mixed-methods research approach was used. A survey designed to examine the long-term educational impact of an in-depth mechatronics graduate-level course sequence on its alumni was supplemented with Likert-scale and open-ended questions asking participants about the impact of COVID on their work mode and work satisfaction. The survey was administered in September 2021 and served as a filter to determine an interview sample. A literature review identifies leadership as an important factor in increasing team collaboration efficiency among virtual E&D teams. We identified and interviewed nine of the alumni who are currently leading E&D teams. Our goal is to identify skills those leaders acquired during their course experience that were particularly valuable for navigating the transition to remote collaboration. Furthermore, skills that have been critical for successful collaboration but were not learned during the course will also be identified. We then aim to derive practical implications for E&D course teaching teams on how to better prepare future E&D team leaders for remote collaboration. This Work-in-Progress paper focuses on our study motivation, design and preliminary results. © 2022 IEEE.

Catholic Higher Education in the United States: Exploring the Decision to Enroll from a Student’s (or a Student Advisor’s) Point of View

In many countries, those considering enrolling in a Catholic college or university may have a choice between a few universities or none at all. In the United States, they can choose between more than 240 Catholic colleges and universities. This provides a rich array of choices, but it may also make the decision of where to apply and ultimately enroll more complicated. This article provides a simple framework to discuss some of the factors that affect the decision to enroll in higher education and where to enroll. Four basic sequential questions that students may ask are considered: (1) Should I go to college? (2) How should I select a college? (3) How can I compare different colleges? (4) Should I go to a Catholic college? By providing elements of response to these questions, the article provides insights into the decision to enroll in Catholic education and its implications for universities.

How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China

Alumni giving is an emerging funding source for industry-research-oriented universities in China, which show unstable and limited growth compared to their elite counterparts despite providing their alumni a satisfactory campus experience. Identifying the mechanisms whereby campus experience satisfaction results in steady alumni donation is essential for providing guidance on effective alumni relations practice in the Chinese context. Using structural equation modeling, this quantitative study surveyed 238 alumni of an industry-research-oriented university in China to explore the relationships among campus experience satisfaction, faculty-alumni contacts, trust in foundation, and alumni-giving intention. The results indicate that campus experience satisfaction is a significant predictor of the other three, while also indirectly affecting alumni donation willingness, which includes faculty-alumni contact and trust in foundation. It was also revealed that trust in foundation could be enhanced by strengthening contact between faculty and alumni. Theoretically, this study identifies and reveals the key determinants of increased alumni giving and their interactive mechanisms in the Chinese higher education ecosystem. For sustainability, suggestions for optimizing alumni relation practices are provided to university administrators and policymakers to advance higher education’s contribution to social and economic development.

Strategizing alumni to encounter financial sustainability issue: insights from public higher education institutions of Pakistan

Purpose: This practitioner paper intends to explore how Public Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in Pakistan could strategize alumni to encounter the financial sustainability challenges and achieve their organizational potential relevant to academic, research and public services. Design/methodology/approach: Employing a hermeneutic (interpretive) phenomenological approach, this study used interviews and focus group discussion data with 26 alumni from eight different PHEIs in Pakistan to explore their attitudes toward engagement with their institutions. Findings: This study shows a clear shift in institutional strategies between the developing and developed economies regarding the importance and value given to alumni and engagement practices employed. Practical implications: This study recommends that PHEIs in Pakistan can enjoy alumni engagement benefits to strengthen their organizational standing, provided they view alumni as a valuable entity and observe a proactive approach to engage alumni in a manner that may reflect the mutually beneficial and trustworthy relationship. Further, it would help institutions attain long-term financial sustainability, which is threatened by state-funding cuts and, more recently, COVID-19 pandemic-led recession. Originality/value: Scholarship shows that institutions in the developed economies have built a strong bond with their alumni to seek their support. However, the voices of institutions from the developing economies have not been heard yet. In this regard, this study appears to highlight the current alumni engagement practices and how institutions could improve on them to strategize alumni for a sustainable future. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Efficiency Analysis of Graduate Alumni Insertion into the Labor Market as a Sustainable Development Goal

The assumption that greater education levels of a given population leads to better employability levels thanks to higher education institutions (HEI) is widely known. However, most of the research related to HEI is focused on the determination of efficiency levels from an eminently academic perspective. The objective of this research is to carry out a comparative analysis of the efficiency degree of Latin American universities in terms of labor insertion for their graduate alumni, in order to evaluate the Sustainable Development Goal 8 related to decent work and economic growth. The data enveloping analysis (DEA) methodology was implemented. Main results showed different levels of labor efficiency among the studied institutions that were classified into eight groups of universities. Likewise, it was noted that Latin American university students showed employment levels above those of workers with lower levels of education and training.