BY: Sara Wainscott
Published: 9.21.12
Last summer was the first for Taylor's Alumni Discovery Program designed to reconnect alumni to Taylor through student-led interviews.
Alumni Relations hired 12 Taylor students to work in seven "alumni focus" areas, from Denver to Philadelphia. The students conducted a total of 510 interviews with alumni in homes and offices, inquiring about alumni experiences at Taylor and alumni satisfaction with their current Taylor involvement.
Taylor, along with most colleges, has seen a steady decline in alumni involvement with their alma mater, according to Director of Parent and Family Programs Amanda Wilson. To address this issue, consultant Jim Langley recommended that the Alumni and Parent Relations Office implement a program to allow alumni to reconnect with Taylor outside of planned events and mass mailings.
Wilson oversaw the Alumni Discovery Team. She defined three purposes for the program:
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To allow alumni to be heard by Taylor
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To gather helpful feedback for the university
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To let student interviewers gain wisdom from the alumni
According to Alumni Discovery team member and Taylor senior Hayley Meredith, one goal of the program was to match the efforts of the Alumni Relations Office with the expectations of the alumni.
"They want to be reached out to - to have a face-to-face relationship with Taylor again," Meredith said. "If we just wanted to get data, we would have sent out a survey."
As the feedback from the interviews was analyzed, several common themes emerged. These themes will be shared with Parents Council, Alumni Council and the Board of Trustees for future use.
Wilson said response from the program has been "overwhelmingly positive from alumni and the university alike."
Taylor has decided to continue the Alumni Discovery Program next summer.
Interviews for next summer's Alumni Discovery team begin in February.
