Project Sponsor:  Rachel Wobschall
Project Manager:  Ann Burke and Liz Zupfer

What is the “Alumni Networking Tool”?
Alumni and Constituent Relations (ACR) sought a tool that would allow alumni to connect online.  At implementation on June 29, 2006, a new suite of Web tools, collectively referred to as “The Quad,” provided alumni the ability to do the following in a secured online environment:

• Update their personal, contact, spousal and employment information, and maintain control over which pieces of information are available for other alumni to view online
• Find other alumni using a series of search parameters — without compromising alumni privacy — using masked email addresses and enforcement of a “no email solicitation” policy
• Create an electronic business card and post it in an alumni business directory
• Sign up for a free lifetime email account
• Create distribution groups made up of alumni
• Post electronic AlumNotes

What we’ve done over the last 18 months …
ACR has worked in earnest with IAC (Internet Associates Corporation), a vendor from Akron, Ohio, that provides online alumni features to more than 130 higher-education clients.  Several customizations make the UST product unique, including a daily data transfer process that is ahead of the industry curve.  In addition to creating a template that fits seamlessly with the newly updated alumni site (launched in Collage, April 2006), the Alumni Association is leveraging IAC’s administrative functions that make it possible to send targeted e-communications based on pre-existing Banner data: home address, activities, and degree information.  For example, the Alumni Association can send out an e-invitation to attend an upcoming sports event to alumni of an athletic team who live in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.  

Results...
Almost 2,500 alumni have registered and updated their information via The Quad.  More than 130 alumni are promoting their businesses through the online business directory, and 30 percent of all site visitors are viewing those businesses.  Approximately 20 percent of registrants are signing up for a free lifetime email account.  And, although the industry benchmark is 25 percent of first-time site visitors returning to the site, we’re seeing more than 30 percent of registrants returning to the site after their first visit. 

Next Steps...
This is the first of several phases and is designed to obtain updated data about alumni.  In Phase II (currently gathering requirements), we will offer online communities.