Higher Education Newsletter

06/05/2002
Reading Time: 3-5 minutes

Number 20
UNIVERSITY LOYALTY-BUILDING POLICIES

Traditionally, ties between students and higher education institutions end with graduation. Students begin their professional lives, bringing their learning period to a close, and lose contact with their university.

Until recently, only a few elite centres in the private sector kept in touch with their graduates through associations. The aim was to keep a link with future collaborators or clients of the institution and to create a channel for sharing knowledge (worknet). These associations, which are still running today, operate in the same way as a club, so that members enjoy certain advantages, as well as a distinctive symbol of accreditation. Examples of such associations are the Oxford Benefactors and Friends (http://www.ox.ac.uk/friends/) and the Asociación de Antiguos Alumnos of ESADE (http://www.aaaesade.net/), both with members all over the world.

In recent years, universities have adopted loyalty-building policies, following the example of these centres. There are a variety of reasons for this. One is the fall in numbers of students, which has forced universities to implement such loyalty-building measures in order to create an interrelational scenario that feeds the university with new students. It is in this context that lifelong education services are gaining increasing centrality. Also, universities see the increasing need to retain the knowledge generated by their students, reinvesting it for their own benefit while bringing themselves closer to the business world and gaining prestige.

It is from this perspective that alumni associations have been set up in public and private universities. These associations provide all kinds of services ranging from prolonging student membership cards to opinion forums and consultancy and job mart services, with the aim of keeping contact with students as much as possible throughout their professional lives. For more information, we recommend a visit to the following alumni association webpages: Asociación de los Antiguos Estudiantes of the University of Coimbra, Portugal (http://www.uc.pt/aaec/), the Asociación de Ex-alumnos of the Biomedical Campus of Rome, Italy (http://www.unicampus.it/AssociazioneExAlunni/default.asp), the Amis de l'Université de Liège, Belgium (http://www.ulg.ac.be/amis/), the Brighton Graduate Association (http://www.bton.ac.uk/audience/former/), the Antics Alumnes de la UPC at the Technical University of Catalonia (http://www.upc.es/aaupc/), and the Antiguos UPV at the Technical University of Valencia, Spain (http://www.antiguosupv.org/pages/inicial.html).

Lifelong education institutions have also adopted loyalty-building policies. Centres offering this kind of teaching have clearly seen the need to retain the loyalty of their clients. This is the case of the Asociación de Antiguos Alumnos of the Instituto de Educación Continua de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra (http://www.upf.es/idec-aaa/) and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, France (http://www.cnam.fr/).

In the United States, loyalty-building policies have a wider scope. The prestige that certain institutions enjoy is fuelled by the effort they have placed on ensuring the loyalty of their target audience. There, alumni associations bring together students and former students as members of a community, with an array of activities, services and privileges. The idea is that the professional lives of those that have had contact with the institution is determined by its seal of quality.

We recommend a visit to Post.Harvard, at Harvard University (http://www.haa.harvard.edu/html/contin02.html), the Alumni Association at Columbia University (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ssw/alumni/alumassoc/benefits.html), the Stanford Alumni Association, at the University of Stanford (http://www.stanfordalumni.org/), AYA, at Yale University (http://www.yale.edu/alumni/aya.html), Johns Hopkins University Alumni (http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/alumni/), and the Alumni, Parents, and Friends of the University of California at Berkeley (http://www.berkeley.edu/alumni/).

Recently, similar developments have taken place in Latin America. Examples of this are the services offered by the San Francisco de Quito University, Ecuador (http://www.geocities.com/usfq_alumni/), the Asociación de Antiguos Alumnos at Colombia Externado University (http://www.uexternado.edu.co/asocanti/) and the Corporación de ex-Alumnos at Diego Portales University, Chile (http://www.udp.cl/ceaudp/index.html).

By M. Àngels Cortina Cunill, Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)

Send us your comments at: M. Àngels Cortina Cunill (angels.cortina@upc.es)

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HIGHER EDUCATION AGENDA

May 9-11th, 2002. ICNEE'02. 4th International Conference on New Educational Environments. Lugano, Switzerland. (http://www.eduswiss.ch/4th-conf//).

May 10-11th, 2002. Case European Assembly. Case. Berlin, Germany http://www.case.org/international/europe/eurtrain.cfm#5

May 13-15th, 2002. OECD Forum: Taking Care of Fundamentals. Security, Equity, Education and Growth. Paris, France. http://www.oecd.org

May 14-17th, 2002. AUAP Learning and Sharing Forum VIII: Implementing University Partnership Through Productive Communications for Academic Excellence. Sahid Raya Hotel, Kuta Denpasar, Bali. http://www.sahidhotels.com

May 16-17th, 2002. EURASHE Annual Conference: Towards Coherence in European Higher Education. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland. http://.www.eurashe.be/info/conf-2002.htm

May 16-17th, 2002. Euro-Mediterranean Conference of University Presidents. Sousse, Tunisia. Sadok.korbi@uc.rnu.tn

May 17-19th, 2002. First Ibero-American and African Congress: Adult Education and Community Development. Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal. jvfer@ualg.pt

May 21-24th, 2002. Word Education Market 2002. Lisbon. Portugal. http://www.wemex.com

May 26-29th, 2002. ICDE North America Regional Conference. International Council for Open and Distance Education and Canadian Assotiation for Distance Education. Calgary, Canada http://www.icde.org/Events/EventFra.htm

May 26-31st, 2002. NAFSA's 54th Annual Conference: Enhancing Leadership and Learning in a Cultural Mosaic. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. San Antonio, Texas, USA. http://www.nafsa.org/nafsa2002

May 27-29th, 2002. Second International Conference on Technology Supported Learning and Training. Online Educa. Barcelona, Spain. http://www.online-educa.com

June 12-14th, 2002. The Incorporation of Sustanibility into Higher Education in the perspective of European Research Area. Copernicus Campus and Goteborg University. Goteburg, Sweden http://www.mls.miljo.gu.se/copernicus/

June 14-19th, 2002: Strategic Management Seminar in co-operation with the European University Association (EUA), and the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)


June 16-19th, 2002. 2002 EDEN Annual Conference. European Distance Education Network. Open and Distance Learning in Europe and Beyond Rethinking international Cooperation. Granada, Spain (http://www.eden.bme.hu/contents/news.html#1)

June 17-19th, 2002.Seminario de La gestion de las relaciones entre las universidades y el territorio. Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior de la Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

June 19-22nd, 2002. EUNIS 2002 8th. International Conference of European University Information Systems. The Changing Universities: The Challenge of New Technologies. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. http://www.fe.up.pt/eunis2002

June 20-21st, 2002. Jornadas sobre Universidades y desarrollo regional en Europa. CIRIT y Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior. Eurocongreso. Barcelona,Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

June 21-22nd, 2002. Conference on New Generation Universities in co-operation with the University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

June 20-23th, 2002. American Association for Higher Education. Assessment Conference, Boston, Massachusetts. http://www.aahe.org/assessment/2002/

26, 27, 28 de junio de 2002. II Congreso Europeo sobre Tecnologías de la Información en la Educación y la Ciudadanía: Una visión crítica. Barcelona, Spain (http://web.udg.es/tiec/cast/principalnegran.htm)

1-5 de julio de 2002. International Summer School on Higher Education. University of Twente y Catedra UNESCO de Gestion de la Educacion Superior de la Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain http://www.upc.es/unescogestio

July 3-6th, 2002. Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Education Development. The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. http://www.csd.uwa.edu.au/iced2002/

July 7-10th, 2002. HERDSA Conference. Quality Conversations. Higher Education Research and Development Society of AustralasiaSunset Coast, Perth, Australia. http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/herdsa/welcome.html

July 17-19th, 2002. Information Communication Technologies in Education. INEAG. Samos Island, Greece. http://www.ineag.gr

July 29th. - August 2nd, 2002. Commonwealth of Learning and The National Development of Education of South Africa: Transforming Education for Development. Durban, South Africa. http://www.eventdynamics.co.za

August 22-23th, 2002. Seminar on Managing University Libraries OECD, Paris, France. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

September 6-8th, 2002. Jubilee International Conference: Higher Education in the 21st. Century: its role and contribution to our common advancement. UNESCO-CEPES. Bucharest, Romania. http://www.cepes.ro

September 8-11th, 2002. The 24th EAIR Forum - Crossing National, Structural and Technological Borders: Development and Management in Higher Education- Prague, (http://www.org.uva.nl/eair/prague/theme.asp)

September 8-11th, 2002. 30th. SEFI Annual Conference: The Renaissance Engineer of Tomorrow. Universita degli studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italy. http://www.sefirenze2002.unifi.it

September 9-10th, 2002. 6th Session of UNESCO-CEPES Advisory Board and Second Meeting of the World Conference on Higher Education Regional Follow-up Committee for the Europe Region. Bucharest, Romania. http://www.cepes.ro

September 11-14th, 2002. European Association for International Education: 14th Annual Conference. Porto, Portugal. http://www.eaie.org

September 16-18th, 2002. IMHE General Conference - Incentives and Accountability: Instruments of Change in Higher Education. (http://www1.oecd.org/media/upcoming.htm )

September 16-19th, 2002. International Society for Engineering Education: Engineer of the 21st. Century. Saint Petersburg, Russia. http://www.isee2002.spmi.ru

September 18-21st, 2002. Globalisation: What issues are at stake for universities? Universite Laval, Quebec City, Canada. http://www.ulaval.ca/BI/Globalisation-Universities/

September 19 - 21st, 2002. University of Laval, Quebec City, Canada.
Theme: Globalisation. http://www.unesco.org/iau

September 29th - October 2nd, 2002. ATEM 2002 Annual Conference. Excellence = Managing Colleagues, Customers and Core Values. Association for Tertiary Education Management. Brisbane, Australia, (http://www.atem-aappa2002.qut.edu.au/)

October 11-12nd, 2002. Credit Transfer and Accumulation - the Challenge for nstitutions. ETH Zurich EUA/Swiss Confederation Conference on ECTS Zurich, Switzerland, (http://www.unige.ch/eua/)

October 14-17th, 2002. International Society for Human Values: Conference and Workshops on "Youth and Human Values". Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.humanvalues-is.org

October 23-26th, 2002. The European Studies Centre of the University of Navarra holds a multidisciplinary Conference: VII Conference "European Culture". Pamplona, Navarra. Spain. http://www.unav.es/cee/viicongre.html

October 30th. - November 1st, 2002.'Transforming Quality', the 7th Quality in Higher Education International Seminar, organised jointly by the Centre for Research into Quality and the Centre for Management Quality Research to be held in Melbourne Australia. http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com

November 2-7th, 2002. Strategic Management Seminar in co-operation with the Association of Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP), Manila, The Philippines. (www.oecd.org/els/education /higher/)

November 25-27th, 2002. EDU-COM 2002: Higher Education without Borders, Sustainable Development in Higher Education. Khon Kaen, Hotel Sofitel, Thailand. http://www.chs.ecu.edu.au/org/int_comm/

December 2-6th, 2002. Globalization and Catholic Higher Education: hopes and changes. Congregation for Catholic Education and International Federation of Catholic Universities. Vatican City. http://www.fiuc.org

December 10-12nd, 2002. The SRHE 2002 Annual Conference. Society for Research into Higher Education. Students and Learning: what is changing? University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (http://www.srhe.ac.uk/indexevents.htm)

December 10-13th, 2002. World Summit on Information Society. Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.geneva2003.org

June 1-5th, 2003. 2003 World Conference, The 21st ICDE World Conference will take place in Hong Kong, SAR, China, hosted by the Open University of Hong Kong. (http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/hk2003/)

©The Higher Education Newsletter and the Higher Education Agenda are made by the Conference of Spanish University Rectors and the Global University Network for Innovation, in cooperation with UNESCO Chair of Higher Education Management.