Western’s Alumni Association is inviting alumni and campus community members to be part of its new Strategic Plan by sharing opinions and ideas about alumni programming and engagement.
“Since 1949, Western Alumni has been coming together in a formal way to serve Western and to serve one another,” said David Simmonds, Alumni Association President-Elect and Chair of its Strategic Planning Committee. “Hundreds of alumni volunteers give the precious gift of their time back to Western each and every day, whether as volunteers at events like Homecoming, or through initiatives like 10,000 Coffees.
“We’re grateful to our alumni and proud of the impact we are having. Our goal is to do an even better at this; the only way we can achieve this goal is to hear from alumni.”
As part of the process, the association has hosted, and will continue to host, a series of roundtable sessions in its top regional markets, including London, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, New York and Toronto, to share current alumni engagement initiatives and solicit feedback. In addition to these sessions, an online form is also available to ensure all members have the opportunity to participate.
In both cases, participants will be asked to comment on current services being offered, possible barriers to involvement and whether the emerging themes that have been identified resonate with them. All of the data collected will be examined and help to inform the plan, Simmonds explained.
“We’ve set an ambitious goal of doubling alumni engagement by 2018 – and we want to make sure that we are doing it in a meaningful way,” he continued. “Success requires us to listen carefully and hear from alumni about what we are doing well and where we can improve.”
The association aims to have the new plan ready to unveil at its Annual General Meeting in June.
To learn more about how you can be part of the plan, visit alumni.westernu.ca.