Latitudes: For colleges, new efforts to embrace alumni around the globe

A new professional group will focus on international alumni relations. [Latitudes Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Why international alumni can fall through the cracks Even as colleges have grown more sophisticated about international-student recruitment and support services, for many institutions, overseas alumni still fall through the cracks. A new group hopes to change that, offering networking, professional advice, and training on international alumni relations and fund raising. They hope to win recognition as a [member-interest group]( through NAFSA: Association of International Educators. That the area of international alumni relations should be relatively underdeveloped might come as a surprise. After all, American colleges have long had sophisticated systems for maintaining ties with and raising funds from domestic graduates. What’s more, no other country educates as many students from abroad as does the United States. Yet for many institutions, international alumni, including American expatriates overseas, have remained an afterthought. Dispersed around the globe, they don’t return to campus for activities, like homecomings, reunions, and football weekends, that often help maintain ties. Sending glossy alumni magazines abroad can be cost prohibitive. Differing cultural views of philanthropy mean they might be written off as donors. Just keeping track of foreign graduates can be challenging. Jim Brosam II, an international-education consultant who is among those working to start the interest group, said historically some alumni databases don’t even have the capacity for entering overseas addresses. As a result, the last-known contact information on file for international graduates might be their campus address, required for student-visa records. “They were sort of the stepchildren,” said Brosam, president of Jameson Global. But Brosam, who is working on his dissertation on international alumni affairs, said the ground is shifting. The most-recent generation of international students is more likely to pay the full cost of an American degree than past cohorts, meaning some may have deeper pockets. Not only do more colleges recognize international alumni as potential donors, they see them as key to building their reputations overseas and as a critical resource for student recruitment, networking, and job placement abroad. Global alumni, many of whom spent formative undergraduate years in America, want to stay connected to their alma mater. And technology is making it easier to keep in touch. Dilnoza F. Khasilova, a global engagement fellow at the University of Wyoming, started a LinkedIn group for fellow international alumni, building a network of more than 1,000 Wyoming graduates. Now they hold regular online get-togethers and events. “You don’t have to have a lot of money to get started,” Khasilova, who is originally from Uzbekistan, said. Likewise, Brosam said he has met groups of overseas alumni who have connected through social-media platforms like China’s WeChat, sometimes informally and without institutional involvement. Colleges can tap into these existing networks, but technology has also made virtual outreach easier and more routine, especially in the wake of Covid-19. Graduates may now be more willing to log on for online meetups or to beam in campus speakers. Karla McCollum, director of development for international engagement for Iowa State University Foundation, previously worked in international admissions. “I’ve done a lot of recruitment events at 3 a.m. or 6 a.m. on Zoom,” she said. “Now I’m transferring it into this field.” With American colleges graduating more international students, there are now critical numbers of alumni in certain parts of the world, and more institutions have begun to establish overseas chapters. McCollum’s work takes her regularly to Asia, Latin America, and Canada. ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Answering a need for professional development McCollum is part of a two-person staff at Iowa State’s foundation focused on international alumni relations. But many colleges lack a dedicated team to focus on global alumni outreach. Such work can fall between siloes on campus. Alumni offices and foundations may understand the ins and outs of engagement and development work but lack cultural know-how. Likewise, offices focused on international recruitment or global research may bring expertise in navigating cultural expectations and mores but have other priorities and missions. Some cultures don’t have a tradition of private philanthropy, or they may assume tuition or government support meets higher education’s financial needs. Attitudes don’t just differ between the United States and foreign countries but among regions of the world. “China is different than Africa is different than the Middle East,” Brosam said. The challenges can also be practical, like local tax regulations or rules for international funds transfers. Still, there are opportunities for cross-institutional collaboration, experts said. Admissions staff members can build receptions for graduates into international-recruitment trips, both cementing alumni connections and expanding their outreach to prospective students. Alumni-affairs and career-development offices can work together to nurture chapters in key foreign cities, which can, in turn, yield internships and job leads. Colleges may have to think in different ways about what their international alumni value. Some may want to give back to their schools or departments but others may choose to earmark donations to expand opportunities for other international students or to give Americans a taste of studying abroad. Local benefits to alumni-association membership, like access to special college insurance programs, may not be meaningful to a graduate half a world away, Brosam said, but the ability to take online classes could be. Khasilova said while Americans may expect to join their alumni association, for many international students, the concept remains unfamiliar. “We need to bring better awareness and educate international students from the start,” she said. “You don’t just chase alumni after graduation.” Khasilova recently helped lead a workshop on international alumni relations that attracted some 80 participants. With so much interest, she and her colleagues hope that the new group will attract educators from international, advancement, and alumni relations backgrounds to share resources and best practices. They won’t need to be NAFSA members to take part, and the group will be open to institutions from outside the United States. “There just a huge need,” McCollum said, “for this kind of professional development.” Meanwhile, I asked Khasilova and Sandra Rincon, an author, researcher, and trainer on global alumni engagement, for some additional resources on the subject. Here are some of their recommendations: - [Engaging Alumni as Strategic Partners]( by Rincon and Gretchen Dobson. This NAFSA publication builds on workshops led by Rincon and looks at how different colleges have established alumni networks. - [The Alumni Way: Building Lifelong Value from your University Investment]( by Maria L. Gallo. A publication focuses on maintaining college ties from the alumni perspective. - [Brite Ideas](. A podcast hosted by Rincon, who is chair of the European International Education Association’s alumni-relations expert community, features guests with different areas of expertise in international advancement. - [The “Pots of Water” Emerging Framework for Alumni Engagement: Examining How Alumni Make Sense of their Relationship with their Alma Mater]( by Kevin Fleming. This paper, from a professor of higher-education administration at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, examines research on alumni engagement. - [Being Global: Making the Case for International Alumni Relations](. Dobson tackles the issue of international alumni for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the organization for advancement and alumni-affairs professionals. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [The Accessible Campus - The Chronicle Store]( [The Accessible Campus]( Despite years of legislation meant to open up higher education to people with disabilities, colleges are still a long way from achieving equity. [Order your copy]( to examine how colleges are working to be more accessible and the challenges that remain. International offers of admission hold steady at U. of California After falling by 12 percent last year, offers of admission to international undergraduates by the 10 University of California campuses have increased slightly, by 1 percent for this fall’s [entering class](. International-admissions trends for the California public colleges are worth watching: While these institutions are extremely popular with foreign applicants, state lawmakers imposed caps on international and domestic nonresident enrollments at the system’s three most in-demand campuses, at Berkeley, Los Angeles, and San Diego, as part of a [2021 deal for higher state funding](. Berkeley has faced additional enrollment limits as the result of a [state Supreme Court decision]( in a lawsuit brought by neighbors critical of student growth. Admissions offers to international freshman at Berkeley continued to decline this fall, down 12 percent from last year and 35 percent since 2021. Across the university system, a record number of Californians received admission this year, officials said. Around the globe Business groups are urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a [case]( challenging the legality of Optional Practical Training, the popular work program for international graduates of American colleges. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released an [updated notice]( renewing special employment authorization for students from Haiti dealing with severe economic hardship. An earlier posting contained typographical errors. The government has also corrected [errors]( in a [rule]( released in December to update student-visa procedures. Chinese art students covered a wall in a London neighborhood with [graffiti]( representing the core values of socialism. Chinese authorities are urging university leaders to help new graduates find jobs “[with a sense of urgency and duty]( A draft law would codify the Chinese government’s enforcement of [patriotic, or ideological, education]( in schools and colleges and expand its reach to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Chinese nationals studying abroad, and the internet. Three Burmese student leaders were killed in a [raid]( on student-union offices by the country’s ruling military junta. Twenty-six new universities, many of them private, could be established in [Pakistan]( leading to fears that academic quality could be compromised. Cameroon’s higher-education minister has suspended admission to [doctoral programs]( at state universities because of concerns that the programs were not adequately preparing graduates. A pair of international-education providers, Sea Education Association and the School for Field Studies, will collaborate to expand [environmental education and research]( globally. The Stevens Initiative is conducting its annual survey to document the scope and reach of [virtual-exchange programming](. Are international students a “[welcome foreign financial-aid package]( ADVERTISEMENT And finally … You’ve had that dream, right? You’re running a race, and you can’t get off the starting blocks. All the other competitors sprint ahead of you, but it’s like you’re stuck in mud, moving in slo-mo. For one Somali college runner, it happened in real life, during an event at the recent International University Sports Federation’s summer games in China. A [video]( that has gone viral shows the outpaced runner, whose time in the 100-meter sprint was nearly double all others in her heat, jogging to the finish line. (She also appeared to end the race with a small skip.) But unlike a bad dream, real-life controversy has continued for the runner, Nasro Abukar Ali, who received harsh online criticism. The Somali university association said it had not sent any runners to the student games, and the country’s sports ministry called Ali not a “sports person nor a runner.” The chairwoman of the athletics federation was later suspended for “acts of abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation in international arena.” Suddenly that recurring dream doesn’t seem quite so nightmarish. Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [Twitter,]( now called X, or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES [Search jobs on The Chronicle job board]( [Find Your Next Role Today]( Whether you are actively or passively searching for your next career opportunity, The Chronicle is here to support you throughout your job search. 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