Maintaining a quality college alumni program on a small budget requires careful analysis of services and may involve painful decisions. This process should begin with a broad, strategic review of mission, programming, audiences, and services. Finding other funding sources and increasing cost-consciousness can also help keep some activities funded.…

Successful alumni travel programs require good organization, careful targeting, and attention to detail. Planning includes understanding audience demographics, choosing an appropriate tour, knowing current travel trends and constraints, selecting the best host for the group, calculation of costs and tax limitations, choosing a good agent, and…

Offers principles for resolving ethical dilemmas in college alumni relations, based on a theory of decision-making using four ethical dilemma paradigms (truth vs. loyalty, individual vs. community, justice vs. mercy, short-term vs. long-term). Practitioners are urged to use quiet moments to reflect on and discuss ethical issues among the staff.…

Fifty alumni association administrators offer tips on how they save money or make their programs more cost effective in a variety of administrative areas including event programing, staffing, postal services, support of chapters, looking for new sources of revenue, fees for services, publications, planning ahead, and sharing resources. (MSE)

Fourteen principles for successful operation of a small collegiate alumni program are presented. They address such issues as planning, setting priorities, making decisions, routinizing procedures, using technology, creating a climate for cooperation and productivity, getting volunteers, keeping staff longer, and maintaining a balance between…

For a geography department to be successful, it must develop qualitatively superior images and relationships within the university. Aggressive participation by geographers is advocated in matters involving relationships with other disciplines, the university decision-making process, concerns of students, alumni and developmental activities, and…

Many theories have been proposed to help instructional designers make instructional-strategy decisions, yet it is not clear if these theories are actually used by ID practitioners. This study used a web-survey to examine the design strategies of 113 ID practitioners. The survey asked respondents to rate how frequently they used learning or ID…

The design of a University of Hartford (Connecticut) decision-support information system for college advancement programs is detailed, specific research and management applications are examined, and the analyses and reports generated by the system are discussed. Early collaboration between institutional researchers and advancement and alumni…

This is a first-hand account of the process used in selecting undergraduates at Stanford University (California) between 1984 and 1991. The topics covered are also relevant to the procedures followed in many four-year colleges throughout the United States. There are sections on the use and abuse of standardized tests and on special considerations…