This monograph examines the philanthropic contributions of individuals through the existing literature and proposes future philanthropic and fundraising research that can help fill the theoretical void in the literature, thereby improving future research and fundraising in higher education. It covers the major approaches, topics, and theories…

Given the widespread use and success of cross-functional teams in industry and the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business's focus on the importance of interdisciplinary education, many business schools have incorporated interdisciplinary elements into their curricula. This study examined current student and alumni perceptions of the…

A guide for conducting alumni surveys is presented, including 22 sample questionnaires. The first section on planning an effective survey strategy includes the following five articles: "Let's Take a Survey" (Cletis Pride); "Surveying Your Alumni: Or an Unexamined College Is Not Worth Loving" (Jocelyn Bartkevicius); "Make Your Survey Scientific"…

This study examined the relationship between work experiences and alumni satisfaction with their college experience at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). As part of a campus-wide assessment program in 1988, all seniors completing the UTK general education testing requirement were administered a survey designed to elicit information…

This inquiry was conducted to examine influences on perceptions of survey subjects regarding ideographic characteristics of the subjects, incentives to enhance mail returns, and multiple requests for information. A mail survey sent to 297 former education students from a large university produced responses from 48.3% of the sample. The ideographic…

In 1989, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, brought together six diverse public institutions in Tennessee to study the implications of the quality improvement methods of Edwards Deming and others for their own assessment programs. Later, five of these institutions--a technical institute, a community college, a comprehensive university, a…

The issue of increasing the effectiveness of alumni development and fund raising programs to ensure quality in academic programs and campus life for the coming decade was examined. The study's primary purposes were to: (1) describe the development of a comprehensive decision support system for alumni and fund raising activities at one independent…

Followup studies of former students provide important information for higher education institutions. Careful planning, early involvement of users of the information, and multiple data presentation strategies are some keys to success for such studies. (MSE)

This study attempted to validate the use of academic growth and development items from Tennessee alumni surveys as measures of program quality and effectiveness at the University of Tennessee (UTK), Knoxville. The argument is made that it is essential that the instruments used to assess students educational outcomes be valid measures of the goals…

Reviews survey research on psychology programs' alumni. Analyzes research objectives, samples, results, and program implementations. Recommends that future studies be conceptualized as part of an overall student outcomes assessment linked to program evaluation and within a life-span developmental framework. Suggests that the American Psychological…

This dissertation focuses on predicting alumni gift giving behavior at a large public research university (University of Michigan). A conceptual model was developed for predicting alumni giving behavior in order to advance the theoretical understanding of how capacity to give, motivation to give, and their interaction effect gift giving behavior.…

A total of 267 doctoral dissertations in institutional advancement are summarized. The dissertations are listed in six professional program areas: institutional relations (e.g., college radio and television activity), educational fund-raising, alumni administration, government relations, publications, and executive management. The dissertations…

Some of the most commonly available and widely used tests and questionnaires relevant to campus assessment programs in subject areas, attitudes and satisfaction of students and former students, and other outcomes areas are listed. (MSE)

This paper reviews two areas of limitations concerning college outcome assessments and argues that while cognitive outcomes may be effectively measured during the students' academic careers, the perceptions of alumni are a necessary component of the assessment of affective outcomes. The limitations that are addressed concern first, determining…

This case study of Southern Illinois University was conducted to determine the types of volunteers needed for an annual fund drive. Based on a random sample of 138 alumni donors who completed questionnaires, a donor profile was developed. Analysis of questionnaire responses found that only 48% reported being involved with extracurricular…