A n e y e o n a l u m n i a f fa i r s i n I n d i aIssue 1 November 2012

A venture of Saviance Technologies

Alumni Relations at IIT Madras

I N S I D Ea Expectations, Expectations and More Expectations by Prof. M.L. Singlaa British School: Empower Your Institution by Navneet Kaura Laidlaw Memorial School: A Long Innings by Sailendra Bhaskara IIM-A: Alumni Online!a Take Five

By Prof. R. Nagarajan

2Alumni. Alumnus. Alumnae. What is the difference? Why do ex-students of some select educational institutes have a strong bond compared to those of others, even though they have graduated long back and live and work across the globe? Is the bond and bonhomie for real in todays materialistic world and does that have anything to do with the quality of the education imparted or the character of the faculty of yore or both? How does one maintain the alumni engagement especially with everyones busy professional and personal schedules? Who should take the lead in Alumni Relations educational institutions or alumni or current students?

Alumneye is being created to raise more such questions of Alumni Relations Officers and Corporate Relations Managers in the education industry wherein the concept of Alumni Relations itself is very nascent. This newsletter intends to answer all these questions through the experiences of some great alumni engagement successes and to also serve as the platform for you to share your execution on alumni relations.

In my humble opinion, Alumni Relations is an idea whose time has come. Stay tuned to Alumneye as this unfolds and for many more interesting ideas and programs related to Alumni Relations across the world.

Kaushik BellaniCEO, Saviance Technologies

Dear Friends,Celestos Technologies is proud and pleased to launch the first ever

newsletter on Alumni Affairs in the country. With what we have seen happen overseas in this niche segment, it is quite apparent that this field of interest is going to explode in the years to come. As Indians become more aware, more affluent and more nostalgic about their past, they will use the technology available to connect with their friends from the past. Another rising trend is the rapid increase in importance of the Friend Support Group as against the Family Groups that were so critical in the past. This may also explain why Social Media Groups are flourishing in India.

If we analyze the potential contribution of various stakeholders in any educational institution management, staff, students, parents, vendors, etc I am sure you will agree that the largest potential contributor of goodwill, funds, time, mentoring capacities, career growth opportunities and such things that will help advance the institute and its students is the Alumni.

There are various examples of Indians contributing very generously to their Alma Mater, most notably amongst the IITs. We must bear in mind that it is not just in terms of financial resources that the Alumni are capable of giving back. There are various other means of contributing or giving back to the institution. For instance, Sachin Tendulkar would love to give tips to students of his Alma Mater on the correct way to defend the ball. Can one hope for a better guide and mentor?

The right way to begin developing Alumni Relations is to connect with the current students. It is critical to create a sense of belonging and to nurture the fellowship from the time a student enters the institution rather than try to tap it once the student has graduated. It is from the beginning of the bond between the student and the institution that the Alumnus must feel the passion and the spirit of the institution. This sense of belonging cannot be demanded and must come naturally. The Alumnus must want to give back to the institution of his own accord.

We are pleased to feature IIT Madras as the cover story in this inaugural issue since we can all learn from their example. Other institutions you will read about are FMS, British School and the Laidlaw School. I would also like to appeal to you to come forward and share your experiences, your best practices and your ideas so that we can grow this area together and, in our own small way, contribute to the larger goal of getting our alumni to give back and to change the face of the educational institutions in our country. I look forward to hearing from you.

Celestos Technologies provides end-to-end comprehensive education management software products and solutions. With a focussed

approach to the resolution of real-life problems faced by clients in the education sector, Celestos ensures that our clients win and grow

by realizing their return on investment. We offer scalable, affordable, reliable and innovative solutions that are accessible by the entire

education fraternity and stakeholders from students to faculty to administrators to parents. Our products and solutions harness the

power of cloud computing and are available across all access devices including Mobile devices so that the educators can focus on their

basic art teaching and grooming students across higher education, vocational institutions and schools. Our two main software products

are EMSync and Viburnix. To know more, log on to www.celestos.co.in.

Celestos is an education venture of Saviance Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (www.saviance.com)

About Celestos Technologies

Joseph JohnAdvisor, Celestos Technologies

jojo@celestos.com

N O T E S

3Alumni Relations at IIT Madras

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has a close and enduring relationship with her alumni, nurtured through nostalgic recollections of four to five years of residency on campus. Alumni recognize the value of the education and training they receive during their IIT-M years, and the Institute recognizes the value of alumni as brand ambassadors. This mutual regard has resulted in a harmonious co-existence over nearly 50 years now.

IIT-M alumni, much like their counterparts from other IITs, are globally dispersed, which makes tracking and

engaging with them a special challenge. The only thing they have in common, it is said, is that they are IIT-M alumni. Most are highly successful in their chosen fields; many are influential leaders in their communities. It must also be

acknowledged that every IIT alumnus/ alumna has a sizable ego! Managing alumni relations at IITs, therefore, is a delicate and sensitive task.

Fund-raising has traditionally been considered to be of secondary importance to relation-building by most IITs, although this philosophy is certainly undergoing re-examination on campuses. While the Indian Government continues to fund IITs generously, their needsparticularly in terms of building

IndIAn InsTITuTe of TeChnology MAdrAs Is one AMong The foreMosT InsTITuTes of nATIonAl IMporTAnCe In hIgher TeChnologICAl eduCATIon, bAsIC And ApplIed reseArCh. IIT-MAdrAs Is A resIdenTIAl InsTITuTe wITh neArly 460 fACulTy, 4,500 sTudenTs And 1,250 AdMInIsTrATIve & supporTIng sTAff And Is A self-ConTAIned CAMpus loCATed In A beAuTIful wooded lAnd of AbouT 250 heCTAres.

C O V E R S T O R Y

Alumni recognize the

value of the education

and training they receive

during their IIT-M years

By Prof. R. Nagarajan, Department of Chemical Engineering, Dean, International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras

Dr. Nagarajan, Advisor; Mr. Suresh, Manager; and staff of the OAA, IIT Madras

4IIT-M hosts her alumni on campus on two special daysAlumni Day in July, traditionally the day after Convocation so as to wilkommen fresh graduands into the alumni fold; and Reunion Day in December when several batch reunions take place. Another notable occasion is PG Confluence Day which falls on the day after Institute Day in April, and is a special recognition for our postgraduate alumni (who happen to be the majority, by the way). IIT-Ms cultural festival, Saarang, and

Bonding at its Best

world-class research infrastructureare rapidly escalating as well. Hence, the need for financial contributions from alumni and corporates is clearly present, and efforts are underway to communicate this to the alumni community.

Periodically, we take our Director to meet with alumni in Indian metropolises as well as in foreign locales where alumni congregate in large numbers, e.g., Silicon Valley, USA. The overseas trips tend to be short in duration and high in intensity; our most recent outing was an 11-day seven-city whirlwind tour that accomplished multiple objectivesalumni engagement and fund-raising as well as pursuit of academic collaborations, industry interfaces and entrepreneurial initiatives. Using alumni as catalysts to ignite such external engagement is an idea whose time has come.

Organizationally, IIT-M employs a model where two separate entities look

after alumni networking, and Institute-alumni relations, respectively. The IIT Madras Alumni Association, with elected office-bearers, promotes networking activities, while the Office of Alumni Affairs, with a faculty in charge, acts as the Institute portal. The latter office also coordinates fund-raising efforts, with significant support from alumni volunteers; it is also charged with administering the Distinguished Alumnus (DA) Award program which annually anoints seven to eight alumni as DAs.

Development and maintenance of an alumni database, websites to provide alumni services, regular communication via e-mail, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc, are shared responsibilities between the two organizations. Sharing of best practices across IITs via joint workshops is now being supplemented by joint exercises with comparable academic institutions such as Texas A&M and Yale University.

The Institute recognizes that alumni are key stakeholders in the ecosystem, and ensures that their voices are heeded. Alumni, likewise, are cognizant of the Institutes readiness to engage with them. As our alumni population extends beyond 40,000, both sides are keen on maintaining their solidarity, and working in unison to elevate IIT-M into a pre-eminent position among the worlds leading universities. The fact that our current Director, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, is the first IIT-M alumnus to hold the post is certainly icing on the cake.

The Institute recognizes

that alumni are key

stakeholders in the

ecosystem, and ensures

that their voices are

heeded

tech-fest, Shaastra are other occasions that draw many alumni to campus. A Leadership Lecture Series featuring alumni has been instituted to bring our students and faculty in face-to-face contact with illustrious alumni. Alumni are also being invited to indulge in campus immersion, wherein they can choose to spend several weeks at a time on campus to work on pet projectssay, solar powercollaboratively with faculty and students.

C O V E R S T O R Y

5C O M M E N T

Practically every educational institution dreams of leveraging its alumni network to its advantage. The trend is not purely Indian or Asian; it has traversed from the West. And why not? The land of the guru-shishya parampara certainly deserves this, especially if an institution of learning has made a difference to ones life. One must give back and make a contribution to institutional life for the benefit of future generations.

Surprisingly, as compared to the West where the relationships between the educational institutions and graduates are considered to be purely commercial, alumni relationship management in India is more of a fad rather than being well founded. More and more alumni, teaching faculties, current students and academic administrators talk of alumni networks without any result. One is faced with a very significant question what is it that comes in the way of leveraging alumni networks to the advantage of all stakeholders? Why cant every alumni network be as strong as pan-IIT or pan-IIM alumni networks? Why is St. Stephens alumni network so powerful? Why has a university such as the University of Delhi not been able to use its big brand ambassadors to get things done for it? Why do Modernites or Doon

School graduates consider themselves to be in a different league?

Very recently, when I was addressing a group of old students at the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, and motivating them to become members of the FMS Alumni Association, a registered body of the FMS graduates, I came across a very peculiar situation. A very well settled executive drawing a fat salary was very keen to know about what would the return on the membership subscription be. Howsoever unreasonable this may sound, the fact remains that this is the mindset towards alumni relations.

Another example was during one of the Celestos Technologies Alumni Master Class lectures, where one of the participants who was responsible for

The fACulTy of MAnAgeMenT sTudIes (fMs) hAs The unIque prIvIlege To be pArT of one of The preMIer unIversITIes of The world The unIversITy of delhI wITh soMe of The fInesT depArTMenTs In eConoMICs, lAw, soCIology, CoMMerCe And operATIons reseArCh. TheIr CollAborATIve ApproACh Involves InpuTs froM vArIous depArTMenTs whICh gIves The benefIT of A MuCh wIder vIew And deeper undersTAndIng.

What is it that comes in

the way of leveraging

alumni networks to

the advantage of all

stakeholders?

Alumni Relations

handling the alumni affairs of an institute, wondered whether an alumni portfolio could become an impersonal affair.

The more one dwells into this matter, the more one realizes that there is only one word which seems to define the entire relationship complexity between the Alumni and the Alma Mater expectations. And these could be either unreasonably low or unreasonably high: Every old graduate expects that its

Alma Mater will keep gifting her/him something or the other from time to time complimentary dinner invitations, mementoes, invitations to seminars, conferences, etc.

Every current student expects that all alumni must mandatorily and voluntarily stay in touch with the Alma Mater and help them with whatever their requirements are. They expect the alumni to help them with placements, live projects, sponsorships, guest lectures, etc. They tend to forget that tomorrow they will be the alumni themselves.

Every teaching faculty and staff expects that all alumni must regard them as people who are to be respected and helped as and when they contact them. This relationship is expected to be a one-way relationship.

By Prof. M.L. Singla, Professor of IT Management, FMS, University of Delhi

6Financial,

communication and

manpower resources

are important for the

survival of any alumni

network

C O M M E N T

Every current head of the institution expects that alumni will come forward and make contributions to his/her fancy projects in the name of the institute regardless of whether the institute has bothered to maintain contact with them. They expect alumni to contribute through financial or other means at the beck and call of the institute.

All alumni expect that the institute must provide unconditional support to them for their career progression and movements. Moreover, expecting the institute to honour its old alumni is a very common phenomenon.

The organizing committees of events

a great contribution and must be regarded as some extra constitutional authorities who have a significant say in decisions related to the corporate life of the Alma Mater.All these expectations have a very

complex relationship which may seem to be very simple, but are actually intertwined. The question is: how does one expect these expectations to be fulfilled? Financial, communication and manpower resources are important for the survival of any alumni network. To conclude, it is important for an alumni network administrator to understand the crucial component EXPECTATIONS.

at the institution think that the alumni relations body must distribute lots of freebies without any cost to all and sundry.

Organizers of the alumni association network think that they are making

7G U E S T C O L U M N

The challenge of adapting to the new is always invigorating; it forces us to see and think afresh. Alumni relations is a new, yet an untapped source of immense power. Little surprise, then, that as the Alumni Officer of one of the best international schools in India, my strongest sense was and still is a mixture of excitement and expectancy.

The success of the alumni is in many ways a measure of the success and prosperity of the institution alumni view their Alma Mater as an educational, networking and support resource for the rest of their life; schools and institutions see their alumni as the current and future leaders of their communities.The British School Alumni Office was set up 15 months ago and the biggest challenge for me was to increase engagement of the alumni with one another as well as with the school. And overcome these initial hitches we certainly did simply by creating the right inroads for our alumni.

We, at The British School, are dedicated to establishing and nurturing lifelong relationships with former students. Our alumni network is spread throughout the world with many of them working in a variety of speciality fields

and professions. As vital stakeholders, we see our growing alumni support base as an opportunity for strengthening the schools community. Our community enjoys several benefits such as priority admission for children of alumni, invitation to events and reunions, magazines, e-newsletters and free alumni membership cards. Some alumni have volunteered to offer discounts to fellow alumni for medical services, at restaurants, on merchandise and online shopping, amongst others. This kind of collaboration is a great way to encourage alumni engagement, and for the alumni to give back to the community.

Right now, alumni relations for professionals is entering an exciting and vibrant phase in India. With growing awareness, educational institutions are beginning to understand the significant role that alumni can play in shaping the current and future direction of the institute. Established educational institutes are studying creative ways to improve their outreach and communication program and are investing in fostering lifelong relationships in order to garner volunteer support to

advance their mission. Facebook is everyones best friend! Social networking offers us opportunities and prospects in ways that never existed before we can share news in real time; get instant reactions and results; find lost alumni; and get alumni news and updates without having to actively pursue them. However, at the same time, we have not lost sight of conventional ways of communicating such as magazines, newsletters and events.

Alumni relations is a fun, enjoyable field to be working in. There never is a day when I think I am in a mundane job. The lifelong relationships that we build with alumni, both individually as well as institutionally, makes it an extremely rewarding experience. We just have to believe in our ability to connect all the dots together to create a beautiful picture!

The brITIsh sChool, new delhI, wAs fIrsT sTArTed In July 1963 by A group of brITIsh pArenTs And TodAy The sChool Is ACCredITed by The CounCIl of InTernATIonAl sChools (CIs) And reCognIzed As An Ib world sChool. IT Is AffIlIATed To And Is An exAMInATIon CenTer for boTh CAMbrIdge InTernATIonAl exAMInATIons And edexel, uK.

By Navneet Kaur, Alumni Officer, The British School, New Delhi

8In the autumn of the year 1898, a young 26-year-old Wesleyan novice pastor named Rev John Breeden set sail from Marseille, France on board the SS Melbourne for Madras to join the Wesleyan Missionary Movement in India. He was assigned to the English circuit (as opposed to the Tamil or Telugu circuit) where he would minister in English to the Eurasian or domiciled European population (later to be known as the Anglo-Indians) of the city of Madras. The poverty and deprivation he saw among the domiciled European community was to have a lasting impression on the man

who along with his mentor Rev James Cooling and some other concerned individuals from civil society decided to raise funds to set up educational institutions for the children of indigent domiciled Europeans. By the year 1914,

Rev Breeden had knocked on every conceivable door in India and the UK and sought funds from every possible source and, in the process, collected enough money to start the St Georges Homes in rented premises in the salubrious climes of Kodaikanal. The Government of the Madras Presidency was to later provide 900 acres of shola land in Kodaikanal in the Pulney Hills where a full-fledged boarding school was to be built.

World War I made fund raising for the cause of education of Eurasians an even more challenging task because funds were required for the war effort. This coupled with the fact that there was only a mule track that could be used to ferry construction material up to Kodaikanal meant that the money

Laidlaw Memorial School

By 1922, the new school building and some of the residential quarters for students and staff were ready

F E AT U R E

Picturesque Ketti Railway Station on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway of South India.

Pho

to c

ourt

esy:

Sai

lend

ra B

hask

ar

By Sailendra Bhaskar, Alumnus, Laidlaw School, Oakshott House 1964-1973. Currently: President, Aban Group, Chennai

The lAIdlAw sChool, KeTTI, wAs founded In 1914 by The lATe rev John breeden, And wAs generously endowed by lATe sIr roberT lAIdlAw. The InsTITuTIon sTArTed ITs lIfe In KodAIKAnAl buT Moved To KeTTI, ITs presenT hoMe, In 1922. The sChool provIdes CoMprehensIve, lIberAl eduCATIon for ChIldren of All CoMMunITIes. The eMphAsIs Is on A sound generAl eduCATIon, on self-dIsCIplIne And self-relIAnCe.

9raised to set up the homes in Kodaikanal would go a much longer way if the school was moved to the Nilgiris. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was operational by then and the South Indian Railway graciously offered to ferry, free of cost, construction and other material for the building of the school in Ketti valley in the Nilgiris. By the year 1922, the new school building and some of the residential quarters for students and staff were ready so the students moved permanently to the new school campus from Kodaikanal.

The construction of the School building and other buildings on the beautiful 219 acre campus was possible mainly due to the munificence of Sir Robert Laidlaw, a Scottish businessman, geographer, politician and philanthropist. The cotton mills of Lancashire county in the UK were also great benefactors of the St Georges Homes as they collected a levy from all the mills in the towns of Oldham, Blackburn and Preston to raise funds for educating Eurasian children in India. Many other individual benefactors also added their mite to the fund raising effort. The St Georges Homes formally took on the name of Laidlaw Memorial

School in recognition of the huge contribution that Sir Robert Laidlaw had made to the school.

Orphaned and indigent Anglo-Indian children from all across India, Burma and Ceylon were admitted to the boarding school and were provided free education and board, and trained to become gainfully employed members of society. The school was soon producing able bodied educated men and women who found employment in defense, post & telegraph, customs, clergy, railways, healthcare and in education across India and in various Anglo-phone countries across the globe. In the 1950s, children from all communities were welcomed on to the school campus and since then the school has had students from several countries across Asia, Africa and Europe (www.laidlawschool.org).

Over the last 98 years, the Laidlaw School has produced many great engineers, doctors, businessmen and educationists who have contributed hugely to society in every inhabited continent across the globe. This, for a small school nestled in a valley in the hills of south India, is indeed no mean achievement. The Old Georgian

Over the last 98 years the Laidlaw School has produced many great engineers, doctors, businessmen andeducationists

Association (OGA), the highly active alumni organization (www.oldgeorgians.com) of the school helps strengthen the bond between the past students of the school and the Alma Mater by arranging well attended reunions in the school every year (second weekend of July) and off-site reunions (first weekend of December) in India and other parts of the world the most recent off-site reunion having been in Houston, USA, in April 2012.

The School and the OGA will be holding a mega reunion event on the school campus in the second week of July 2014 to celebrate 100 years of the founding of the school.

The beautiful verdant campus of the Laidlaw Memorial School, Ketti, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.

F E AT U R E

Picturesque Ketti Railway Station on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway of South India.

Photo courtesy: S

ailendra Bhaskar

10

F E AT U R E

Viburnix provides an online platform for the alumni

and the alma mater to come together and contribute to each other's success. It helps colleges, universities, schools

and corporates maintain valuable

relationships with old students and benefit from

the association in many ways.

Now stay connected with the minds you helped shape.

www.viburnix.com

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) needs no introduction the formidable reputation that it has built over the years remains unmatched. Having gained fame and glory the world over, the alumni of this institution recognize the wealth of combined experiences and connections that an online alumni association possesses. And now the IIM-A alumni

portal is online on Viburnix the leading cloud based engagement system that gives colleges, universities, corporates and schools a unified communication and collaboration platform.

Bringing the 18 chapters of this institution on one cohesive platform and customizing elements such as knowledge base, batch coordinator, intellectual and financial contribution by

alumni, interface with social media and making all this and more accessible on mobile devices, Viburnix has adeptly addressed all the alumni needs of this leading educational institution in India.

Through Viburnix, the illustrious alumni of IIM-A have been given the opportunity to bask in the glory of their achievements past and present.

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

alumni

Viburnix has adeptly

addressed all the

alumni needs of this

leading educational

institution

in India

TesTimonials

Viburnix created a private alumni website . The team Viburnix adapted to my vision-specific needs instead of forcing me into a pre-packaged solution designed to fit all. Thanks Viburnix !

Gayle B Dixon, Class Secretary, Harvard Business School OPM39

Viburnix is one of the best platforms I have come across in the space of Alumni Relation Management and evolution of Alumni networks.

Satyajit Hange, Director Technology,

Bharati Vidyapeeth University

To know more, call: +91 124 6650100 or email us: info@celestos.com

11

1. An________ can also be a former member, employee, contributor or inmate as well as a former student.

2. The Latin noun alumnus means foster son, pupil and is derived from the verb alere to _________.

3. An ________ is a female graduate or former student of a school, college, or university.

4. The __________ ______________ College, proud of having the oldest Alumni Association in India, was founded in 1891 on the initiative of a group of former students, with the object of organizing an annual reunion.

5. Alumni _________ are popular events at many institutions and are usually organized by alumni associations and are often social occasions for fundraising.

6. At most old UK schools, New Zealand schools, South African schools, Sri Lankan schools, a few universities in the UK, the phrases old _______ and old ______ are traditionally used for former school pupils, and old member or member.

7. Alumni _________________ of India is run on Viburnix. The main objective of AAOI is to promote and sustain contact with alumni by creating opportunities that engage alumni to reinforce their bonds with their alma mater.

Send us your answers by December 20. The first all-correct solution will get a surprise gift! Write in TODAY to alumneye@celestos.com

Challenge this puzzle to know how much you understand about Alumni Relations!

Ms. Busy Bee is here to make your life easy and stay connected with alumni associations across India! If you have a query or information to share, write to alumneye@celestos.com

British School, New

Delhi celebrates 50

years of excellence in

2013. To know more

about this prestigious

event, log on to

www.british-school.org

Silver Jubilee Reunion of the MBA 1984-86 batch held at FMS. To view pictures, log on to http://fmsalumni.in/galleryalbums/

BIMTECH Alumni Association celebrates the Commencement Day of the 25th Academic Session. To view pictures, log on to http://alumni.bimtech.ac.in/galleryalbums/

Bhartiya Vidyapeeth University is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. To know more about this celebration log on to http://bvpalumni.com/

Narsee Monjee Grand Alumni Meet is taking place in Mumbai this November. To know more, log on to: http://alumni.nmims.edu/events/show_event/23

busy bee bulletin board

Alcom, the Almuni Committee of IMI is ready to launch its new website to strengthen the bond between the alma mater and its alumni. To know more, log on to http://alumni.imi.edu/

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