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FEATURE
What You're Thinking
By
Derek A. Wittner '65
Executive Director,
Alumni Affairs & Development
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In
the September 2000 issue of
Columbia College Today, I was given the opportunity to mention
an alumni survey we undertook last summer. Here is a summary of
significant findings from that survey.
First,
a word about the process. The Alumni Office engaged M Booth & Associates,
a public relations firm, and Jeffrey Wack, an opinion surveyor,
to conduct the survey. They contacted 769 alums, selected randomly
except for age groups (a sample was sought from each of the last
five decades) and donor status (we wanted responses from donors,
irregular donors and non-donors). The survey was conducted by telephone,
based upon a questionnaire developed by the consultants, professional
staff and alumni representatives.
Topics
of most interest to the College included the degree of involvement
with the College, views about experiences with the College, interest
in programs, information of interest and methods of communicating.
The reason we focused on these areas was to inform us about how
to connect more alumni to the College. As many of you know, Columbia
ranks last in the Ivy League and 22nd in the nation in alumni participation,
according to U.S. News & World Report, which depresses the
College's overall ranking. This is why the presidents of the Alumni
Association, past and present, have sought to convey in CCT the
importance we all attach to increasing participation. This begins
with establishing connections, which brings us back to the reason
for the survey: we wanted information about our alumni.
By
overwhelming numbers among all respondents (95-99%), alumni take
great pride in having graduated from Columbia. That reservoir of
positive feeling about the College should dispel any pessimism about
achieving the potential we believe exists to better connect our
alumni; the data suggests that alumni find connections with other
alumni important to them as well as connections with the College.
The
following material highlights responses to the survey on topics
of most interest. Please take the time to look at them - some you
might have supposed, others might surprise you, as they did me.
We would welcome your own thoughts and perspectives.
You
will hear more about the program "Columbia Connections,"
whose objective is to implement tactics designed to reach out to
more alumni, in the weeks and months ahead. We hope you will take
the opportunity to become involved with Columbia College, or to
become more involved. It is a part of all of us.
Highlights
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1.
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The
activities or programs in which alumni have been involved in
the last five years, in order of greatest response: |
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a.
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spoke
with or wrote to a classmate |
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b.
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was
on campus
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c.
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logged
onto the Web site
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d.
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called
or wrote someone at the College
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e.
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sent
information for Class Notes
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f.
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went
to an athletic event
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g.
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assisted
in admissions recruitment
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2.
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Only
16% have attended a class reunion in the last five years (classes
from the '70s had the lowest percentage of attendees). |
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3.
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90%
describe their academic experience as very or mostly positive.
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4.
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Over
36% believed the quality of life experienced was very positive,
and another 40% described it as mostly positive. Less than
5% called it negative.
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5.
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53%
believe Columbia's reputation has improved in relation to other
Ivies since their graduation, 42% discern no change and 5% believe
it has declined. |
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6.
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95%
take pride in having graduated from Columbia. |
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7.
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Of
suggested initiatives, the following would be of most interest:
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a.
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an
event near home
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b.
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access
to the libraries |
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c.
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a
service to provide contact information for classmates
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d.
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career
advice services (80% in classes of the '90s)
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8.
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81%
feel they receive the right number of communications from
the College.
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9.
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80%
read most or all issues of CCT; 67% spend 15 minutes
or more reading it.
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10.
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73%
use the Internet at least twice a week (about 90% for the
classes of the '80s and '90s).
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11.
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Of
suggested online services, the following would be of most interest:
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a.
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directory
to locate classmates |
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b.
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news
of classmates
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c.
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news
about the College
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d.
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e-mails
about classmates
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e.
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online
courses
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f.
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online
salary survey and job postings |
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12.
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54%
might or would be very likely to use online job postings.
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Attitudes
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13.
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95%
believe the Core Curriculum should be retained, 90% view Columbia
as academically rigorous and 90% believe racial and socioeconomic
diversity enhances the educational experience. |
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14.
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85% believe it is important to retain need-blind admissions.
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15.
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59%
don't believe that Columbia has such financial resources that
their contributions aren't needed. |
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16.
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Other
philanthropic interests (in order): the arts, poverty programs,
religion, health care, environment.
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Memories
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17.
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Least
pleasant memories: poor housing and food, safety issues, emotional
isolation, stress of academics.
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18.
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Most
pleasant memories: teaching, intellectual experience, Core,
faculty, social life, friendships, New York, meeting spouse,
sports.
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