Alumni Engagement
The time a participant spends at a UWC short course (or a UWC school or college) is just the beginning! The beauty and strength of the UWC network is not just the allegiance alumni feel to their UWC short course, school/college or national committee, but a sense of being part of a global community or ‘tribe’ with the UWC values at its heart. Being part of the UWC community will shape and inform alumni for the rest of their lives.
UWC alumni are always there to support each other. Whether it is for career advice, a couch to sleep on for a night, or collaborators to start a project with, there is always someone willing to help - or someone who knows someone. Whether at university, while travelling or when moving to a new location or workplace, alumni often encounter members of the UWC community wherever they go.
It is important that short course participants receive information about the countless opportunities available to them as a UWC alum (detailed below). Once your participants have completed their short course, it is also important to encourage them to engage with the UWC community. This will develop and strengthen their sense of belonging, inspire them to live the mission and values of UWC and ultimately raise the profile of UWC short courses and the UWC movement.
Engaging Alumni
There are numerous and various ways to engage with your short course alumni. The approach you take will depend on your local context, capacity and the makeup of your alumni body. The first thing to note is that all engagement is ‘good’ engagement. In other words, if short course alumni are connected to, engaged with and inspired by any part of the UWC movement then the UWC community is strengthened. At the end of the short course the International Office will request from all short course organisers to provide with a list of all short course participants so that they can be on boarded on the UWC Hub.
This does not require a huge time commitment from short course organisers and it’s possible to maintain high levels of alumni engagement by firstly ensuring all participants are aware of the opportunities available to them (show them the ‘Life after your UWC short course’ presentation, available in the UWC Presentations section) and secondly by connecting them to certain elements of the UWC movement such as social media channels, newsletters and online resources. You should also encourage them to talk about their experiences among their friends, consider continuing their development at another short course the following year and thinking about ways in which they themselves can contribute to the UWC movement in the future (possibly as a short course facilitator).
Some short course organisers and facilitators implement regular sessions/discussions with their participants after the short course. Check-in calls with facilitators/mentors 1, 3, and/or 6 month(s) after the course can continue the legacy of the short course, better quantify its impact and lead to elevated levels of engagement.
To help you with this, the guidelines below outline some of the opportunities available to UWC alumni as well as providing practical tips to help with alumni engagement more generally.
Short Course Alumni Engagement Guidelines.pdf