Alumni Engagement 101
WANT TO ENGAGE OUR ALUMNI? WE CAN HELP.
The Office of Alumni Engagement collaborates with faculty and staff collegewide to maximize resources and share alumni engagement efforts.
We've provided you with a mini how-to on this page. But if you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to call our team at (518) 581-5380, email us at alumni@sunyempire.edu or pay us a visit at Alumni House, 28 Union Ave. in Saratoga Springs, NY.
We look forward to hearing from you.
ALUMNI INFORMATION AND UPDATES
The Office of Alumni Engagement oversees and manages alumni records to ensure that all alumni data are used appropriately and responsibly, and consistent with expressed wishes of our alumni.
Keeping alumni data up to date:
- All alumni contact information, employment updates, notable accomplishments collected by an academic department, regional location, student club, etc., should be sent to the Office of Alumni Engagement at alumni@sunyempire.edu.
- Alumni can share their news and contact information on Tell Us Your News.
- Many alumni accomplishments and milestones are included in the Alumni Notes section of “Connections,” the university’s alumni magazine. Most are acknowledged with a personal note.
The Office of Alumni Engagement regularly communicates with alumni through email, social media, and regular mail. We also have an active volunteer base of alumni who are eager to get involved. We are happy to partner with our internal departments who wish to contact alumni.
We can support your outreach through email communications, social media, and our events calendar.
- We are happy to partner with your department on messaging, as well.
- We can provide lists of volunteers eager to lend a hand in recruitment efforts, testimonial support, and assistance at events such as commencement, student conferences, and info sessions/open houses.
Things to consider:
- Whenever you write about alumni, please include their graduation year(s) and share their alumni news with us at alumni@sunyempire.edu.
- After you work with an alumni volunteer, please share their name along with the volunteer activity they participated in so we can make a note on their record.
- Please follow SUNY Empire on all our social media platforms to stay up to date on student, alumni, faculty and staff stories and the latest goings-on at the college. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Faculty and staff who are alumni are encouraged to include their grad year(s) in their email signatures.
Department Anniversaries and Special Events
The Office of Alumni Engagement is a great partner and resource in planning activities that involve alumni. We can help by:
- Promoting the event on our events calendar
- Assisting with email invitations and correspondence
- Creating online registration forms and attendee lists
- Managing registration fees and coordinating payments
We ask that you help by:
- Sharing alumni contact information with us before sending invitations
- Setting up meetings with us, if you want help planning the event
- Personally reaching out to alumni you are in contact with to encourage attendance
- Providing us with final attendee list and any other relevant information
Contact us to discuss your event idea!
SUNY Empire alumni live in just about every corner of the globe and are very interested in connecting with faculty and students. We invite faculty members to reach out to alumni during your business travel to conferences, academic or corporate presentations, or while on sabbatical. If you want to meet with our alumni, we will partner with you!
TO PARTICIPATE:
- We’ll need at least four weeks’ notice before your travel date.
- Give us a time and location when you are available to meet with alumni.
- If you are presenting at a conference, we would like to know more about your presentation so we can inform alumni about your work.
- We can also invite alumni to your presentation if the event is open to the public.
Contact us to discuss your travel plans!
The Office of Alumni Engagement is in touch with thousands of graduates willing to help with speaking opportunities and activities. Departments and student clubs can request assistance with planning a class presentation or event involving an alumni speaker. Alumni can also serve as moderators of discussions, panelists, or keynote speakers.
We are proud to introduce and showcase our alumni speakers and highlight their work and accomplishments. Invitations to alumni take about six to eight weeks to coordinate.
Alumni speakers inspire and influence students by sharing their college experiences and how leadership, mentoring and networking have played critical roles in their professional careers. Alumni speakers are business owners, community leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate and non-profit executives. We can help by:
- Reviewing or recommending an alumni speaker
- Following up with a phone call or meeting
- Identifying new graduates who could be potential speakers or guests
- Coordinating invitations to alumni and special guests
Contact us to request an alumni speaker!
Research Requests Involving Alumni
Academic research projects by faculty are happening all the time. The Office of Alumni Engagement is here to help. Whether you are looking for specific alumni cohorts, or want to survey alumni who have graduated within a certain time period or with a specific degree, we can help by:
- Providing the sample (list, stats, headcounts) you are looking for
- Planning all communication efforts and outreach to alumni
- Providing follow-up documentation with results and feedback from email, survey, etc.
We ask that you help by:
- Providing us with the specifics of your research
- Including the full criteria of alumni data you are looking for
- Providing us with the text for email communications
-
Sharing results/findings as appropriate
- Working with our office on stewardship of alumni participants
Contact us to request alumni for your research.