Alumni Relations is steaming ahead with its implementation of its strategic plan to improve Hopkins alumni engagement by introducing goal-oriented programs and digital tools that advance each of its four priorities. Unveiled in March 2020, the five-year Alumni Engagement Strategic Plan helps to inform the work of Alumni Relations offices across all nine schools through 2025, in time to commemorate the university's 150th anniversary in 2026.
The plan is based on the findings of a Gallup-administered 2019 survey of 13,000 JHU alums‚ undergrads, and postgrads from the classes of 1944 to 2018. "We look at programming from the perspective of alumni from all nine schools, understanding that there are nine different personalities, but we're also one Johns Hopkins, one university," says Susan deMuth, associate vice president for alumni engagement and annual giving.
Here's a look at the plan's priorities and how they're coming to life:
Priority 1: Provide significant personal and professional opportunities for alumni to engage and connect with the university. The Alumni Association launched Hopkins at Home—free online minicourses taught by faculty— and created a Lifelong Learning resource page, alumni.jhu.edu/lifelonglearning, with links to postgrad learning and enrichment opportunities across all nine schools. In response to COVID-19, virtual reunions and online chapter and affinity events allowed alumni to stay connected.
Priority 2: Deepen current students' connections to the alumni community. The Alumni Association debuted a dedicated resource page for the Class of 2021, alumni.jhu.edu/recent-grads. "Whether you finished your undergraduate or your graduate degree, there is a place that you can go to figure out what your involvement opportunities would be next," says Jason Heiserman, director of alumni relations and strategic initiatives.
OneHop Mentoring and OneHop Alumni platforms launched at onehop.jhu.edu. "We had 100% adoption across all schools," Heiserman says, "and, so far, over 1,000 alumni mentoring matches."
Priority 3: Identify and develop future alumni leaders, establishing a diverse and inclusive volunteer pipeline. Alumni Relations developed a new process for documenting volunteer activity to better track and cultivate leaders across the institution. And, as part of OneHop, current students and grads can get information about job shadowing and hands-on projects.
Priority 4: Improve the systems and infrastructures needed to strengthen partnerships and collaborations across all nine schools.
A new dashboard correlates event attendance to donation metrics while another dashboard tracks alumni participation, volunteerism, and giving. Each Alumni Relations office will use these indicators to ensure that the plan remains dynamic and responsive to shifting circumstances.
