Strengthen Your Business Communication Program with an Alumni Advisory Board

Abstract

Faculty, departments, and colleges are being pressured by state legislatures, boards of trustees, and re-accreditation organizations to assess themselves and their prod uct aggressively. Assessment may deal with demographics, such as number of stu dents per class; perceived quality, such as the nurnber of publications by faculty; or by outcomes, such as who hires the graduates and how well the graduates per form. External advisors are helpful in conducting such evaluations. One such group is an alumni advisory board, which can be established and operate with min imal effort and cost, yet can yield many benefits. The Alumni Board of the Infor mation and Decision Systems Department at San Diego State includes recent graduates nominated by faculty, is targeted at about 75 members, and is queried several times a year on issues related to curriculum, new topics of interest to the classroom, and job trends.

Keywords

Advisory boards assessment evaluation partnerships

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