Building Community: A Holistic Approach to the Online Student-Alumni Cycle

by | April 1st, 2021

Lesht, F., Schejbal, D., Shiel, R., and Kendall-Taylor, L. (2020). Building Community: A Holistic Approach to the Online Student-Alumni Cycle. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 20(6), 132-140.

Academic and support needs of online students are often neglected by the colleges and universities of which they are a part. Institutions often don’t know how to contact alumni of their online programs. Yet, this group of students and alumni can donate generously to the institution. Alumni of online programs are an important donor group and should be cultivated in ways that recognize their unique academic experiences. This paper raises awareness of the multi-faceted process of the online student-alumni cycle and includes examples of ways to increase the bond between online student-alumni and institution from which they graduate.