Brunel University London

A guide for Brunel University London

Alumni Associates and Volunteers

At Brunel University London, we value our life-long connection with our alumni. The goal of the Development and Alumni Relations Office and the Alumni Association is to promote lasting, engaging and mutually beneficial relationships between the University and our alumni.

Wherever you live, we are committed to providing opportunities for you to stay connected to Brunel and your fellow alumni. Whether you find yourself in Accra, Ghana or Victoria, Canada, we want you to be a part of our global network.

Brunel University London graduates in the UK and around the world help to keep our alumni network strong through their participation as Alumni Associates and Contacts. These dedicated individuals organise social events, professional networking opportunities and other activities for alumni. They also help with student recruitment efforts and serve as ambassadors for Brunel in their local communities. Alumni groups and volunteers are a worldwide network of institutional ambassadors. Groups provide a point of contact for alumni new to an area, help develop your personal, social and professional networks and keep you in touch with Brunel.

How can you get involved? Read this guide!

This toolkit serves as an introduction to getting involved with alumni volunteering, with information about organising events in your local area, how to establish an alumni group and what the Development and Alumni Office can do to help you.

We appreciate your interest and look forward to working with you to further strengthen Brunel University London’s connection with the global alumni community.

Katharina Stobbs International Alumni OfficerT +44(0)1895 265633 | E katharina.stobbs@brunel.ac.uk

HOW CAN I HELP?What does an alumni associate do?• Helps to run an International Chapter• Organises social events and activities for alumni in the region• Provides opportunities for professional networking and for alumni to offer their skills

and expertise• Helps Brunel maintain an accurate record of alumni in the region• Strengthens the relationship between Brunel and its former students• Helps to promote Brunel University London on a local and regional level• Provides links between prospective, current and past students

What does an alumni contact do? In some areas the numbers of alumni do not make a local group feasible. In these cases, Brunel has an alumni contact instead. Their role includes:• Being a point of contact in the region for enquiries from alumni and students

(e.g. for advice on moving to the area or what it is like to study at Brunel University London)

• Assisting University staff when visiting the region (e.g. to attend Recruitment Fairs)

Why start an International Chapter? There are more than 120,000 Brunel alumni across the world, in 100 different countries. Whether you are interested in social or professional networking events, a chapter in your country will enable you to meet some fascinating people with whom you already have something in common: Brunel!Setting up a successful international chapter takes time and dedication, but it is also fun and extremely rewarding.

Networking – meet other Brunel alumni working in various fields. Networking can lead to business collaborations, or professional development opportunities. Whether you are seeking a new member of staff or looking for a new job, an alumni chapter will enable you to meet people you could work with, who could recommend you, or who know of vacancies or good candidates.

Mentoring – meet inspirational and experienced people who could act as a mentor. Or experience the fulfilment often found in helping others to learn from your experience.

Welcoming – meet alumni that are new to the area or the country, who may need advice, recommendations or just a friendly group to help them feel settled.

Reminiscing – relive your Brunel days, share and compare memories, photos and experiences with friends old and new.

Socialising – make new friends in your area and expand your social circles.

Establishing an Alumni Chapter - it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3...

Step 1Please contact the Development and Alumni Office to discuss your ideas. We will provide you with information about the number of alumni who are in your region. The next step is to establish yourself (or someone else) as the alumni associate.

Step 2A good way to start an Alumni Group is to invite your fellow graduates to an informal gathering. Once you have decided on a date, time and location, we will contact your fellow alumni introducing the new alumni associate and invite them to the gathering. The alumni associate will act as the contact person for the event.

Step 3From those who attend the first event, you will be able to build a group of volunteers who will share the responsibility of organising more events in the future. Alumni chapters are encouraged to organise events which are informal, inclusive and financially sustainable.

Ideas for Alumni Activities• Theme parties (Canada Day, Independence Day, Halloween, St George’s Day)• Regularly scheduled gatherings (Monthly pub nights, dinners/luncheons)• Networking receptions• One World Week celebrations (in partnership with the Union of Brunel Students)• Welcome parties for new alumni to your area• University fundraisers (Start a chapter scholarship/bursary)• Informal seasonal get-togethers (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Rosh Hashanah, Holi,

Eid ul Fitr etc)

What is involved in running a chapter?

Leadership – you will need an Alumni Associate to be the main point of contact for new members and to drive the group’s activity. The Associate will also be responsible for notifying the Alumni Office with information about events taking place and members joining the group. You may have more than one associate to share the responsibility. The associate’s email address will be published on our webpage so that alumni can get in touch (you may prefer to set up a separate email account for this purpose, but you must monitor it regularly). Events – whether you want to meet up monthly or less frequently is up to you and the other group members, but we would recommend that you run at least two events per year – this will ensure you keep people interested and do not lose touch.

Communication – we will set up an online group for your chapter on Facebook, where you will be able to connect with each other, share photographs of events and promote any upcoming gatherings you may be having.

Finances – Unfortunately, due to the large number of alumni chapters within the alumni association, we are unable to provide a great deal of financial support. Your chapter must aim to be self-financing. Applications for funding will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us for more information.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU... Contacting Alumni We will get in touch with any alumni we know to be living in your area, to encourage them to contact you and join your group. Listing We will include any of your events in our comprehensive list of international and special interest chapter groups. Event Publicity We will help to publicse your events on our events calendar, university communications and social media sites. If events are ticketed, we will also take care of registrations and payments (if applicable). Venues If you are struggling to find a suitable venue for your event, we may be able to help with suggestions. Visitors We will let you know if Brunel staff and/or academics are visiting your area so that your members have the oppor-tunity to meet with them if they wish.

Communications We will contact group

coordinators twice a year with a newsletter about all

our international groups to give you ideas for best

practice. This will also be a chance for you to

share your own ideas with others.

Online community We will set up a Facebook community for you where

you can interact with other chapter members through wall posts and the sharing

of photographs. Please notify us if you have a

group set up elsewhere on the internet.

Visitors We will notify you if Brunel

staff are visiting the area so that your members

have the opportunity to meet with them if they

wish.

Help We will be here to help

you with any queries you have and will offer our advice for running the

group.

One World Week is a week-long campus-wide event to celebrate Brunel University London’s multicultural community of staff and students from over 110 countries worldwide. Its aim is to create an engaging environment to promote integration and help to educate others whose cultures and traditions differ from their own. Brunel students, staff and local community will be involved in nearly 100 events over a five day period and each day is dedicated to one continent: Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Middle East, Australasia.

Though the campus celebrations of this exciting festival are a staple of the University calendar, this is the first year that we are inviting alumni from across the globe to join us in this wonderful event. This year, we want to emphasise the depth and breadth of our global network. Brunel is amongst the most international of all universities in the UK, with alumni in over 100 countries world-wide. We want to showcase our diverse, eclectic and talented alumni and bring our international community together for a truly global celebration. Despite the diverse geographies involved, we hope that each alumni event which takes place around the world shares a common identity and that all our participants feel connected to the wider unviersity community.

Whether the attendees at your event have been attending alumni events since their graduation, or it is their first ever alumni event, we hope that the experience will encourage them to play an active part in the alumni community and help us grow this Brunel tradition.

ONE WORLD WEEK

One World Week 2016

Serving as an alumni volunteer is a wonderful way to give something back to your university. The efforts of the Brunel Alumni Association play a very meaningful role in the support of recruitment and fundraising efforts. Most importantly however, they promote the interests of Brunel’s global alumni community.

To ensure both quality and our adherence to fairness and equality, the Development and Alumni Relations Office has developed the following Code of Conduct, Policies and Procedures.

Code of ConductAll alumni volunteers are ambassadors of Brunel University. As such, they carry the responsibility of positively contributing to the reputation of the University.

Volunteers agree:• To first and foremost strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the

process and products of volunteer service without promoting self-interests.• To recognise that, when identifiable as a part of the Brunel University London Alumni

Association, volunteer behaviour and actions reflect on the organisation. Volunteers will demonstrate passion and commitment to the organisation and will refrain from public criticism of fellow volunteers, paid staff or the organisation.

• To understand and be committed to the mission and objectives of the Brunel Alumni Association

• To provide feedback to assist in the continued quality improvement of the alumni community network and the volunteer program.

• To contribute to a welcoming and safe volunteering environment by demonstrating respect and fair treatment without regard to gender, place of origin, sexual orientation, age, religion, political belief, ethnicity, physical or mental ability, or economic status and refraining from the use of profane, insulting, harassing or otherwise offensive language.

Policies and ProceduresVolunteers are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all information they are exposed to while serving as a volunteer, whether this information involves a staff person, volunteer, customer, student, donor or alumnus or involves the overall business of the Brunel Alumni. Breach of confidentiality will be cause for termination of the volunteer assignment. The University is governed by UK Data Protection Law and will apply this in all its dealings.

AgreementBy signing this document I acknowledge that I have read and understood the above code of conduct, policies and procedures. On behalf of the volunteer members of the regional group (chapter), I agree to follow the above policies and practices.

Signed ________________________________________

Regional group __________________________________

Date _____________________

CODE OF CONDUCT, POLICIES AND PROCEDURESName: …………………………………………………………………………………………………Date: ………………………………………… City: …………………………………………..

Amount Requested: ……………………………………………………………… (£500 Max)Anticipated number of attendees:…………………………………………………………….

Of this overall number, how many will be Alumni: ……………………………………………………………………….. Partners/Guests: …………………………………………………………. Current/future students: ……………………………………………..

What is the planned format for your event? (e.g. venue, guest speaker (if applicable), topic)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….................................

If awarded, what will the funding be allocated towards? (e.g. venue hire, catering, speaker etc)………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………..................................

How will this funding assist you in achieving the objectives of One World Week?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....................................

Do you need this money in advance or would it be possible for us to reimburse you following submission of a receipt? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….........................................................................................

FUNDING REQUEST FORM

alumni@brunel.ac.uk

www.brunelalumni.com

+44 (0)1895 265633

www.facebook.com/brunelalumni

Official Brunel Alumni Group

www.twitter.com/brunelalumni

Brunel University Alumni

Brunel University London UxbridgeMiddlesexUB8 3PHUnited Kingdom

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WHAT’S NEXT?

We hope that this information pack has sparked your interest in becoming invovled with the Brunel University London

Alumni Association.

All you need to do now is contact our office and we can begin...