THE ROLES OF ALUMNI IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALMA MATER BEING A PAPER PRESENTED BY DR. A. O. BINUYO AT THE MEETING OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE ORIGBO SCHOOL SCIENCE IPETUMODU ON TUESDAY 30TH DECEMBER 2014 IN THE SCHOOL HALL BY 2PM. INTRODUCTION All protocols duly observed. I feel highly honored and humbled for being invited as the Guest Speaker for today’s meeting of your Association. I had the opportunity to serve in this school of yours as a “MATHEMATICS TEACHER” between 2002 – 2006 when I was posted here by the then TESCOM of Osun State during the regime of Chief Adebisi Akande, the Former Governor of the State. To God be the glory, many of the students who had the chance to pass through me had graduated from various higher institutions of learning in this country be it in the Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education or Schools of Health Technology. Some of them have become Teachers, Lecturers, Medical Doctors, Engineers, Journalists, Computer Scientists, Agriculturists, Researchers, Accountants and degree holders in other areas of discipline. I would like to congratulate those of you that are present for today’s meeting because, ALL OF YOU ARE ACHIEVERS. The reason for this is because; the spirit of wanting to attend this kind of meetings is a function of one’s achievement in life. I am very sure that, all of you should have excelled in your various callings either in Business, Academia, Military, Civil Service and other forms of professional callings in life. Once and again, I say CONGRATULATIONS. WHO IS AN ALUMNUS? It is important to you for your institution to decide how it defines an alumnus and document this to avoid any confusion. The classic definition of an alumnus is “a graduate or former student of a specific school, College or University”. Different institutions develop their own definitions of what an alumnus means to them. Some restrict the term to graduates while others widen the definition to include all former students including those who failed to finish, retired staff and other associates. But to me and for the purpose of this lecture, for one to stand qualified as an ALUMNUS of any institution, one must have attended that school, college or university either as a pupil or as a student for a period of time in the past. Not only this, one must either have the testimonial or the certificate of the institution after a successful completion of one’s course of study in the institution. Whatever you become or you wish to become in life, reference will always be made to your Alma Mater. In view of the above, anybody that does not possess either one or both qualifications should not regard himself or herself as an alumnus of the institution. This is all the more reason, why, I cannot claim to be an alumnus of this school for I was never a student of this school but rather a teacher that was posted here to teach mathematics. THE POWER AND POSITION OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IN THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION Among the stakeholders of education especially at secondary level, we have: ◈ The Government (Ministry of Education, TESCOM, and Tutor – General’s office) ◈ The School’s Board of Governors ◈ The Alumni Association ◈ The Parents – Teachers Association (PTA) Of the four listed above, the importance of the Alumni Association could not be undermined. This is because, they are more or less the owners of the school for each of the members has no other school to claim in their lives other than the one they attended. Depending on the age of the school, by the time a school celebrates her 50th anniversary; all the members of her Governing Council ought to be her old students. Since this school was established in 1959, then it was called Origbo Community High School metamorphosed to Origbo School of Science in 2001 and later changed to Origbo Community Unity School in 2005, it simply means that, she is 55 – year old this year. She must have produced successful members in different works of life. At this level, the Board of Governors could determine who is to be the Head (Principal) of their school. They could even dictate to TESCOM if they want one of the qualified old students to head the school for the continuity of their school’s culture and traditions. Related to this, the same Board could also recommend the immediate transfer of any erring Principal, Vice Principal, Teacher or any other staff member in the school if found guilty of the offence committed after being given fair hearing. WHY IS ALUMNI RELATIONS IMPORTANT? Having settled with the introductory part of this paper, I should like to spell out some of the expected roles of an alumnus to his/her alma mater. Today, alumni relations are an important part of an institution’s advancement activities for many reasons; (i) Alumni are institution’s most loyal supporters (ii) Alumni are fund raising prospects (iii) Alumni generate invaluable word – of – mouth marketing among their social and professional networks (iv) By engaging alumni, an institution can continue to benefit from their skills and experience (v) Alumni are often in the position to engage the expertise of the institution in their professional lives (vi) Your alumni are your international ambassadors. They take the knowledge of your institution to their homes, places of works, outside the country, professional and social networks. Maintaining a positive relationship with your alumni means that, the message they share about your institution will also be positive and current. Maintaining communication channels with alumni means you can keep them informed of your achievements (e.g. book launching) and make them part of your institution’s future, not just its past. Good alumni relations benefit both the alumni and the institution. If you support your alumni in their professional and personal lives, it opens the doors for preferential advantages e.g. seeking admissions for your children to higher institutions, employment opportunities, political positions, contracts etc. your support may also help your alumni achieve positions of success and influence which will in turn benefit your institution as they begin to give back. Through this, your institution becomes bigger, stronger and more successful. Alumni are also enhancing the value of their own degree qualification. ALUMNI AS PROSPECTS All alumni are fundraising prospects. They are the most likely group to give donations (if only the institution has done its job right). An alumnus should have a sense of gratitude and work to the success of their institution. A strong link between alumni relations and fundraising will enable you to spot alumni who have the capacity and inclination to make significant donations. It will also enable you to effectively segment the majority of alumni who might only give smaller amounts so that you can match them together and give you the highest likelihood of success. MORE THAN ONE WAY TO ENGAGE Providing financial support is just one way for alumni to engage with their former schools. Engagement can be on multiple levels and rewarding for both parties (the school and the affected alumni). These multiple tasks include the following: (i) Donating regularly through the annual fundraising or with high value single gifts e.g. provision of computer sets, building of ICT laboratory, library, and science laboratory with the equipment (ii) Sponsoring students by giving scholarships to the brilliant and the needy ones. (iii) Leaving legacies through personal bequests e.g. building blocks of classrooms, laboratories, library and toilets for the use of the school. (iv) Participating in peer to peer developmental projects e.g. the 1966 graduating set, the 1968 graduating set, the 2004/2005 graduating set etc (v) Providing case study materials, guest lecturers, equipment and teaching aids to enhance teaching and learning. (vi) Providing career talks, mentoring and placement to current students (vii) Recruiting some teachers and payment of their salaries in the subject areas that are of dire need to the school and the government has not provided enough for the affected subjects. (viii) Acting as positive role models to current students (ix) Supporting the school in extra – curricular activities e.g. funding inter – house sports competitions, sports and games, purchase of trophies, jerseys, track suites, football boots, spike shoes for the athletes and other sports and games materials (javelin, discuss, table tennis bats, lawn tennis rackets, subsidizing costs of undertaking excursions for the current students and other academic outings). (x) Organizing holiday coaching classes free of charge most especially for the final year students. (xi) Building perimeter fencing for the school with a very beautiful gate to match in order to enhance the security of lives and properties in the school. (xii) Having the name of your school and her activities in the internet in order to allow the whole world know the school the more (website creation) CONCLUSION I can never forget this school in my life for the little time that I had the opportunity to work here as a teacher. This enabled me to contribute my little quota to the life progress of the younger ones in this community and for these ones to know me as a bona fide son of the soil. If all or part of the expected roles of the alumni association highlighted above is faithfully and honestly performed by your association, your alma mater shall not remain the same. Your school should have been experiencing positive transformations through your periodic activities. I will admonish you with these word of God in 2nd Corinthians 9:6 – 8 (KJV Version). Long live Origbo Community Unity School, Ipetumodu! Long live Origbo Community!! Long live Osun State!!! Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!! Thanks for the rapt attention given to me and remain blessed. God bless you all in Jesus Name.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 15:54:25 +0000
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