Tiruchi institutions show the way to engage overseas alumni groups

Quite a few higher educational institutions in Tiruchi have been able to demonstrate the utility of overseas alumni groups in mentoring students, offering them internships, and mobilising financial support for scholarships to poor students.

The Global Alumni Meet 2020 of National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi, for instance, resulted in members from various countries pledging to the tune of a few crores of rupees for further progression of their alma mater.

The UGC’s views on ‘Student Career Progression and Alumni Network’ shared with higher educational institutions during 2019 factors in the role of alumni to make their alma mater ‘world-ready’, and in making major donations, besides providing assistance in student placements and internships.

“Our alumni chapters in United Arab Emirates, United States and Singapore have been playing an active role in student engagement”" Nisha Radhakrishnan, Associate Dean - Alumni Affairs, NIT-T, said.

The overseas alumni chapters of Jamal Mohammed College have been actively supporting the institution over the last two decades. The college has overseas chapters in Jeddah, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, Brunei and Qatar, besides the USA.

Likewise, the Holy Cross College has established international alumnae chapters in Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia. The members voice suggestions and contribute towards the continual growth of the college and hold webinar sessions to share their knowledge and expertise with the current batches of students.

Later this week, St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchi, will launch its alumni chapters in Singapore and Middle East during the course of the Josephites Global Virtual Reunion - 2021.

So far, 450 overseas students have registered for the virtual reunion and there are indications that the number will touch the 1,000 mark over the next few days,” S. Albert Rabara, Secretary of St. Joseph’s College Alumni Association, said.

“The college already has its alumni chapter working actively in USA, and is looking forward to initiating more chapters in Malaysia, Australia, UK, Netherlands and a few other countries,” Mr. Albert said.