ALMEX: New Approaches to Engaging Alumni in University Development
ALMEX: New Approaches to Engaging Alumni in University Development
How can alumni remain more than just contacts in a database and instead become active contributors to the development of their university? This question was at the heart of a study visit within the framework of the international project ALMEX – Alumni Management Excellence: Building University Capacity for Sustainable Graduate Engagement.
The project aims to help universities build systematic and long-term engagement with alumni by integrating them into key areas of institutional development — from educational and career initiatives to innovation and partnership activities. It is about moving beyond formal communication toward creating an active alumni community that becomes a full-fledged part of university life.
From March 16 to 20, 2026, delegations from partner universities, including Sumy State University, visited Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands), where they explored European approaches to building sustainable and structured alumni engagement.
The SumDU delegation included Head of the Information Technologies Department, PhD in Technical Sciences, Associate Professor Anna Nenia; Head of the International Cooperation Office, PhD in Pedagogical Sciences Alla Krasulia; Head of General Administrative Support and International Protocol Group Iryna Slabko; and Head of the Practice and Employer Relations Department, PhD in Technical Sciences Alyona Yevdokymova.
Together with project partners — Ukrainian Catholic University, University of Alicante, Zaporizhzhia National University, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw School of Economics, and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance — participants examined how Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam develops effective alumni engagement models, from maintaining communication to actively involving graduates in educational, innovation, and entrepreneurial initiatives.
The program combined strategic discussions with practical experience. Participants explored the work of units responsible for communications and fundraising, visited innovative spaces such as VU StartHub, the Entrepreneurship Center, and The Demonstrator Lab, and focused on digital tools for alumni engagement, relationship management, and data protection.
An important part of the visit was a roundtable held on March 18, 2026, at the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the support of the Ukrainian Institute in the Netherlands. The event brought together representatives of universities, diplomatic institutions, and the Ukrainian diaspora.
The discussion focused on the role of Ukrainian alumni abroad in the development of higher education in Ukraine — their involvement in supporting universities, mentoring, expanding professional networks, and promoting Ukrainian education internationally. Special attention was given to the idea of creating a global community of Ukrainian university alumni as a platform for long-term cooperation and new partnerships.
The study visit became an important milestone for the ALMEX consortium, enabling participants not only to learn from European experience but also to shape a practical vision for alumni community development. For SumDU, this is a step toward strengthening alumni engagement and building an open, active community that contributes to university development. This experience is particularly valuable for the Department of Information Technologies, as it opens new opportunities for collaboration with alumni, their involvement in the educational process, and the implementation of joint IT initiatives.
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