 |
 |
 |
|
| HOME | FEATURES | DEPARTMENTS | CLASS NOTES | BACK ISSUES | OHIO FRONT DOOR |
|
|
More From Your Alumni Association
Take a look! Visit the new Ohio University Alumni Association Web site .
Write to us! Care to comment on an Ohio Today story? Or share a memory about your days on campus? Then drop us a letter to the editor. Here's how: Send e-mail to ohiotoday@ohio.edu By regular mail Letters Fax Fax letters to (740) 593-1887 Letters to the editor may be edited for space and style
|
 |
|
|
By Joan Slattery Wall Better contact with and help from the Ohio University Alumni Association are just a keyboard away thanks to its new, more interactive Web site. Alumni can use the site, which went live in January, to track chapter, society and campus events, keep up with University news, access career services, communicate with the association staff and more. And soon they will be able to look up their former classmates.
"I've coined this a 'virtual homecoming,'" says Ralph Amos, assistant vice president for alumni relations. Todd Beekman, BSEE '00, co-chair of the Austin, Texas, Chapter, says it also is helping alumni keep in touch with one another. "There will be one place where the alumni can go and see what all the chapters around the country and world are doing to show their ongoing dedication to Ohio University," Beekman says. "If people move, travel or are just curious about a chapter, they can easily find all the information in a familiar place with a familiar format." The new site already has benefited alumni chapters. "Many of our members first discovered the Rocky Mountain Bobcats when surfing the alumni portal," says Mike Downey, BSC '99, president of the Colorado chapter. "The new site makes it very easy for them to find our contact information and link to our Web site." Site features were determined using suggestions from alumni as well as the association's board of directors and staff. It was developed as a joint effort between the offices of Alumni Relations and Development, and University Communications and Marketing brought the concept to life. One future aspect of the site has particularly piqued alumni interest: a searchable online directory to help folks keep track of former classmates. "Having a directory has always been a priority to us," says Kori Gassaway, BSJ '97, of the Scripps Society of Alumni and Friends, "but we haven't had the resources to do it. So we're excited that the new Web site will have the ability to do that." Already alumni can update their own listings and find general information about the association as well as listings of chapters, societies, contacts and events. Alumni also can order transcripts, find out about travel and learning opportunities and read about association benefits. Links are available to other University sites such as the Office of Career Services, Ohio Today Online, the University's main Web site and "Bobcat Market Place," which features Ohio University merchandise. Over the next year, these tools are planned:
"This will be a one-stop shop for chapter leaders when it comes to event planning," Beekman says. "Leaders will have the ability to schedule events, send out broadcast e-mails, allow people to buy tickets, track who came to the event and receive feedback after the event, all online." To provide feedback on the site, e-mail the alumni association at alumni@ohio.edu. One alumni suggestion already under consideration is a career service that would provide resume posting and searching as well as online mentoring. "We hope that alumni view the site as a timely, modern service and means of staying connected 24-7," Amos says. Joan Slattery Wall is assistant editor of Ohio Today.
|
