Strong ties with our alumni benefits everyone

Aarhus University is in the process of establishing alumni networks in all departments. An alumnus is a graduate. i.e. a previous student who has completed a bachelor or master degree. At Aarhus University we also invite current students and staff to participate and take advantage of the possibilities in the alumni network.

Several departments already have established networks. There are 28,500 members in AU’s alumni network. ST currently only has a few established alumni networks, but with new initiatives there is hope that more will be established. 

For AU and in particular in relation to collaboration with the industry there can be mutual benefits to maintaining contact with previous students and staff that now work in companies various places in Denmark and around the world. The alumni can be good ambassadors for our degree programmes and the university as an institution. The alumni network can contribute to creating new collaborative projects, lead to contacts in connection with job applications, and to a great extent contribute to developing our degree programmes so they match the needs that our new graduates are met with.

With a short history of degree programmes AGRO still has relatively few graduates but that makes it even more interesting to follow their careers. It is also very relevant to get feedback from them about how well their degree has prepared them for work life no matter whether they have landed a job in research, advisory services or business. Are there areas in which we can adjust our programmes so the graduates are better prepared?

With regard to previous employees who have gotten jobs in commercial companies, it is easy to lose contact, but the idea behind the alumni network is to make an effort to maintain contact for mutual benefits. 

The business collaboration committee hopes that contact to previous students and staff can help create new collaboration. It is already possible to be part of the large AU alumni network but in a short while all staff in AGRO as well as previous and current students will receive an invitation to join the AGRO alumni network and to participate in an alumni day in April. I encourage you to join the AGRO alumni network and sign up for the alumni day when you get the chance.  

You can read more about AGRO’s new alumni network here. (in Danish) Some of the things that the alumni network offers are:

• Networking
• Executive education
• Mentor programmes
• Library resources