A n e y e o n a l u m n i a f fa i r s i n I n d i a

Issue 1
November 2012

Alumni Relations at
IIT Madras

By Prof. R. Nagarajan

I N S I D E

A venture of Saviance Technologies

a Expectations, Expectations and More Expectations by Prof. M.L. Singla

a British School: Empower Your Institution by Navneet Kaur
a Laidlaw Memorial School: A Long Innings by Sailendra Bhaskar
a IIM-A: Alumni Online!
a Take Five

NOTES

Alumni. Alumnus. Alumnae. What is

the difference? Why do ex-students of
some select educational institutes have a
strong bond compared to those of others,
even though they have graduated long
back and live and work across the globe?
Is the bond and bonhomie for real in
todays materialistic world and does that
have anything to do with the quality of the
education imparted or the character of
the faculty of yore or both? How does one
maintain the alumni engagement especially
with everyones busy professional and
personal schedules? Who should take
the lead in Alumni Relations educational
institutions or alumni or current students?
Alumneye is being created to raise more
such questions of Alumni Relations Officers
and Corporate Relations Managers in the
education industry wherein the concept
of Alumni Relations itself is very nascent.
This newsletter intends to answer all these
questions through the experiences of some
great alumni engagement successes and to
also serve as the platform for you to share
your execution on alumni relations.
In my humble opinion, Alumni Relations
is an idea whose time has come. Stay
tuned to Alumneye as this unfolds and for
many more interesting ideas and programs
related to Alumni Relations across the
world.
Kaushik Bellani
CEO, Saviance Technologies

Dear Friends,
Celestos Technologies is proud and pleased to launch the first ever
newsletter on Alumni Affairs in the country. With what we have seen
happen overseas in this niche segment, it is quite apparent that this field of
interest is going to explode in the years to come. As Indians become more
aware, more affluent and more nostalgic about their past, they will use the
technology available to connect with their friends from the past. Another
rising trend is the rapid increase in importance of the Friend Support Group
as against the Family Groups that were so critical in the past. This may also
explain why Social Media Groups are flourishing in India.
If we analyze the potential contribution of various stakeholders in any
educational institution management, staff, students, parents, vendors, etc
I am sure you will agree that the largest potential contributor of goodwill,
funds, time, mentoring capacities, career growth opportunities and such
things that will help advance the institute and its students is the Alumni.
There are various examples of Indians contributing very generously to
their Alma Mater, most notably amongst the IITs. We must bear in mind that
it is not just in terms of financial resources that the Alumni are capable of
giving back. There are various other means of contributing or giving back
to the institution. For instance, Sachin Tendulkar would love to give tips to
students of his Alma Mater on the correct way to defend the ball. Can one
hope for a better guide and mentor?
The right way to begin developing Alumni Relations is to connect with
the current students. It is critical to create a sense of belonging and to
nurture the fellowship from the time a student enters the institution rather
than try to tap it once the student has graduated. It is from the beginning
of the bond between the student and the institution that the Alumnus must
feel the passion and the spirit of the institution. This sense of belonging
cannot be demanded and must come naturally. The Alumnus must want to
give back to the institution of his own accord.
We are pleased to feature IIT Madras as the cover story in this inaugural
issue since we can all learn from their example. Other institutions you will
read about are FMS, British School and the Laidlaw School. I would also
like to appeal to you to come forward and share your experiences, your
best practices and your ideas so that we can grow this area together and,
in our own small way, contribute to the larger goal of getting our alumni
to give back and to change the face of the educational institutions in our
country. I look forward to hearing from you.
Joseph John
Advisor, Celestos Technologies
jojo@celestos.com

About Celestos Technologies

Celestos Technologies provides end-to-end comprehensive education management software products and solutions. With a focussed
approach to the resolution of real-life problems faced by clients in the education sector, Celestos ensures that our clients win and grow
by realizing their return on investment. We offer scalable, affordable, reliable and innovative solutions that are accessible by the entire
education fraternity and stakeholders from students to faculty to administrators to parents. Our products and solutions harness the
power of cloud computing and are available across all access devices including Mobile devices so that the educators can focus on their
basic art teaching and grooming students across higher education, vocational institutions and schools. Our two main software products
are EMSync and Viburnix. To know more, log on to www.celestos.co.in.
Celestos is an education venture of Saviance Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (www.saviance.com)

COVER STORY

Alumni Relations at IIT Madras

By Prof. R. Nagarajan, Department of Chemical Engineering,

Dean, International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras

he Indian Institute of Technology

Madras (IIT-M) has a close and
enduring relationship with her alumni,
nurtured through nostalgic recollections
of four to five years of residency on
campus. Alumni recognize the value of
the education and training they receive
during their IIT-M years, and the Institute
recognizes the value of alumni as brand
ambassadors. This mutual regard has
resulted in a harmonious co-existence
over nearly 50 years now.
IIT-M alumni, much like their
counterparts from other IITs, are globally
dispersed, which makes tracking and

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

is one among the foremost institutes of
national importance in higher technological
education, basic and applied research.
IIT-Madras is a residential institute with
nearly 460 faculty, 4,500 students and 1,250
administrative & supporting staff and is a
self-contained campus located in a beautiful
wooded land of about 250 hectares.

Alumni recognize the

value of the education
and training they receive
during their IIT-M years

engaging with them a special challenge.

The only thing they have in common,
it is said, is that they are IIT-M alumni.
Most are highly successful in their
chosen fields; many are influential leaders
in their communities. It must also be

Dr. Nagarajan, Advisor; Mr. Suresh,

Manager; and staff of the OAA, IIT Madras
acknowledged that every IIT alumnus/
alumna has a sizable ego! Managing
alumni relations at IITs, therefore, is a
delicate and sensitive task.
Fund-raising has traditionally
been considered to be of secondary
importance to relation-building by
most IITs, although this philosophy is
certainly undergoing re-examination on
campuses. While the Indian Government
continues to fund IITs generously, their
needsparticularly in terms of building

COVER STORY

Bonding at its Best

IIT-M hosts her alumni on campus on two special days
Alumni Day in July, traditionally the day after Convocation
so as to wilkommen fresh graduands into the alumni fold;
and Reunion Day in December when several batch reunions
take place. Another notable occasion is PG Confluence Day
which falls on the day after Institute Day in April, and is a special
recognition for our postgraduate alumni (who happen to be the
majority, by the way). IIT-Ms cultural festival, Saarang, and

world-class research infrastructure

are rapidly escalating as well. Hence,
the need for financial contributions
from alumni and corporates is clearly
present, and efforts are underway
to communicate this to the alumni
community.
Periodically, we take our Director to
meet with alumni in Indian metropolises
as well as in foreign locales where
alumni congregate in large numbers,
e.g., Silicon Valley, USA. The overseas
trips tend to be short in duration and
high in intensity; our most recent outing
was an 11-day seven-city whirlwind tour
that accomplished multiple objectives
alumni engagement and fund-raising
as well as pursuit of academic
collaborations, industry interfaces and
entrepreneurial initiatives. Using alumni
as catalysts to ignite such external
engagement is an idea whose time has
come.
Organizationally, IIT-M employs a
model where two separate entities look

tech-fest, Shaastra are other occasions that draw many

alumni to campus. A Leadership Lecture Series featuring
alumni has been instituted to bring our students and faculty
in face-to-face contact with illustrious alumni. Alumni are also
being invited to indulge in campus immersion, wherein they
can choose to spend several weeks at a time on campus to
work on pet projectssay, solar powercollaboratively with
faculty and students.

The Institute recognizes

that alumni are key
stakeholders in the
ecosystem, and ensures
that their voices are
heeded
after alumni networking, and Institutealumni relations, respectively. The IIT
Madras Alumni Association, with elected
office-bearers, promotes networking
activities, while the Office of Alumni
Affairs, with a faculty in charge, acts
as the Institute portal. The latter office
also coordinates fund-raising efforts,
with significant support from alumni
volunteers; it is also charged with
administering the Distinguished Alumnus
(DA) Award program which annually
anoints seven to eight alumni as DAs.

Development and maintenance of an

alumni database, websites to provide
alumni services, regular communication
via e-mail, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,
etc, are shared responsibilities between
the two organizations. Sharing of best
practices across IITs via joint workshops
is now being supplemented by joint
exercises with comparable academic
institutions such as Texas A&M and Yale
University.
The Institute recognizes that alumni
are key stakeholders in the ecosystem,
and ensures that their voices are heeded.
Alumni, likewise, are cognizant of the
Institutes readiness to engage with
them. As our alumni population extends
beyond 40,000, both sides are keen on
maintaining their solidarity, and working in
unison to elevate IIT-M into a pre-eminent
position among the worlds leading
universities. The fact that our current
Director, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, is
the first IIT-M alumnus to hold the post is
certainly icing on the cake.

COMMENT

Alumni Relations
The Faculty of Management Studies
(FMS) has the unique privilege to be
part of one of the premier universities
of the world the University of Delhi
with some of the finest departments
in Economics, Law, Sociology,
Commerce and Operations Research.
Their collaborative approach involves
inputs from various departments
which gives the benefit of a much
wider view and deeper understanding.

By Prof. M.L. Singla, Professor of IT Management, FMS, University of Delhi

ractically every educational institution

dreams of leveraging its alumni
network to its advantage. The trend
is not purely Indian or Asian; it has
traversed from the West. And why not?
The land of the guru-shishya parampara
certainly deserves this, especially if
an institution of learning has made
a difference to ones life. One must
give back and make a contribution to
institutional life for the benefit of future
generations.
Surprisingly, as compared to the West
where the relationships between the
educational institutions and graduates
are considered to be purely commercial,
alumni relationship management in
India is more of a fad rather than being
well founded. More and more alumni,
teaching faculties, current students and
academic administrators talk of alumni
networks without any result. One is faced
with a very significant question what
is it that comes in the way of leveraging
alumni networks to the advantage of all
stakeholders? Why cant every alumni
network be as strong as pan-IIT or
pan-IIM alumni networks? Why is St.
Stephens alumni network so powerful?
Why has a university such as the
University of Delhi not been able to use
its big brand ambassadors to get things
done for it? Why do Modernites or Doon

School graduates consider themselves to

be in a different league?
Very recently, when I was addressing
a group of old students at the Faculty of
Management Studies (FMS), University
of Delhi, and motivating them to become
members of the FMS Alumni Association,
a registered body of the FMS graduates,
I came across a very peculiar situation.
A very well settled executive drawing
a fat salary was very keen to know
about what would the return on the
membership subscription be. Howsoever
unreasonable this may sound, the fact
remains that this is the mindset towards
alumni relations.
Another example was during one
of the Celestos Technologies Alumni
Master Class lectures, where one of the
participants who was responsible for

What is it that comes in

the way of leveraging
alumni networks to
the advantage of all
stakeholders?

handling the alumni affairs of an institute,

wondered whether an alumni portfolio
could become an impersonal affair.
The more one dwells into this matter,
the more one realizes that there is only
one word which seems to define the
entire relationship complexity between
the Alumni and the Alma Mater
expectations. And these could be either
unreasonably low or unreasonably high:
Every old graduate expects that its
Alma Mater will keep gifting her/
him something or the other from
time to time complimentary dinner
invitations, mementoes, invitations to
seminars, conferences, etc.
Every current student expects that
all alumni must mandatorily and
voluntarily stay in touch with the
Alma Mater and help them with
whatever their requirements are.
They expect the alumni to help
them with placements, live projects,
sponsorships, guest lectures, etc.
They tend to forget that tomorrow
they will be the alumni themselves.
Every teaching faculty and staff
expects that all alumni must regard
them as people who are to be
respected and helped as and when
they contact them. This relationship
is expected to be a one-way
relationship.

COMMENT

Every current head of the institution

expects that alumni will come forward
and make contributions to his/her
fancy projects in the name of the
institute regardless of whether the
institute has bothered to maintain
contact with them. They expect
alumni to contribute through financial
or other means at the beck and call of
the institute.
All alumni expect that the institute
must provide unconditional support to
them for their career progression and
movements. Moreover, expecting the
institute to honour its old alumni is a
very common phenomenon.
The organizing committees of events

at the institution think that the alumni

relations body must distribute lots of
freebies without any cost to all
and sundry.
Organizers of the alumni association
network think that they are making

Financial,
communication and
manpower resources
are important for the
survival of any alumni
network

a great contribution and must be

regarded as some extra constitutional
authorities who have a significant say
in decisions related to the corporate
life of the Alma Mater.
All these expectations have a very
complex relationship which may seem
to be very simple, but are actually
intertwined. The question is: how does
one expect these expectations to be
fulfilled? Financial, communication and
manpower resources are important for
the survival of any alumni network. To
conclude, it is important for an alumni
network administrator to understand the
crucial component EXPECTATIONS.

GUEST COLUMN

By Navneet Kaur, Alumni Officer,

The British School, New Delhi

he challenge of adapting to the new is always

invigorating; it forces us to see and think afresh.
Alumni relations is a new, yet an untapped source of
immense power. Little surprise, then, that as the Alumni
Officer of one of the best international schools in India, my
strongest sense was and still is a mixture of excitement and
expectancy.
The success of the alumni is in many ways a measure of
the success and prosperity of the institution alumni view
their Alma Mater as an educational, networking and support
resource for the rest of their life; schools and institutions
see their alumni as the current and future leaders of their
communities.The British School Alumni Office was set up
15 months ago and the biggest challenge for me was to
increase engagement of the alumni with one another as well
as with the school. And overcome these initial hitches we
certainly did simply by creating the right inroads for our
alumni.
We, at The British School, are dedicated to establishing
and nurturing lifelong relationships with former students.
Our alumni network is spread throughout the world with
many of them working in a variety of speciality fields

The British School, New Delhi, was first started in July

1963 by a group of British parents and today the school
is accredited by the Council of International Schools
(CIS) and recognized as an IB World School. It is affiliated
to and is an examination centER for both Cambridge
International Examinations and Edexel, UK.

and professions. As vital stakeholders, we see our growing

alumni support base as an opportunity for strengthening the
schools community. Our community enjoys several benefits
such as priority admission for children of alumni, invitation
to events and reunions, magazines, e-newsletters and free
alumni membership cards. Some alumni have volunteered
to offer discounts to fellow alumni for medical services, at
restaurants, on merchandise and online shopping, amongst
others. This kind of collaboration is a great way to encourage
alumni engagement, and for the alumni to give back to the
community.
Right now, alumni relations for professionals is entering an
exciting and vibrant phase in India. With growing awareness,
educational institutions are beginning to understand the
significant role that alumni can play in shaping the current
and future direction of the institute. Established educational
institutes are studying creative ways to improve their outreach
and communication program and are investing in fostering
lifelong relationships in order to garner volunteer support to
advance their mission. Facebook is everyones
best friend! Social networking offers us
opportunities and prospects in ways that never
existed before we can share news in real time;
get instant reactions and results; find lost alumni;
and get alumni news and updates without having
to actively pursue them. However, at the same
time, we have not lost sight of conventional
ways of communicating such as magazines,
newsletters and events.
Alumni relations is a fun, enjoyable field to be
working in. There never is a day when I think I am
in a mundane job. The lifelong relationships that
we build with alumni, both individually as well as
institutionally, makes it an extremely rewarding
experience. We just have to believe in our ability
to connect all the dots together to create a
beautiful picture!

F E AT U R E

Laidlaw Memorial School

The Laidlaw School, Ketti, was founded in 1914 by the

late Rev John Breeden, and was generously endowed by
late Sir Robert Laidlaw. The institution started its life in
Kodaikanal but moved to Ketti, its present home, in 1922.
The School provides comprehensive, liberal education for
children of all communities. The emphasis is on a sound
general education, on self-discipline and self-reliance.

By Sailendra Bhaskar, Alumnus, Laidlaw School, Oakshott House 1964-1973.

Currently: President, Aban Group, Chennai

who along with his mentor Rev James

Cooling and some other concerned
individuals from civil society decided
to raise funds to set up educational
institutions for the children of indigent
domiciled Europeans. By the year 1914,

By 1922, the new

school building
and some of the
residential quarters
for students and staff
were ready

Photo courtesy: Sailendra Bhaskar

n the autumn of the year 1898, a

young 26-year-old Wesleyan novice
pastor named Rev John Breeden set
sail from Marseille, France on board the
SS Melbourne for Madras to join the
Wesleyan Missionary Movement in India.
He was assigned to the English circuit (as
opposed to the Tamil or Telugu circuit)
where he would minister in English to
the Eurasian or domiciled European
population (later to be known as the
Anglo-Indians) of the city of Madras. The
poverty and deprivation he saw among
the domiciled European community was
to have a lasting impression on the man

Picturesque Ketti Railway Station on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway of South India.

Rev Breeden had knocked on every

conceivable door in India and the UK and
sought funds from every possible source
and, in the process, collected enough
money to start the St Georges Homes in
rented premises in the salubrious climes
of Kodaikanal. The Government of the
Madras Presidency was to later provide
900 acres of shola land in Kodaikanal
in the Pulney Hills where a full-fledged
boarding school was to be built.
World War I made fund raising for
the cause of education of Eurasians an
even more challenging task because
funds were required for the war effort.
This coupled with the fact that there
was only a mule track that could be
used to ferry construction material up
to Kodaikanal meant that the money

F E AT U R E

Photo courtesy: Sailendra Bhaskar

The beautiful verdant campus of the Laidlaw Memorial School, Ketti, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
raised to set up the homes in Kodaikanal
would go a much longer way if the
school was moved to the Nilgiris. The
Nilgiri Mountain Railway was operational
by then and the South Indian Railway
graciously offered to ferry, free of cost,
construction and other material for the
building of the school in Ketti valley
in the Nilgiris. By the year 1922, the
new school building and some of the
residential quarters for students and
staff were ready so the students moved
permanently to the new school campus
from Kodaikanal.
The construction of the School
building and other buildings on the
beautiful 219 acre campus was possible
mainly due to the munificence of Sir
Robert Laidlaw, a Scottish businessman,
geographer, politician and philanthropist.
The cotton mills of Lancashire county in
the UK were also great benefactors of
the St Georges Homes as they collected
a levy from all the mills in the towns of
Oldham, Blackburn and Preston to raise
funds for educating Eurasian children in
India. Many other individual benefactors
also added their mite to the fund raising
effort. The St Georges Homes formally
took on the name of Laidlaw Memorial

School in recognition of the huge

contribution that Sir Robert Laidlaw had
made to the school.
Orphaned and indigent Anglo-Indian
children from all across India, Burma and
Ceylon were admitted to the boarding
school and were provided free education
and board, and trained to become
gainfully employed members of society.
The school was soon producing able
bodied educated men and women who
found employment in defense, post &
telegraph, customs, clergy, railways,
healthcare and in education across India
and in various Anglo-phone countries
across the globe. In the 1950s, children
from all communities were welcomed on
to the school campus and since then the
school has had students from several
countries across Asia, Africa and Europe
(www.laidlawschool.org).
Over the last 98 years, the Laidlaw
School has produced many great
engineers, doctors, businessmen and
educationists who have contributed
hugely to society in every inhabited
continent across the globe. This, for
a small school nestled in a valley in
the hills of south India, is indeed no
mean achievement. The Old Georgian

Over the last

98 years the
Laidlaw School
has produced
many great
engineers, doctors,
businessmen and
educationists

Association (OGA), the highly active

alumni organization (www.oldgeorgians.
com) of the school helps strengthen the
bond between the past students of the
school and the Alma Mater by arranging
well attended reunions in the school
every year (second weekend of July)
and off-site reunions (first weekend of
December) in India and other parts of the
world the most recent off-site reunion
having been in Houston, USA, in
April 2012.
The School and the OGA will be
holding a mega reunion event on the
school campus in the second week of
July 2014 to celebrate 100 years of the
founding of the school.

F E AT U R E

Indian Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad

alumni
Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad (IIM-A) needs no
introduction the formidable reputation
that it has built over the years remains
unmatched. Having gained fame and
glory the world over, the alumni of
this institution recognize the wealth of
combined experiences and connections
that an online alumni association
possesses. And now the IIM-A alumni

portal is online on Viburnix the leading

cloud based engagement system that
gives colleges, universities, corporates
and schools a unified communication
and collaboration platform.
Bringing the 18 chapters of this
institution on one cohesive platform
and customizing elements such as
knowledge base, batch coordinator,
intellectual and financial contribution by

Viburnix has adeptly

addressed all the
alumni needs of this
leading educational
institution
in India

alumni, interface with social media and

making all this and more accessible on
mobile devices, Viburnix has adeptly
addressed all the alumni needs of this
leading educational institution in India.
Through Viburnix, the illustrious
alumni of IIM-A have been given the
opportunity to bask in the glory of their
achievements past and present.

Now stay connected

with the minds you
helped shape.
Viburnix provides an online
platform for the alumni
and the alma mater to
come together and
contribute to each
other's success.
It helps colleges,
universities, schools
and corporates
maintain valuable
relationships with old
students and benefit from
the association in many ways.
To know more, call: +91 124 6650100
or email us: info@celestos.com

www.viburnix.com

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Testimonials
Viburnix created a private alumni
website . The team Viburnix adapted
to my vision-specific needs instead
of forcing me into a pre-packaged
solution designed to fit all. Thanks
Viburnix !
Gayle B Dixon, Class Secretary,
Harvard Business School OPM39
Viburnix is one of the best platforms
I have come across in the space of
Alumni Relation Management and
evolution of Alumni networks.
Satyajit Hange,
Director Technology,
Bharati Vidyapeeth University

TA K E F I V E !

busy bee bulletin board

Ms. Busy Bee is here to

make your life easy and
stay connected with alumni
associations across India!
If you have a query or
information to share, write
to alumneye@celestos.com

Alcom, the Almuni Committee of

IMI
is ready to launch its new website
to
strengthen the bond between the
alma
mater and its alumni. To know mor
e,
log on to http://alumni.imi.edu/

Bhartiya Vidyapeeth
University is
celebrating its 50th
Anniversary. To
know more about
this celebration
log on to http://
bvpalumni.com/

Silver Jubilee Reunion of the

MBA 1984-86 batch held at
FMS. To view pictures, log
on to http://fmsalumni.in/
galleryalbums/

British School, New

Delhi celebrates 50
years of excellence in
2013. To know more
about this prestigious
event, log on to
www.british-school.org

BIMTECH Alumni
Association celebrates
the
Commencement Day of
the
25th Academic Session
. To
view pictures, log on to
http://alumni.bimtech.ac
.in/
galleryalbums/

Narsee Monjee Grand

Alumni Meet is taking
place in Mumbai this
November. To know
more, log on to:
http://alumni.nmims.edu/
events/show_event/23

Challenge this puzzle to know how much you

understand about Alumni Relations!
2

N
4

1. An________ can also be a former member, employee, contributor

or inmate as well as a former student.
2. The Latin noun alumnus means foster son, pupil and is derived
from the verb alere to _________.
3. An ________ is a female graduate or former student of a school,
college, or university.
4. The __________ ______________ College, proud of having the
oldest Alumni Association in India, was founded in 1891 on
the initiative of a group of former students, with the object of
organizing an annual reunion.
5. Alumni _________ are popular events at many institutions and
are usually organized by alumni associations and are often social
occasions for fundraising.
6. At most old UK schools, New Zealand schools, South African
schools, Sri Lankan schools, a few universities in the UK, the
phrases old _______ and old ______ are traditionally used for
former school pupils, and old member or member.
7. Alumni _________________ of India is run on Viburnix. The main
objective of AAOI is to promote and sustain contact with alumni
by creating opportunities that engage alumni to reinforce their
bonds with their alma mater.

N
R
I

H
C
6a
5

6b

I
7

Send us your answers by December 20. The first allcorrect solution will get a surprise gift! Write in TODAY
to alumneye@celestos.com

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