The age of information technology has left many yearning for a sense of community.
The Alumni Association is creating a new sort of community for its alumni and helping them make lasting ties by establishing ETSUalumni.org.
Now graduates of East Tennessee State University will be able to keep in touch with their alma mater and reunite with friends – from their fraternity brother to the girl they sat next to in American history.
Joe Smith, the webmaster for the site and director of University Alumni Records, is excited to see the launch of the project he has been working on for several years.
“We don’t engage with alumni as much as we want to,” Smith said.
“They only contact us when they have a need and may not even know we’re here for questions and concerns as their advocate.”
In fact, Smith said the site was created primarily because of that need. In the past alumni contact was sparse, with alumni information being gathered through secondary sources or through the mail. Both sources can be slow and often inaccurate, Smith said.
Alumni contact with university staff was also low, Smith said, with alumni only returning once in a while for homecoming and other events – that is, if Alumni Records had the correct contact information.
ETSUalumni.org will be a resource in persuading new graduates of ETSU to keep in touch, Smith said. “It’s hard to engage alumni after a period of time,” he said. “If we can engage them now hopefully they will stay involved with the university.”
New education trends toward technology also influenced the creation of ETSUalumni.org, Smith said. With curriculum and the workplace geared toward new technologies, students are graduating with a better understanding of that technology, and Smith said they expect the university they attend to exhibit that same attitude through their web site.
Since alumni and University Advancement first had a web presence in 1995, Smith has been working on the site, and said he has had the development of an online community in mind.
ETSUalumni.org was opened in August, and nearly 1,000 members have signed on. “I don’t think the site is geared toward younger alumni,” Smith said, “but it’s natural they are populating the site faster.”
The next phase will be marketing the idea to alumni, Smith said.
An option which he said is likely to be the focus of their marketing campaign is the ability for student organizations to set up chapter pages off of the main site.
This facet allows any student organization, past or present, to set up its own area which alumni can join from the main site.
Some alumni are still unaware of the site, but many express interest. “[ETSUalumni.org] adds credibility and is a good quality statement about the university,” said DJ Jessee, class of ’79.
As a faculty member as well, Jessee said she sees the site as a good way to find out where her students have gone since graduation and a way to get alumni involved in returning to the classroom.

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