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Educational institutions of Kerala to tap alumni resources

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 : Leading educational institutions in Kerala are gearing up to actively tap alumni resources to enhance their reputation and brand value.

The ball was set rolling with representatives of 13 top-rate educational institutions across the state participating in Kerala's first-ever Alumni Leadership Masterclass programme, designed to help institutions set up a well-oiled Alumni Relations Office.

The day-long Masterclass programme was organised by the Asian School of Business (ASB) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in tandem with Terumo Penpol Limited, India's largest blood bags manufacturer, and the Gurgaon-based Saviance Technologies.

Setting the tone and tenor of the programme, Mr C Padmakumar, Chairman of the CII, Thiruvananthapuram Zone, in his welcome address, said alumni can be a "very good constituency to work with" and their potential needs to be channelised for the success of and growth of their alma mater.

Mr Padmakumar, who is also the Executive Director of Terumo Penpol, announced on the occasion the launch of College Excellence Cluster in Thiruvananthapuram zone. 'The objective is to bridge the existing gaps in interaction between the academia and the industry. "Industry needs inputs from academia for research and academia will benefit from exposure to industry," he said.

The benefits of such an initiative, he pointed out, would be manifold, such as access to leading institutions in the industry, visits and interactions of senior industry personnel, sessions and classes. Desirous institutions can enter into MoUs with CII for this, he informed.

Prof S Rajeev, Director, ASB, and an alumnus of IIT-Chennai and Syracuse and Stanford Universities, spoke about the differences in alumni relations in India and the US. "While alumni management is just evolving in the country, 'my alma mater abroad makes all efforts to track its alumni down. Also, alumni inputs are sought in sophisticated matters like revamping curriculum," he said. (UNI)

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