In a question-and-answer format, the assistant vice president for development and director of alumni relations at Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania) discusses how alumni directors can gauge their programs' effectiveness, how his institution addresses the issue, and how a Council for Advancement and Support of Education project to develop…

Public relations offices are playing a major role in management by providing more forecasts and analysis. A checklist is provided to help public relations offices evaluate their contribution to management. The list is designed to point out weak and strong points. (MLW)

An audit can give easy-to-understand indicators of how the various parts of an alumni association are doing. Prepare for an audit by: identifying goals and the areas that are most symbolic of the well-being of the organization, and quantify what to measure. (MLW)

Six college and university alumni and development professionals comment on problems and potential of computer software for program administration. They look at current problems with software, discuss capabilities they would like to have, and make predictions for the future of software abilities, hardware uses, sales, and other issues. (MSE)

Although higher education institutions dislike rankings published in the mass media, they like the attention the rankings create and prefer to be included rather than excluded. Common criticisms of the methodology include emphasis on inappropriate criteria, unfair comparison of private and public institutions, faulty assumptions, inaccurate data,…

Recommendations for planning a successful training workshop for college alumni volunteers include assuring the association is organized and the program well timed; making sure everyone agrees to budget and/or financial commitments; using seasoned volunteers to conduct a feasibility study and determine training needs; making training enjoyable; and…

Classic problems between college fund raising and public relations professionals include misunderstanding of roles, unrealistic expectations, differing goals and perspectives, and inequity of administrative support. Cooperation can be fostered through communication about goals, shared objectives, reduced isolation, teamwork, open communication,…