Alumni Relations Strategic Plan - Executive Summary

Alumni are an essential part of the UC San Diego community. They are lifelong stakeholders in the institution and “own” the University through their emotional mindshare. Their passion for, and loyalty to, the University inspires unparalleled devotion. The UC San Diego Alumni team will strive to strengthen this dedication during this Decade of Alumni by creating remarkable and sustainable experiences for our incomparable 256,000-strong UC San Diego alumni base worldwide.

The UC San Diego Alumni Relations Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2024-2027 outlines a comprehensive approach to foster lifelong, mutually beneficial relationships between alumni and the university. This plan is guided by the vision of creating a Decade of Alumni, where every Triton feels a deep connection to UC San Diego and actively shapes its future.

Mission

Foster a lifelong, mutually beneficial relationship between alumni and UC San Diego by delivering meaningful engagement opportunities, cultivating a strong sense of pride, and inspiring ongoing involvement, leadership, and support.

Vision

Create the Decade of Alumni, where all alumni feel a lifelong connection to UC San Diego and participate in playing an active role in shaping its future.

Strategic Priorities

1. Lifelong Engagement: Create relevant programs, affinity networks, and meaningful engagement opportunities for alumni at every life stage, growing and strengthening our pipeline from students to Golden Tritons.
2. Volunteer Leadership: Identify, recruit, and mentor alumni leaders to support key university initiatives and drive broad alumni engagement.
3. Pride and Ownership: Alumni should "own" a piece of UC San Diego. Instill a deep sense of pride and ownership among all alumni by launching the transformative Decade of Alumni initiative, establishing the first-ever Triton Alumni and Welcome Center as a physical home for our alumni community, developing innovative programs that showcase alumni achievement, and encouraging alumni to demonstrate their UC San Diego spirit and pride across the globe.

Values

• Collaboration: We champion connections and cooperation throughout the university community to achieve shared strategic goals, foster new ideas, amplify our message to a broad audience, build relationships, and effectively use resources.
• Innovation: We embrace a commitment to creativity, curiosity, and continuous improvement to encourage resourcefulness and positive transformation in processes, programs, and culture.
• Joy: We infuse our work with enthusiasm, energy, and vibrancy. We celebrate successes, embrace challenges with optimism, and find fulfillment in the pursuit of our shared purpose.
• Community: We cultivate relationships with colleagues and the alumni community that foster a sense of belonging, interconnectedness, shared responsibility, physical and psychological safety, and mutual support for the well-being and advancement of all.
• Respect: We honor the dignity, worth and autonomy of every individual, treating everyone with kindness, empathy, and fairness. We strive to understand and appreciate different viewpoints and experiences, creating a culture of respect where everyone has a voice and feels valued.

Key Goals and Objectives

1. Campus Collaboration: Promote a unifying voice that inspires greater alumni engagement through collaborative partnerships across the university.
2. Leadership Development: Cultivate alumni leadership across the university through participation on boards, councils, and future campaign efforts.
3. Active Engagement: Create robust outreach initiatives to engage alumni across multiple platforms and opportunities, including participation in the establishment of the Triton Alumni and Welcome Center, development of regional and affinity networks, volunteer leadership roles, and meaningful campus partnerships, all designed to strengthen alumni pride and connection to the university.
4. Strategic Communications: Build and sustain affinity and pride for UC San Diego through consistent, compelling, and relevant communications.
5. Purposeful Engagement: Enable alumni to connect more effectively with UC San Diego and each other through innovative programming and outreach.
   • Expand affinity groups to promote strategic alignment and increase participation.
   • Enhance regional and global engagement initiatives.
   • Provide relevant resources for professional development and networking opportunities for alumni at all life stages.
   • Support and encourage a culture of alumni philanthropy.
   • Increase overall alumni engagement, as measured by event attendance, volunteerism, and giving.
6. Technology and Data Analytics: Improve data quality and utilize analytics, including strategic implementation of AI, for engagement tracking, communications, programming needs, and target segmentation to make data-driven decisions.
7. Organizational Excellence: Cultivate a high-performing organizational culture and framework that lead to program growth and strategic outcomes.

Support UC San Diego

Your gift to UC San Diego empowers our students to launch their futures and our dedicated creators and explorers to set tomorrow in motion.

Make a Gift