Alumnet
Alumnet is a community web portal for Simmons graduates. This site provides alums a variety of free services, access to online resources, and networking opportunties. In exchange, the intent is to keep graduates engaged in the life of the College and its goals. After all, colleges and universities (like all non-profits) have to seek the support of graduates in order to fund their ongoing activities. Alumnet plays a central role in ensuring our alums understand the College's goals and accomplishments, and that they internalize their importance and value. We hope they will want to help realize the College's vision, whether through monetary contributions, by volunteering their time, or by mentoring undergraduate students.
The design of the home page follows a web portal model, but also includes three distinct communications "layers." Starting from the bottom, we first provide access to news and events (event registration is one of the "stickiest" aspects of the site), the content of which changes daily. Next up, we provide articles that change about twice a month. Topics include campus renovations, the importance funded scholarships play, and socially important activities by faculty and students. Lastly, there is an area for longer-term brand identity building. Multimedia -- including Flash video -- is under development for this part of the site. We expect a new campign to launch in this space about three to four times a year.
