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WHDL - 00016021

Alumni role identity among recent college graduates

Corynn Marcum Gilbert

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

Donative revenue to American higher education institutions is essential for their ongoing financial solvency in the existing funding model within the industry. Gifts from alumni comprise a critical portion of this revenue, yet alumni giving participation rates and giving amounts have been in precipitous decline despite ever-increasing numbers of college graduates. There is a timely and relevant need to understand the factors impacting the future of alumni giving, especially if existing higher education funding challenges continue on their current course. Alumni who express strong organizational identification with their alma mater and high alumni role identity are more likely to engage in alumni support behaviors, including alumni giving. However, little research exists on whether new graduates have organizational and alumni role identity, whether they understand the support behaviors which have been traditionally associated with the role of alumnus, and whether they intend to engage in those behaviors themselves. The purpose of this research was to understand how new graduates perceive their relationship with their university at the point at which they make the transition from student to alumnus, how these perceptions inform their understanding of their new role as an alumnus, and how this understanding informs their intentions to engage in future alumni support behaviors. College graduates (n=567) from a variety of private, faith-based universities in the West who completed their degrees during the 2020-2021 academic year participated in a mixed-methods online survey measuring organizational identity, alumni role identity, understanding of the alumni role, and the impact of these measures on self-reports of future alumni support behaviors. New graduates expressed above-average to above-average organizational identity and average alumni role identity, yet expressed below-average understanding of the behaviors associated with the alumni and distant to very-distant intent to engage in alumni support behaviors.

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This material is used by permission of the rightsholder in accordance with the terms of the relevant content release. As a user, you have permission to use this content and download a copy for non-commercial use only. Downloading multiple quantities of this resource is expressly forbidden.

KeywordsAlumni giving, Alumni role identity, Organizational identity

Degree AwardedDoctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership

Awarding InstitutionNorthwest Nazarene University

Committee MembersTravis McDearmon, Dan Sullivan

Supervisor or ChairHeidi Curtis

Peer Reviewed?No

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