Durham University

How can I get involved?

Your relationship with Durham doesn't end at Congregation. For the past 150 years alumni have been supporting Durham University, offering their time and expertise to maintain and enhance the reputation of the University. Back in 1866 this was the creation of the first alumni society, the Durham University Association.

There are many ways for you to get involved with the University in the years after you leave, depending on the time you have available and your interests. Becoming an alumni volunteer can be rewarding and stimulating. It can be an excellent way to re-engage with Durham, catch-up with old friends and network with fellow graduates - professionally and socially!

Volunteers play a vital role in engaging fellow alumni with the University. We are encouraged by the number of alumni who contribute to our communications activity by providing personal profiles or memories of their time at Durham or who take the time to share with others the stories of Durham successes.

How can you get involved?

  Organising alumni events  If there is a network in your area, why not go along to their next event to find out more about how you may be able to support the organisers? If you aren’t aware of any alumni events taking place near you, get in touch with the Volunteer Development Officer to see whether there is potential to host an event in your area.
     
  Mentoring students Most of the Colleges have career mentoring schemes, matching up current students with alumni working in industries that they are interested in. If your College doesn’t have a scheme, please contact the Alumni Relations Office to see what other opportunities may be available.
     
  Delivering lectures/career talks Alumni often come back to campus to deliver a guest lecture to current students, or to talk about their careers. Career talks offer students a unique insight into the industry which they are interested in, and the opportunity to learn more about what skills they need to develop in order to work in the industry. If you would like to come back to campus, please contact the Volunteer Development Officer.
     
  Assisting with international student recruitment The International Office will be travelling to many different countries over the next few months to talk to as many students as possible who are hoping to come to Durham University. As well as attending major education fairs, we will be working with schools and colleges worldwide to deliver talks and presentations to help students in the decision making process. The International Office will also be holding various alumni receptions and welcomes alumni input on recruitment trips.

Between January and August we expect to be visiting the USA, Canada, India, Nigeria, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Norway, and Pakistan. More information on our visits can be found on the International Office website.

If you would like more information on how alumni can help with student recruitment, please contact v.h.anderson@durham.ac.uk.
     
  Providing work experience, placements and internships to students Work experience is an effective means of researching different career options as well as representing an opportunity for students to do something different while developing the range of skills that employers are looking for. Work experience is becoming increasingly important in the graduate job market: many organisations recruit successful interns and some job sectors are becoming increasingly difficult to enter without relevant experience.

If you work for a business or company that can offer places to current students, please contact the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre via email to work.experience@durham.ac.uk or on 0191 334 1406 to discuss in further detail.
     
  Free or discounted venue space We are always looking for venues which we can utilise for an alumni gathering, if you have access to a unique and interesting venue, or can offer free venue space in a major city, please contact the Alumni Relations Office.
     
  Access opportunities Do you work, or have access to, somewhere with an interesting ‘behind the scenes’ story? We are looking to create unique ‘Access’ events, offering students and alumni an opportunity to see behind the scenes of interesting companies or attractions. Examples include major businesses, museums, art galleries, studios etc – if you think you have an interesting place to offer please get in touch.