WWU Alumni Association conducting first all-alumni survey in nearly two decades

April 28, 2010

Matthew Anderson

University Communications

The Western Washington University Alumni Association is in the midst of the first comprehensive, all-alumni survey conducted since 1991.

"We really want to engage our alumni in a conversation," said Deborah DeWees, executive director of the Western Alumni Association. "We want to let them know that Western cares about what they think and what they're doing, and that Western wants to keep in contact with them."

The goal of the survey is fourfold, DeWees said:

  • Update alumni professional and personal contact information.
  • Identify alumni with propensity to support Western.
  • Determine alumni preferred communication methods and engagement with Western.
  • Learn what alumni think are Western's areas of distinction.

Today, an e-mail regarding the survey will be sent out to the 40,000-or-so alumni for which the association has e-mail addresses. And next week, a letter with a print version of the survey will be sent to the remaining 52,000 WWU alums, DeWees said.

"Right now, the only contact we have with those 52,000 alumni is when we send out Window magazine twice a year," DeWees said. "All of the rest of our communication is electronic, and so that's a huge portion of our alumni that we're leaving out of the loop. Hard mail is cost prohibitive, and it's not in keeping with Western's focus on reducing its carbon footprint."

A final phase of the survey will take place in late May or early June, when a team of student workers will call the alumni who have not yet responded to the survey. DeWees said she's hoping for a 70-percent survey response rate.

"This survey is going to provide Western with fabulous insights," she said. "We'll find out how our alumni want to be communicated with, who they are, what they're doing, and possibly how they want to get involved."

The survey was created with the immense help of John Krieg, an associate professor of economics at WWU, and Krieg's team in Western's Office of Survey Research. Krieg also serves as the director of that office.

WWU alumni can take the survey online at http://www.wwu.edu/alumnisurvey.