9th meeting of the University Alumni Centres CR and SR

On 7 March 2024, the 9th meeting of the group Czech and Slovakian University Alumni Centres took place via MS Teams. The virtual gathering was organized by the VŠE Alumni Centre and included almost 20 participants from different universities. The event offered a space for sharing experiences and provided inspiration for the development of relations between universities and their alumni. On the meeting participated representatives from the largest Czech universities such as Charles University, Masaryk University and Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.

In September 2023, the group was expanded with colleagues from Slovakia, who introduced the way of working with alumni at three Slovak universities: J. Selye University, Paneuoropian University of Applied Sciences and the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy. Representatives of these educational institutions shared their current approaches and plans for developing the Alumni Centres. The group members discussed activities that could be interesting and useful for alumni, from golden graduation ceremonies to professional lectures and sports activities.

The introduction of Slovakian universities was followed by a presentation of the VŠE Alumni Centre, during which the Alumni Coordinator, Anička Chalupecká, presented the activities that the Centre has carried out over the last six months: Alumni Wednesdays, Alumni Homecoming and Alumni Bowling. She also mentioned plans to launch an alumni podcast and to organize alumni meetings at VŠE.

The discussion focused on the possibilities of cooperation with foreign universities, which would further inspire Czech and Slovak universities. Also, the advantages of such partnerships and the possibilities of mutual enrichment through sharing experiences and knowledge were discussed.

9th meeting of the University Alumni Centres of the Czech Republic and Slovakia was another important step towards strengthening the links between universities and their alumni. Individual universities took away not only new suggestions and inspiration but also valuable ideas and plans for the further development of their alumni centres.