Alumni Discussion List

Alumni discussion list | James Hobbs | January 27th, 2004

A message from James Hobbs (MSc graduate):

Perhaps most people don't realize it, but there is an email discussion group for LSU alumni to discuss their work and research in much the same way as CPs do on the MSc list. I finished my dissertation a few months back, and was really looking forward to getting involved in discussions with LSU graduates. However, after getting no replies to my self-introduction I did a bit of detective work and found out that only 15 people are on the list at present. This seems a great pity given the hundreds of alumni that must be out there, and the wide range of work/research situations they must be involved in. I hope that at the very least most of the people on the MSc list now will remember to join the alumni list after they're finished, and that perhaps something can be done to contact all those alumni out there and let them know about this forum created especially for them.

For details, go here.

James Hobbs
MSc course participant 2000-2003.

Alumni discussion lists | Jerry Talandis Jr. | April 26th, 2005

Hello everyone,

This is an off-shoot of the recent Viva discussion where the issue of the "alumni discussion list" came up. It seems that Aston has changed the system a bit and have made not one list but many- one for each country. Here's a link to the "e-networks" page at the Aston site.

I wonder if this will work... seems that with the Internet, dividing up alumni on the basis of country seems rather unnecessary. In cyberspace, we're all from the same place. In addition, are there enough members in each country to sustain adequate participation? And what if you're a participant that is from a country not listed (such as Brazil)? What do you do then? Seems that just one list for all alumni would be fine.

If I'm mistaken about all this, then someone please enlighten me.

Jerry

Japan

Re: alumni discussion lists | Dawn | April 26, 2005

Thanks Jerry for this info. I did a quick check and found out there was no entry for Poland either. Now I really feel second-class.

I pay as much as any one else, so why?!!!

Dawn
from nowhere important

Re: alumni discussion lists | Jerry Talandis Jr. | April 26, 2005

Yeah! My point exactly. And what about Francesca from Brazil, or Murray from Azerbaijan? What's Paul, from Switzerland, supposed to do? It seems like a strange way of going about organizing a list. According to James' post (above), there are only 15 people enrolled on this list. Why the need then for so many lists?

In the old days of our own DL (2000), there used to be a separate list for each module. That didn't work because there just weren't enough people to make the system viable. As one CP wrote at that time,

I've noticed that the different email discussion groups may be isolating people who could have some opinions to share.

I'm thinking this could be a repeat of that mistake.

Obviously there was some thinking that went into this, and I'm not getting some element of a larger picture. Can anyone "in the know" from Aston comment? It would be a shame if an alumni list didn't reach its potential due to structural problems.

Jerry
Japan

Re: alumni discussion lists | Sue Garton | April 26th, 2005

Hi all,

Alumni lists are organised and set up by the Alumni Office. We had one for the LSU (as was), but there was virtually no traffic on it at all. When the new website came about, the Alumni Office must have decided to organise groups by country only. I believe alumni groups only exist in countries where graduates have set up a network.

Following the brief experience with the alumni group, I think it's far more beneficial for all if people stick around on this list, even after they graduate. No-one will throw you off the list, though you'll obviously have to resubscribe with a non-Aston e-mail address. A lot of the postings are to do with issues that are of interest to all of us as TESOL professionals and even those that are specifically MSc-oriented can benefit from the input of those who have been through it and come out the other side. Moreover, I don't think anyone will object if graduate issues are raised here too - after all, it's a position you'll all find yourselves in sooner or later :-)

Best,

Sue

Re: alumni discussion lists | Jerry Talandis Jr. | April 26th, 2005

Hi Sue,

Thanks a lot for that information. I didn't know that the LSU alumni list had been discontinued. So those lists are for the entire school, not just the EASG. I'll add your message to the archive so that the info there is up to date.

I like your idea of just sticking to this list. Why reinvent the wheel? It seems to fit our needs.

Jerry

Japan

Re: alumni discussion lists | Kathy Jaehnig | April 27th, 2005

Hi Sue

Thanks for clarifying the alum situation. I do enjoy hearing what the current MSc students are working on and had been reluctant to contribute "from the other side" until now. It's hard to just turn off the MSc experience right after graduation.

Best to all

Kathy Jaehnig
Berlin