Alumni engagement network to support the Seren Network

Descriptions

BackgroundThe Seren Network is the outcome of research by the Oxbridge Ambassador for Wales, who investigated the reasons for the decline of Welsh student numbers attending Oxford & Cambridge universities.His research recommended creating a network of regional partnership hubs across Wales, each supporting its academically brightest A-level students to progress to the UK’s leading universities.Each hub is comprised of a cluster of schools and further education colleges in a geographic area, working together to deliver super-curricular (stretch and challenge) activities, along with providing guidance and support for university preparation.A critical element of the Seren programme will be the establishment of an alumni network. The alumni will be Welsh graduates from leading universities, along with UK graduates of these universities now living in Wales. They will support the hubs by offering their time and expertise to advise students on university courses and future careers. They will also contribute to super-curricular activities, share subject or area specific knowledge, and act as role models for certain careers or educational pathways.RequirementsWe would like to know if there are any organisations who could deliver the following to tight timescales (estimated completion date will be 1st December 2015).We will require an organisation to create a technological platform for the purpose of recruiting and managing a network of alumni. The platform will be utilised by the hubs – current planning suggests there will be eleven distinct regional hubs, and every secondary school and college in Wales will be a part of their local hub. Ongoing management of the platform and developing relationships with the hubs, in order to meet their ongoing needs, will also be required.Establishing and co-ordinating a network of alumni will require specific expertise and technical capabilities. A successful organisation will need:-A thorough understanding of the processes of applying to higher education and the challenges young people face.-An excellent knowledge and understanding of higher education institutions in the UK, particularly those in the Sutton Trust 30.-Demonstrable existing expertise in the area of university alumni engagement with schools, both in recruiting and training volunteers, and managing their volunteering experience, as well as experience in supporting schools to develop alumni engagement programmes.-The technological infrastructure to sign up interested alumni through a bespoke web portal, and the associated expertise to run a recruitment campaign;-A regularly maintained database which securely captures alumni personal details, and provides the infrastructure for a range of users to access the real-time database records which relate to their region. Additional functionality will be required for central ‘super-users’ to access and update all database records.-Provision of information that will allow hubs to identify the most suitable alumni to meet the needs of a particular school / college / hub;-A sustainable delivery model which will train and support regional hub staff, to enable each hub to manage and run their alumni network.For the network to work successfully, it will need to be straightforward for alumni to fit volunteering into their other commitments, and equally convenient for hubs to identify and contact alumni according to need.We would be grateful to receive an interest in relation to the above within 10 days of the publication of this notice.