IOB has developed an alumni policy, building on twelve alumni engagement domains, including research, education, global outreach, student recruitment, widening participation, employability, representation, professional development, recognition, philanthropy, community, professional development, and academic diplomacy …
For each of these dimensions, activities have been designed taking place in the North, the South and online, linking students, alumni, staff and the broader IOB community.
Finally, several alumni ‘spaces' facilitate interaction. To allow for more structural alumni networks, IOB focused on building a global IOB alumni community using online interaction tools, while also setting up national and regional IOB alumni networks for live interaction in some (partner) countries.
The IOB alumni policy, developed since 2007, positions its alumni not merely as graduates, but as long-term development partners and change agents contributing to societal impact.
It has been shaped through continuous reflection, structured learning, and theory based research. A cornerstone of this approach, Alumni Barometer, an innovative action research project with alumni as co-researchers organised in regional alumni hubs conducting field research to assess alumni impact from multiple perspectives.
Drawing on , employer interviews, survey data, and social network analysis, this research culminated in the development of the 3-4-5 model of alumni impact (Holvoet et al, 2023). This model maps alumni contributions across three levels (individual, organisational, and societal), four learning gains (knowledge, skills, networks, and attitudes), and five impact pathways.
