Some context about our alumni: most are in careers unrelated to their majors. Students craft unique, nonlinear paths. They need access to alumni across fields, not limited to their major. This tool supports that.

Campus Buy-In: We’re large and decentralized, so campus buy-in was critical. We didn’t want another tool that lived only in alumni engagement. We wanted career counselors, colleges, and academic units engaged.

Our implementation team included:
• Alumni Engagement
• Central Career Services
• Advancement Services
• IT
• Digital Experience
• Chief Digital Officer’s team
• Arts & Sciences Career Center

We also involved development officers because alumni answering questions could be prospects or volunteers.

Implementation: Weekly meetings with Protopia began in January. We worked with legal and IT. Justin and Max jumped in often to explain details.

We promoted the tool early to campus partners and volunteer leaders so they could test it. We hired an Assistant Director, Kayla Bosco, who now manages day-to-day operations, monitors interactions, and reviews data to ensure high-quality experiences.

We sent a launch email to all alumni in May, right before commencement. We rolled out to graduating students first—they were our first major user group. Through the summer, we expanded promotion.

Branding: Clear and simple: askalumni.syr.edu. Orange branding across everything.

Kim: A question in the chat: Is this available internationally?

Justin: Yes. We work with LSE and recently completed an agreement in Spain.

Kim: Another question: Do you need a full-time employee to manage this?

Kayla leads Ask Orange Alumni, but it’s not her entire job. She also supports digital engagement and alumni communications. We currently approve all questions and responses. That gives us insight into what comes through.

Some questions aren’t appropriate, so reviewing helps us redirect. Justin?

Justin: We built it to be easy. Partners often say reviewing questions gives them unexpected insight into student needs and alumni engagement trends. Approvals can be done by Protopia or by your team.

Kim: Our launch email to alumni: “The power of the Orange network.” It introduced the tool and asked alumni to update their information. It resulted in over 100 updates immediately. Alumni often update info when a question doesn’t match their current role.

Commencement Activation: We put small business-card-sized inserts on every seat with a link to Forever Orange, highlighting Ask Orange Alumni. Our alumni association president mentioned it in his speech—parents heard it. Huge value.

Campus Roadshow: Before launch, we met with every career center. We wanted them involved, asking questions, testing. Their buy-in was essential.

First-Year Seminar: Because of a strong relationship, Ask Orange Alumni is now part of the FYS curriculum.

Career Fair Promotion: Kayla created a pull-up banner and stickers—simple and effective.

Example Questions: One early example: a prospective student (still choosing colleges) asked alumni how Newhouse helped them. The question went to 23 alumni. Sixteen engaged. Two gave detailed responses. Three updated their information. Zero donor alerts—not Protopia’s fault. We need to update our internal assignment data.

Another example: a 2002 alum rebuilding her career. She got a warm, encouraging response from a DC alum who gave her phone number.

Results Since Launch:
• 300+ questions
• 888+ alumni responses
• 547 matches
• Significant profile updates

What’s Next:
• Donor alerts (once we update gift officer assignments)
• Potential circles in future (athletics, admissions ambassadors), but for now one unified network works best.

The One Big Complaint:
Students do not say thank you.

Alumni write thoughtful responses, offer calls or Zooms—and hear nothing. Protopia nudges them, but still. So on World Kindness Day, we emailed all alumni who had answered questions to thank them directly. It mattered.

Not a Protopia problem. A societal problem.

Chat Moderation: No chat inside the platform—only question/response. We see all responses. Only one alumnus needed coaching.

Faculty Use: Faculty can use it to find guest speakers or industry perspectives. We’re promoting this more soon via SU Today and an internal symposium.

Campus Integration:
Because of our digital partnerships, Ask Orange Alumni appears in:
• OrangeNow (student app)
• MySlice (student portal)

Q&A

Justin: Any concern about opt-in vs opt-out?

Kim: No. We prefer opt-out. We removed certain high-profile individuals manually. Alumni can opt out anytime. If it were opt-in, it wouldn’t work.

Justin: What would you do differently?

Kim: Build more runway before launch.

Lauren: Relationships mattered most. Even with tight timing, collaboration made it work.

Justin: Thank you to Kim, Lauren, and Kayla. Your cross-campus collaboration is impressive.