Grads’ engagement over double the Canadian average —StFX untouchable in alumni engagement

This may come as no surprise to the 30,000 alumni who proudly wear their X-Ring, but a new independent study shows that St. Francis Xavier University is in a class of its own when it comes to alumni engagement.

In measuring alumni engagement, the study by Engagement Analysis Inc. of Ontario looked at a number of key responses to questions on student experience, alumni connection and donor support to determine if an alumnus/a was either “engaged,” “somewhat engaged,” or “non engaged.” Fully 98 per cent of StFX alumni fell into the categories of either being engaged or somewhat engaged with their alma mater.

The survey was conducted during April and May, 2009, through an online survey. Close to 4,000 alumni took part, for an overall response rate of 34.2 per cent, or 13.7 per cent of the overall alumni population.

The results are most impressive when StFX’s figures are compared to the national average. Among StFX alumni, 30.3 per cent were found to be “engaged” with the university, while the Canadian average is 11.4 per cent.

“StFX’s results were literally off the chart in this company’s findings for universities across Canada,” says Helen Murphy, director of Alumni Affairs. “Their existing scale for benchmarking engagement has the top 10 per cent of universities in the “high performers” category, with an engagement average of 17.3 per cent. So StFX is now charted off that scale with more than 30 per cent of alumni engaged.”

Alumni ranked StFX very high for academic experience, facilities, faculty, extra-curricular opportunities and other factors. Ninety-two per cent said StFX has good school spirit, compared with the national average of 54.3 per cent.

Ninety-two per cent of respondents also said they are proud of their association with StFX. Ninety per cent said they would highly recommend their alma mater to family and friends, with more than 60 per cent of respondents indicating that the leadership of StFX is strong, compared to the national average for this question of 27.3 per cent. The responses also showed that 79 per cent of StFX grads regularly read AlumniNews, while the national average of grads reading their alumni publication is 49.7 per cent.

“These results reinforce our view that StFX has the most loyal and involved alumni of any university in Canada,” said StFX President Dr. Sean Riley. “We’re committed to keeping that connection strong and supporting our alumni in their efforts to help move their alma mater forward.”

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