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Alumni Fellows

Equity in Attainment through a BCU Alumni Fellows Scheme (AFS) 

Photo of person looking out across Birmingham from Curzon balcony.

Information for Course teams

What is the Alumni Fellow Scheme?

The Alumni Fellow Scheme (AFS) asks course teams to identify up to five recent alumni whom it would wish to bring back to the university for the coming academic year, to work alongside existing students. The identified alumni are required to reflect the diversity of the course’s student population as the AFS aims to work with programmes with significant gaps in disparities in attainment across ethnicities.

The scheme is available across all faculties and will engage with up to 10 courses in its initial phase. This will see around 100 alumni fellows in total working across the university as champions within course teams, but also as a coherent group that may be drawn together for institution wide engagements.

What is expected of your course/ programme teams?
The proposition is that programme teams are asked to identify up to five recent graduates who they would wish to invite back to offer mentor support to their current students. These students should be representative of the student population and reflect that diversity. You may want to distribute the Fellows unevenly across courses to reflect local needs or target particular areas, that will be up to you as a course team. The intention is to keep a subject focus to this, so Fellows should be allocated at course level.
The graduates will be appointed as alumni fellows of the University and will work with staff and students to ensure all students have the opportunity to understand how they might succeed at the University and in to employment.
What is expected of the Alumni Fellows?
You will identify the potential fellows and will invite them to participate. EDS will offer a letter template, that you may wish to personalise to ensure success in recruitment. This will include information about mentoring training that we will offer the graduates and an honorarium that the faculty will offer for their participation.
Alumni Fellows will be required to attend central training and agree to undertake a minimum of four engagements with the course team throughout the academic year.  The course team in consultation with the fellow will determine the nature of those engagements. The task for the alumni Fellows is to ensure all students, whatever their background, understand how they might succeed at the University and in to employment. 
Benefits for the Alumni Fellows?
  • Recognition as an alumni fellow (certification for CV)
  • An honorarium on completion of role agreed engagements
  • Mentoring training that they can utilise in their further employment
  • Networking opportunities across the University, employers and with fellow alumni
  • Invitation to celebratory event(s)/ Grad+ awards