Ambassador scheme attracts international acclaim

Imperial College’s International Ambassador scheme has been awarded the Circle of Excellence 2008 silver medal by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Imperial College’s International Ambassador scheme has been awarded the Circle of Excellence 2008 silver medal by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

CASE is an international organisation which supports professionals who work to advance the education sector through alumni relations, fundraising, communications and marketing. Their annual Circle of Excellence Awards recognise outstanding efforts in these areas, and is open to all CASE members worldwide. The awards provide an opportunity to showcase the most innovative, exciting, and effective programmes and projects.

The premise of Imperial’s International Ambassadors scheme was borne from the fact that a number of senior academics and officers at the College often travel overseas in the course of their work, and are frequently welcomed as expert speakers around the world. Through the scheme, when it is possible to match up these existing business travel plans with our international alumni groups, Imperial’s alumni overseas are also able to benefit, enjoying visits from our senior academics to supplement and compliment existing activities and events.

The scheme was launched in October 2006, with Professor David Nethercot, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, undertaking the first event in Hong Kong. The run up to the College’s Centenary year was an ideal platform from which to launch the scheme, and the College’s Ambassadors helped to make huge impact on the alumni who they were able to visit and meet with during 2007, taking a flavour of the College’s 100-year celebrations from Imperial’s campuses and spreading it around the globe. Every continent, with the exception of Antarctica, was visited by one or more Ambassador during the Centenary year.

The initial success of the scheme has continued into 2008, with the College’s Ambassadors continuing to make visits to alumni groups around the world throughout the year. You can read more about some of these events.

The CASE silver medal was presented to Alumni Relations Manager, Emma Jones, at the annual CASE Europe conference, which took place in Brighton in August. Emma also delivered a presentation on the scheme at the conference to development professionals from all over the world.