With the recent release of the annual Encounter Magazine, it’s a busy time for Flinders University’s Alumni Relations Manager Kim Pryor. We spoke with her about moving from the UK to Australia, and her fondness for Desert Island Discs.

What is your role at Flinders?

I’m Alumni Relations Manager, which is a part of the Alumni & Advancement Team – with  Alumni Partners Bec, Jane and Niki each looking after two Colleges, and Leonard as Content Producer. Our role is to nurture and build ongoing mutually beneficial relationships between the University and its 120,000 alumni in more than 120 countries. Working with colleagues across the University, engagement can be built through one of four pillars:

• Connection: We maintain up-to-date contact details for our graduates and rely on all colleagues across the University to keep us informed about where alumni are now. If you are still in contact with a graduate, send an email to alumni@flinders.edu.au to ensure this connection is shared with the University or encourage them to update their details online. Alumni are then connected into our communications program, which includes the annual Encounter magazine, the monthly alumni eNews and a range of bespoke communications highlighting relevant research and activities.
• Career: Alumni can share their own career journey with students through guest speaking, College mentoring programs or by providing practical student experiences through placements or projects within their own business. We can also support alumni by highlighting further study options, to help them make the right next step for their career.
• Collaboration: We add more alumni-led programs where the University collaborates with graduates to design and deliver activities that will increase engagement among a particular group of alumni. A good example is the recently-established STEM Alumni Steering Group within the College of Science and Engineering. Many Colleges are considering this collaborative approach to inform our alumni engagement strategies and encourage volunteer-led programming.
• Celebration: The Alumni Relations Team coordinates graduate milestone anniversaries, reunions and the Annual Alumni Awards program, which was launched by the University in 1991.

What journey brought you to this role?

Taking a development role at The Prince’s Trust charity in London early in my career made me realise the power of networks and the impact they make through effective relationship building for people and organisations to connect for the greater good. Also, a decision to return to Australia to work for a year after a holiday during my Uni days. Fast forward 19 years and via a fantastic role in stakeholder engagement for a financial accreditation project at ING Australia in Sydney, I was lucky enough to be the first faculty Alumni Relations Manager at the University of Sydney for their Business School. I spent eight years there before moving to Adelaide with my family and joining Flinders University just before its 50th Anniversary.

What role do alumni have at Flinders?

Our alumni embody Flinders values. Graduates are the only ones who can talk first-hand about the complete Flinders University student experience, how it has impacted their professional life and provide feedback to the University through curriculum reviews to ensure our programs remain relevant to industry. They also help make our students made aware of potential employment pathways through testimonials and profiles.

For Flinders, alumni can wear many hats. They are our advocates, government representatives, industry partners, skilled volunteers and often the parents or family members of current or prospective students. Increasingly, they are also donors to a wide range of philanthropic programs at Flinders that support education and research.

What is your favourite Flinders alumni story?

Organising reunions for our Foundation graduates provides stories about the early days of Flinders that underline what a special connection many people have to Flinders. I hosted an alumni symposium Indonesia with colleagues during Flinders’ 50th anniversary in 2016 and witnessed the unique place that Flinders has in the heart of our Indonesian graduates. Much of  the symposium’s collateral didn’t arrive in time from Australia, but within 24 hours, our Flinders alumni network had provided everything we needed!

I love working with the Alumni Awards Selection Committee, a small group of past alumni awardees who review our alumni award nominations each year. In 2020, we launched an Early Career Alumni Award, which has reinvigorated the program and ensured we now represent a wide cross-section of our alumni and celebrate those embarking on their careers as well as those who are more established.

What do you love most about your role?

I’ve met some fascinating graduates who are doing amazing things. Through them, I experience lifelong learning myself and develop a great understanding of the big challenges our society faces. A recent example is Flinders Law graduate Leanne Liddle, who is 2022 NT Australian of the Year and Director of the Aboriginal Justice Unit, NT Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. I’m very excited that Leanne is speaking at the 2022 Elliott Johnston AO QC Oration on Thursday, 1 September.

How do you spend your spare time?

I’ve got two young daughters, Bronte (11) and Isabelle (9), who love their sport, so much of my time is spent taking them to and watching them at sport. Fortunately one of these activities in  summer is nippers, which is a great excuse to hang out at the beach. Having been starved of my regular UK travel in recent years, I’ve also been listening to a lot of UK-based podcasts. I’m slowly turning into my Mum by tuning in weekly to Desert Island Discs through BBC Sounds. I love it! And planning holidays is always important.