The Functional Roles, Practical Challenges, and Implementation Strategies of Alumni-Engaged Education in Universities from the Perspective of Collaborative Education

Improving the collaborative education system and tapping into the inherent value of alumni-engaged education constitute critical approaches for universities in the new era to establish a three-dimensional education system featuring “all staff, whole process, all dimensions and all fields”, as well as to boost the quality and efficiency of talent cultivation. Based on the theoretical framework of collaborative education, alumni serve as a core link connecting university talent cultivation with the development of various sectors, boasting irreplaceable educational strengths. Integrating diverse educational functions including value shaping, competence cultivation, cultural inheritance, and resource empowerment, alumni act as vital external resources for universities to fulfill the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. At present, the collaborative construction of alumni-engaged education in universities still faces numerous practical obstacles, with prominent problems such as misaligned perceptions and concepts, ambiguous rights and responsibilities mechanisms, mismatched supply and demand of educational content, and rigid and single linkage channels, which hinder the full realization of the effectiveness of alumni-engaged education. In response to such circumstances, universities should adopt systematic thinking to integrate internal and external educational resources, refine the institutional system for alumni collaborative education, leverage digital technologies to drive innovations in educational models, and optimize the ecological environment for alumni-engaged education. It is essential to build a sound educational ecosystem where alumni give back to education, education empowers alumni, and universities, local communities and alumni achieve symbiotic development, thereby consolidating the educational foundation for universities to deliver on the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and to cultivate high-caliber talents for the times.