Graduate magazine

branie

Anyone here get their copy today?

curlynettie

i did yeah
so des bishop is news? :p

Celtise

Do all graduates get this? Is it any worth?

bleg

Ya. What a waste of time and effort. It's like Hello! or something for grads.

Celtise

Jeez I agree and I haven't even gotten it.

bleg

Is there really any need for this? The Irish media is always going to publish any major discoveries/achievements made by Irish people, graduates from UCC included.

curlynettie

You might have to join the Graduate Association before you get it?
I disagree, I think it's good to keep in touch, esp when I wasnt living in Ireland it was really nice to get some news, and esp when you're away you dont always keep up with the Irish media.
I guess it depends how long since you've graduated.. the longer it's been the more you appreciate things like this i think!
And they are always asking for YOUR stories so send them in if you think it's crap!

Eliot Rosewater

bleg wrote: »

Is there really any need for this?

The primary goal of the magazine is to try to get donations from graduates I'd say.

JohnMearsheimer

I got mine last week too. I wonder if they get many donations as a result of the magazine. It must cost them a nice bit in printing and postage costs considering how many UCC graduates there are all over the world. I think they put it up in PDF format on the UCC website....you would imagine the PDF version would be enough without going to the trouble of printing a magazine.

Eliot Rosewater

JohnMearsheimer wrote: »

...you would imagine the PDF version would be enough without going to the trouble of printing a magazine.

I suppose the point of the magazine is that it reminds former students of the university, and having gotten their attention explains why the university could do with more funding. It's impossible to remind someone one by means of an online pdf, because they would already have to have been reminded to search for it.

The belief that a company or charity shouldn't spend money promoting itself is a marketing fallacy, I think. For sure, it will cost UCC money to print the magazine but the net cost of the publication (printing minus donations) will probably be negative. As such, it is inappropriate to view the magazine as some kind of costly endeavour.

The same applies to charity. Many people argue that charities shouldn't spend money putting promoters on the street to "sell" direct debits. What is ignored is that the money spent on those promoters is vastly outweighed by the donations received.

That's my two cents anyway.

JohnMearsheimer

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

The point of the magazine is that it reminds former students of the university, and having gotten their attention explains why the university could do with more funding. It's impossible to remind someone one by means of an online pdf, because they would already have to have been reminded to search for it.

The belief that a company or charity shouldn't spend money promoting itself is a marketing fallacy, in my opinion. For sure, it will cost UCC money to print the magazine but the net cost of the publication (printing minus donations) will probably be negative. As such, it is inappropriate to view the magazine as some kind of costly endeavour.

The same applies to charity. Many people argue that charities shouldn't spend money putting promoters on the street to "sell" direct debits. What is ignored is that the money spent on those promoters is vastly outweighed by the donations received.

That's my two cents anyway.

I know why they do it but I feel it might be a bit of a wasted exercise on younger graduates. I graduated in 2007 and don't feel like I need to be reminded about the university. I flicked through the magazine in about 10 minutes and put it down not feeling any more connected to UCC. UCC has my email address and I'd be more than happy for them to email me a link to the PDF. It might not be as personal as a physical copy of the magazine but it would not have any bearing on whether or not I would donate to the university. That's just me but I realise emailing links would not be ideal for everyone and it would probaby be a bit of a nightmare for UCC to gather email addresses of former students.

Also, a lot of graduates my age are still only starting out in careers and are not earning big money. By the time I pay my bills every month I don't have much left over. A lot of friends from college would be in a similar position. UCC is competing for my disposable income with other organisations that I would feel are more worthy. I know this may make it seem like I do not value education but there are other causes that would be more immediate to me. UCC would come way down the list of organisations I feel I would have to contribute to. The government gave them €16,000 on my behalf and I gave them another €4,000. They were paid for services provided and my business with them has been concluded. Now I'm working and paying taxes to help fund the running of the country, tuition fees for students included. It is a shame that funding for third level institutions has been cut but I don't feel that me throwing UCC €20 is going to solve the deeper third level funding problem.