[nagdu] the purpose of grad councils/alumni associations

[Raven Tolliver]

Yep, starting another topic because my other one was already a novel,
and well, this is a different matter that needs some discussing.

What is the purpose of graduate councils, alumni associations, or
whatever your guide dog school calls it?

>From my experience, it seems these group of graduates serve as
advisers who communicate school logistics, policies, standards, and
recommendations to the students. I've never served on GEB's grad
council, and don't intend to. But what I would like to know is if
these grads' duties includes communicating the needs and wants of
grads to the school?
I mean, yes, schools conduct exit interviews and ask what could we do
better or change. But let's step beyond the exit interview. Are these
grad councils an avenue for making our voices heard by the schools we
attend? And also, how much impact do they have in changing procedures
in policies? Because if they have little impact, then where do we
start? Who do we talk to about the devaluing practice of not granting
immediate ownership? Who do we communicate with to make change to
other policies that are established in the schools?
?

Donors and puppy-raisers should have a say in some policies, but
graduates should have a large influence as well. We are donors and
puppy-raisers, too. And even if some of us are not, we should have
input in what we expect out of programs and the products/services they
provide. The sighted donors and puppy-raisers are not consumers, so
their voices should not trump ours. How do we make our voices equally
heard, or louder than the rest?
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs