On June 4, 2018, more than 4,000 MMA alumni received an email from the Advancement Office linking to a survey about their undergraduate experience, life post-graduation and financial support of the college.

After 10 days, the survey closed with 936 responses — a 22.8% response rate.

The goal of the survey was to gain a better understanding of the undergraduate experiences of our alumni, their connection to MMA, and how their experiences affect their level of interest in financial support of the college.

We greatly appreciate the comments, some of which gave us a lot of food for thought and have prompted us to review our methodology and programs.

While some suggestions are beyond our control (we would love to make tuition free, but we are fiscally unable), many of you gave specific, constructive suggestions that we plan to implement. We want you to know: we hear you. Below are some highlights of the survey:

You Are Proud Mariners

More than 92% of you said you are satisfied, or very satisfied, with your undergraduate experience at MMA.

Over 80% of you noted that MMA had a positive and significant impact on your career, while another 14.77% of you said MMA had a positive, but not significant, impact on your career.

You Want to Connect

You would love to have more events for alumni (in addition to Homecoming and golf outings) and to form more chapters.

You desire creative forms of communication, including video clips of day-to-day life and events at MMA, interviews with students and staff and an increased presence on social media.

You want opportunities to give of your time and expertise, such as helping to coordinate co-ops for students, and mentoring and assisting Admissions in recruiting the next generation of Mariners.

You Are Philanthropically Resolute

You enjoy fundraising challenges and competing against the other maritime colleges—and winning! You suggested that we add challenges between alumni chapters and between classes.

Many of you wish to personalize your giving: sponsor a student, pay for books or uniforms for a financially struggling student, purchase a piece of lab equipment, chip in toward a waterfront need and more.

You believe that classmate-to-classmate communication about giving back is the best form of inspiration.

You desire more transparency in exactly where your donations to the Annual Fund go.

If you didn’t fill out the survey and want to give feedback, please contact the Advancement Office at 207-326-2223. For full survey results, visit mainemaritime.edu/mariners-forever.