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The Alumni Council of the Lafayette Alumni Association was called to order at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 14, 2010 at Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, 101 Park Avenue, NYC.
ROLL CALL:
Alumni Council members in attendance: Paul McCurdy ’82 (President), Pamela Gaary Holran ’88 (Vice President, Programs, President-elect), Barry Bregman ’77, Sherri Jones (Secretary), Alex Karapetian ’04, Amanda Niederauer ’08, Dave Reif ’68 (Vice President, Outreach), Dave Schwager ’84.
Alumni Council members unable to attend: Ed Auble ’61, Simone Chaddan ’04, Greg Crawford ’68, Jon Ellis ’98, Bill Kirby ’59, Carolyn Romney ’08, Lauren Steinitz ’08, Bill Tucker ’81, Meredith Walburg ’03, Ellen Weiler ’83, Michael Weisburger ’82.
Staff members and guests in attendance: Mary Pat Staats, Briana Strachan ’11, Jordana Kauffman ’11, Chris Conn Tomik ’03, Sarah Trimmer.
I. WELCOME
President Paul McCurdy welcomed the Council members, staff and visiting student externs to the January 2010 meeting of the Lafayette Alumni Council. Mr. McCurdy opened the meeting with a discussion on the format of the meeting and how the meeting should help lay the foundation for a process which would maximize how the Council achieves its goals and objectives. More specifically, how can the Alumni Council support the goals and objectives of the various committees and create partnerships moving forward?
The January meeting is an opportunity to gather ideas for these collaborations and leave with a clear set of goals and objectives. Mr. McCurdy mentioned that he, along with Ms. Holran have a clear understanding from the Trustee meetings as to what is going on on campus and have an opportunity to meet with President Weiss and members of his cabinet (including Jim Dicker ’85, Wendy Hill, and Bob Massa) on February 20 to discuss how groups can continue to work together. This meeting will provide greater opportunity to work with Mr. Massa, VP of Communications, as his department develops Lafayette’s messaging in communications. The Alumni Office and Alumni Council will host another round of calls with Council and chapter leadership following the February meeting and before the April Alumni Council meeting, to plan the 2010-2011 calendar for the Council. This calendar will remain flexible to respond to new developments and will provide a framework for the next fiscal year. Mr. McCurdy indicated that he envisioned the meeting as a forum for Council members to have frank discussions on goals and objectives, challenging each other on programs, synergies and discussing budget constraints. By April, the Council will talk about this calendar and how the ideas/programs will be executed and by the beginning of the academic year the Council will be ready to go with continuing and new initiatives.
Mr. McCurdy expects the upcoming Trustee meeting will address admissions issues and plans for the College making inroads in new markets while staying strong in current markets. The current applicant pool is strong academically and the number of applications is up compared to same time last year. The business of getting applicants is difficult in the current economy and the financial aid program is becoming more important. Mr. McCurdy believes Mr. Massa sees the Lafayette alumni base as a real resource and is interested to see how the Alumni Association can further support admissions.
II. UPDATE FROM DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS
Sherri Jones, Director of Alumni Affairs opened with a discussion on the Skidmore College program: Your Voice, Our Future and how a similar program may be beneficial for Lafayette. The town hall-style meetings provided an opportunity for the President, faculty, alumni and students, parents and prospective students to talk about the College, its future and the benefits of a liberal arts education. In addition to learning more about this program, members of the Alumni Affairs teams will continue a “best practices” tour of colleges. Mr. McCurdy added that the Skidmore program is similar to programs run by several colleges/universities.
III. COMMITTEE UPDATES
Young Alumni:
Mr. Karapetian and Ms. Niederauer discussed the Wine 3/9 program (3/9 being the date when Lafayette was incorporated), set for March 9, 2011. The program would be a coast-to-coast (and potentially international) wine event including a toast to Lafayette. The chairs envision this as an annual chapter program and discussed the possibility of each chapter raising money for a charity of its choice in conjunction with the event. There was discussion of strategies to get all the chapters involved and Ms. Niederauer indicated that the Young Alumni committee would provide the chapters with a business plan to move forward. The Young Alumni committee will work closely with the Chapters committee on this program.
It was also decided that there should be an undergraduate component to the program with a toast taking place on campus as well. The continuing conversation on this program will involve the Young Alumni, Undergraduate Relations and Chapters committees and appropriate staff.
Mary Pat Staats, Senior Associate Director of Alumni Affairs and staff liaison to the Chapters committee shared that she had already received positive feedback from some of the chapters for the Wine 3/9 event and would discuss with others as planning unfolds. Ms. Staats believes this program should be presented to the chapters through, or in collaboration with, the Chapters committee and appropriate staff. Ms. Niederauer indicated that she would share the letter to the chapters with Alumni Affairs staff as well as the business plan once developed.
Ms. Holran mentioned Notre Dame’s chapter program and how their chapter goals mirrored those of the University. Ms. Holran wondered if it might be possible to package committee ideas like Wine 3/9 and share them with leadership through the recently launched Alumni Chapter Volunteers website. This would allow ideas to filter down from the Council and the committees to the chapters, including the general goals and objectives of the Alumni Council. Ms. Staats was supportive of this idea but cautioned that not all chapter volunteers are registered users of the website and it is still growing an audience. Mr. Reif added that the upcoming chapter calls could highlight programs and the website as well.
Mr. McCurdy noted that Wine 3/9 should have an on-campus component as well, allowing for networking and perhaps a Career Services component. Ms. Staats added that the Lehigh Valley chapter is involved with events on campus and would certainly participate.
Ms. Niederauer closed with mention of a spring event with the NYC chapter and a note on the necessity of new members of the committee. Ms. Staats suggested that they contact chapters with strong young alumni involvement to find new members.
Special Events:
Mr. Schwager shared the goals and objectives of the new committee, including increasing young alumni participation, messaging, creating meaningful experiences, greater outreach and support, an enhanced volunteer experience, and looking into new program funding opportunities.
Mr. McCurdy mentioned the Homecoming survey results included in the docket and wondered how the results would be used to change programming to meet the needs of the alumni? Specifically, it appears that from this admittedly small sample, alumni are returning to campus not for faculty events or community service opportunities but for affinity group events and tailgates. How can programming be developed to provide alumni with these opportunities? Perhaps the Alumni Association can be the catalyst to give groups designated space on campus for tailgating. Mr. McCurdy will take this issue to a meeting with senior staff on February 20 to help the administration understand the types of programming alumni are seeking.
Ms. Niederauer added that Greeks are criticized for their missteps and that the College should better support Greek life and the social living groups.
Mr. McCurdy shared that the newly-formed Committee on Greek Life, of which he is a member, has met twice and is beginning its planning stage and discussing the contributions of fraternities and sororities on campus. Ms. Strachan ’11 Ms. Kauffman ’11 shared that neither are affiliated with a sorority but that there have been town hall meetings on Greek Life and publications that highlight the positives of the fraternities and sororities available on campus. Mr. McCurdy would like to invite Barbara Levy or Jim Krivoski to the August meeting to discuss Greek Life and the GLWG role.
In reference to Homecoming, Ms. Strachan added that a new student committee is being formed on campus to start new traditions, possibly including a parade, dance or concert to appeal to the changing Lafayette campus. This committee could provide a great opportunity to partner with the Alumni Association. The committee will make its first proposal to Student Government in early February. Ms. Holran echoed Ms. Strachan’s comment on traditions, mentioning the past traditions of post-Homecoming cocktail parties in the fraternities and how this might manifest itself at Lafayette today for both alumni and students. Mr. Bregman added that Bucknell and Lehigh have been very successful at continuing traditions at Homecoming with fraternities even after they have left campus.
Career Services:
Mr. Bregman reported that 324 students applied for January externships this year, with 302 successfully matched. Mr. McCurdy added that he has continued to promote this opportunity with alumni, including a recently-sent letter to alumni seeking opportunities for students. Mr. McCurdy stressed that he wants to do a spectacular job finding externships for students as it may support Lafayette admissions. Mr. Bregman is pleased with the response from the letter and suggested putting together a list of alumni to call and inquire about opportunities in addition to continuing the messaging with targeted chapters and events in collaboration with Career Services.
Mr. Bregman noted that the recent Philadelphia Networking Event had higher attendance than in past years. He added that Career Services is looking at a Washington, D.C. event for the spring and suggested that the College look into hosting events in other key cities.
Additionally, surveying of the Class of 2009 has been extended as people continue to explore job and graduate school opportunities. Mr. Bregman reported that Career Services has experienced a recent increase in students securing interviews and jobs. Career Services is looking for alumni to talk with ’09 graduates and provide some coaching and mentoring as these recent graduates continue to seek opportunities.
Undergraduate Relations:
Mr. Reif, on behalf of Ms. Romney and Ms. Steinitz, suggested that there may be opportunities to tie the Undergraduates Relations Committee in with chapters, perhaps providing greater networking opportunities. Ms. Staats shared that parents receive invitations to all chapter events, providing an opportunity for families (and students when at home) to participate in local chapter programs.
Ms. Tomik suggested that a campus student chapter may provide an opportunity to cultivate student leaders and prepare them to participate in chapters following graduation. Ms. Niederauer suggested a “welcome back to campus” event might be sponsored by this new student chapter or the Undergraduate Relations Committee to raise awareness of the Council.
Mr. Reif mentioned that the Undergraduate Relations Committee is also experiencing an aging problem with members. He invited attending students, Ms. Strachan and Ms. Kauffman, to a meeting to discuss future programming opportunities.
The committee recently launched a blog. They plan to ask bloggers to write about the upcoming Sophomore Surge program. Mr. Reif will share the location of the blog with the Committee.
Chapters:
Ms. Staats provided the update in Mr. Tucker and Mr. Ellis’ absence, sharing that one of the goals for 2009-2010 was to strengthen the committee with the addition of new members. The committee is pleased to announce the additions of Ms. Christina Griffin ’99 and Ms. Meegan McVeigh ’95, both in the Washington, D.C. chapter and Mr. David Rose ’88 from the NYC chapter.
The Chapters committee continues to work with members on the Mentoring Program, specifically working with the emerging chapters. Five additional chapters have been added to the program bringing the total number of participating chapters to twenty. The Committee will coordinate with the Alumni Council on the upcoming call with chapter leadership and will help facilitate the calls between the mentors and the mentees.
The committee also continues to support Career Services’ efforts, promoting internship and externship hosting opportunities to alumni at chapter events.
Ms. Staats shared that there have been some concern with chapter leadership transitions and hopes that the Chapters Volunteer website will help with this process. She mentioned the Notre Dame chapter program model and how specialists are designated in each chapter. This model offers a recognition of and motivation for volunteers. She raised the question of how Lafayette may do a better job at recognizing long-term leaders. Mr. McCurdy agreed that there should be better recognition and appreciation of long-term chapter leadership and suggested that the Alumni Council President, Director of Alumni Affairs and the President of the College send these volunteers a letter as they transition out of leadership positions. Mr. McCurdy reminded the group of the words of Mr. Ed Auble, “We do this for fun and for thank you.” He suggested that we remember the “thank yous” and perhaps have the Alumni Council President send chapter leadership “Welcome” and “Goodbye” letters as they begin and end their terms.
AAR:
Ms. Staats shared that the AARs would like to get young alumni more involved, particularly with the “I am Lafayette” initiative. The committee is working with Ms. Ann Marie Ferriere in the Admissions Office to get Lafayette first year students to return to their high schools and meet with guidance counselors to promote Lafayette.
The AARs also have a new volunteer training center online and have had success anchoring the representatives to the website since it is the only source of information for the volunteers. All AAR reports are now being submitted online using this website.
IV. CLOSING REMARKS
Mr. McCurdy closed with a request for any thoughts or comments the Council would like passed along to President Weiss at the February 20th meeting. He also asked the group to remember and plan to participate in the upcoming calls with chapter and Alumni Council leadership.
Ms. Jones shared that Professor Diane Ahl has been selected to receive the Daniel Golden ’34 Faculty Service Award and received overwhelming positive feedback from the Council as they voted yes. Additionally, Ms. Jones asked how the new AC Communiqué is working for the Council and received positive input and a request for continued reminders to visit and share on the website.
V. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
Mr. McCurdy made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 6, 2009 meeting, seconded by Mr. Reif and approved by all.
VI. UPCOMING MEETINGS
VII. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.