March 1999

Brothers,

I send you greetings from the Alumni Affairs Committee. Our meeting, this past weekend, was quite a busy one. I am including a summary of the weekend's activities and the work that was accomplished. If you have any questions, please contact me at your convenience.

The Brothers in attendance from the committee were: Mark Crewson, Chair; Robert Krause, PG; Michael Palmer, CPR; Kevin McNerney, At-large; and Scott Sanders, At-large. Guests in attendance were: Donald Cramer, Thomas Crewson, Justin Davis, Jamie Morris, and Andrew Zerance.

Filling the Open Slot on the Committee

We began the meeting on Friday night by selecting our nominees for the open slot on the committee. Five alumni and four collegiates applied for the position. It was a tough decision to make because of the high caliber of the applicants, but we finally decided on the following three nominees (in descending order): (1) Donald Cramer, Alpha Zeta '89 alumnus; (2) Richard Sigler, Iota Epsilon '93 alumnus; (3) Justin Davis, Kappa Psi '94 collegiate. These names will be sent to President Blair who will then choose the final candidate whose name will be sent to the National Executive Committee for ratification.

We spent the rest of that evening's meeting exchanging and critiquing each others' reports. After this task, we adjourned until the next morning.

Collegiate Chapters Interaction with Alumni

On Saturday morning, we delved into the reports themselves. Michael Palmer began by presenting his report on Involving Alumni in the Collegiate Chapter. The committee decided that an Alumni Secretary Manual should be created which would combine the Alumni Blueprint document and the Alumni Secretary section of the Leadership Manual as well as include new material, such as internet research techniques and Michael's recommendation that chapters dedicate one meeting a month or semester to alumni.

Alumni Associations

Next, Kevin McNerney presented his report on Alumni Associations. After reviewing the current procedures for recognizing an alumni association, the committee agreed that the only change needed was to formalize the recognition letter sent to petitioning groups. We decided against recommending a formal charter document since its cost would raise the $100 chartering fee by over 100 percent.

Regarding requirements for continued recognition of alumni associations, the committee consulted the constitution to find that the only requirement is that an association have, at least, four dues-paying members. The amount of dues is mandated by the constitution to be whatever the NEC sets for annual alumni dues, which is currently $25. Additionally, the constitution requires that, "Each alumni association shall report no later than June 1 of each year to the national headquarters concerning its activities, membership, and financial condition." Therefore, the committee agreed that alumni associations should come into compliance with the national constitution. In order to make this process possible, Kevin McNerney modified the current collegiate chapter roster / operations report for use with alumni associations. The committee approved the forms and, starting this year, the forms will be mailed out to chartered alumni associations on May 1 so that they may return them to the national headquarters by the June 1 constitutional deadline. Additionally, the committee voted to send a proposal to the NEC which would allow for yearly membership cards to be issued to alumni association members. Kevin will draw up the design which will be sent to the Alumni Affairs Committee for approval before being sent to the NEC.

Services to Alumni from Headquarters and National Creation of Alumni Associations

After lunch, the committee approved Scott Sanders' National Expansion Program for Alumni Associations with changes in funding and administration. The report will now be sent to the NEC. The committee also voted to petition the NEC for the ability to advise Alumni Association Interest Groups. The committee discussed the idea of an Expansion committee for the national fraternity and agreed to seek consultation before taking any action on the idea.

Province Alumni Coordinators

Mark Crewson's Regional Alumni Coordinator idea was extensively discussed until it was decided that the position be changed into the Province Alumni Coordinator. The position would be appointed by province governors and would be part of the same structure as other miscellaneous province officers which come under most province's Province Council By-laws. This province officer would be responsible for recruiting Brothers to start and maintain alumni associations as well as serving as a mentor to the province's Alumni Secretaries. A select group of PGs will be asked to try the position as a pilot program after which the successes and failures of the position can be evaluated.

Alumni Mentors (Alumni Big Brothers)

Robert Krause's Alumni Mentoring proposal was approved to be sent onto the NEC. If approved, the program will encourage collegiate chapters to take the opportunity to match collegiate members with local alumni mentors.

National Alumni Events

For Mark Salzman's Alumni Events proposal, the committee discussed different types of programming which could entice alumni to attend more regional and national events. It was decided to ask members of the Alumni list serve about their programming preferences for this summer's Conclave.

Team Chapter Alumni Advising

Donald Cramer presented Robert Bray's Alumni Advisor proposal with changes. After conducting internal and external organizational interviews, he suggested that the fraternity investigate a forward-thinking concept known in the fraternal world as team advising. The committee liked the idea and asked Donald and Robert Krause to discuss it with the Faculty Advisor committee.

After dealing with the Advisor proposal, the committee closed the meeting and went to dinner. We relaxed after a long, hard day of work and enjoyed ourselves. The next afternoon, we went our separate ways. That is a lengthy summary of our committee's meeting. I hope it gives you a good idea of what we were able to accomplish. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Thank you for showing interest in alumni issues.

Most sincerely,

Mark Crewson (H-O '89 / AX '93)
Chairman, Alumni Affairs Committee