Alumni Affairs Committee

Dates of Service: 2006-2009

To contact this committee, please write to:
AlumniAffairs@sinfonia.org

Chair:
    Jeffrey D. Hoffman
    Email: AACchair@sinfonia.org

Committeemen:
    Derek J. Danilson (NEC representative)
    Nicholas A. Jones
    Justin R. Lee
    William Mulligan

Alumni Affairs Committee Charge:
(Authored by National President Richard A. Crosby and adopted by the National Executive Committee - December 11, 2006)

Vision for Alumni Affairs:
We envision a Fraternity that fosters ongoing relationships through an environment that invites, supports, and presupposes post-collegiate involvement and interaction on local, regional, and national levels.

Strategic Priorities for Alumni Affairs:

• Integrate consideration of alumni affairs into all relevant aspects of the Fraternity’s consciousness
• Educate our membership on the value and opportunity of the post-collegiate experience
• Develop an infrastructure that supports post-collegiate participation
• Reconnect our alumni to the Fraternity through regular communication
• Better utilize post-collegiate manpower to enable the Fraternity to more completely carry out its mission

The Fraternity’s Strategic Plan for developing an alumni program and infrastructure includes:

• Developing mechanisms for the Fraternity to identify its alumni, maintain current contact information, and ensure that the transition from collegiate to alumnus is seamless, maintaining the lifelong relationship with its members;
• Developing vehicles to keep alumni informed of news, trends, programs, and information relevant to the Fraternity;
• Communicating regularly with and soliciting feedback from alumni to stay current on ways to keep alumni connected and interested in the Fraternity;
• Create and organize opportunities for alumni to remain involved in the Fraternity, recognizing the desire of alumni to continue to have fraternal experiences and utilizing the available manpower and multitude of talents in its membership;
• Communicate the need for alumni to remain invested in the Fraternity – including financially in order for future generations of Sinfonians to have the same experiences as they did during their collegiate years.

The charge of 2006-2009 Alumni Affairs Committee is derived from the above vision, strategic priorities, and plan. Specific goals include:

1. Consolidate and communicate existing elements of the Fraternity’s alumni program to all volunteer leaders, alumni organizations, and chapter alumni officers.
   1. Include a comprehensive listing of resources currently available to assist in alumni relations.
   2. Similar to the communication approach used by the COS, assign volunteer leaders to each member of the AAC to ensure that each volunteer leader is completely informed of the Fraternity’s progress in alumni affairs.


2. Continue to develop PAC visibility and activity around the country, with the goal of having an active and effective PAC in all 37 provinces by the 2009 convention.
   1. Determine some measurable criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of individual PACs and the overall PAC program.


3. Devise an educational campaign to make members more consciously aware of the specific ways in which they are developing as men because of their association with Sinfonia. Having members understand this relationship between the teachings of the Fraternity and their own personal development will accomplish the following:
   1. Alumni will want to remain active in alumni associations to continue growing as members.
   2. Alumni members will be more likely to support the organization to help younger members develop.
   3. Members will be more able to communicate effectively the benefits of membership to prospective members in recruitment, both in chapters and alumni associations.


4. Further develop resources for Alumni Relations Officers.
   1. Revisit and expand/enhance the newsletter layout and content templates in the current guide.
   2. Revisit and expand/enhance the alumni event planning ideas and instructions.
   3. Provide guidelines for Alumni Relations Officers to reach out to chapter alumni, especially former officers and reconnect them with the Fraternity.


5. Solicit ideas and feedback from existing alumni associations to determine what resources, support and direction is needed.
   1. Regularly dialogue with each association on all aspects of the Fraternity’s efforts in alumni relations.
   2. Develop criteria / guidance for the Commission on Standards to evaluate the health and effectiveness of alumni associations.
   3. Network with alumni contacts to encourage the development of additional alumni associations.
   4. Revise the Guide for Alumni Associations to include information to help members communicate the reasons why to start/join an Alumni Association


6. Develop and communicate additional and existing tangible ways for alumni to remain involved in the Fraternity.
   1. Develop an idea bank of possible alumni-friendly activities for collegiate Chapters (facilitating relationships between chapters and alumni).
   2. Research and develop other individual alumni involvement initiatives such as a speaker’s bureau or alumni mentoring program.
   3. Develop ideas for alumni-friendly activities to take place at province, regional, and national events.


7. Develop and/or update resources in support of chapter alumni clubs.