Alumni Association

Chapter Guidelines for the Antioch Alumni Association and its Chapters to Support the Renewal and Transformation of Antioch College

Antioch College is embarked on a major transformation and renewal — a process that will benefit greatly from the active involvement and support of hundreds, even thousands, of dedicated Antioch Alumni. Experience has shown that the best way to create and sustain this support is through organizing many active local Alumni Chapters. Creative programming in various venues using alumni connections, special talents and professional expertise can create an enriching community that connects alumni with each other, keeps them in touch with the life of the College, and motivates them to support the needs of the College.

These Guidelines were drafted by the Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Relations, in consultation with other offices of the College. They set out the purposes, aims and goals of the Alumni Association in light of the plan for transformation and renewal and they establish procedures and strategies that will help Chapters to get organized and work effectively with the College. While each Chapter will have its own character and interests, it is important that all Chapters also have a shared sense of purpose with the College and the Association, and clear guidance on how to have a mutually supportive relationship with the College, especially the Office of Alumni Relations.

The Antioch College Alumni Association

The Antioch College Alumni Association is made up of the more than 13,000 alumni throughout the nation and overseas. Alumni are defined as anyone who attended the College for one year or more.

The general purposes of the Association are:

1. To encourage communication and constructive activity among the alumni of Antioch College;

2. To maintain and promote the loyalty of Antioch alumni to the College;

3. To assist and to promote the interests of Antioch College and Antioch University.

In order to further the purposes of this organization, the specific goals of the Association are:

1. To maintain communication between the Association and the College.

2. To coordinate and conduct the Annual Alumni Reunion.

3. To support the efforts of the College in fund raising, student recruitment, and co-

op communities.

4. To assist in the development of Alumni Chapters.

5. To assist Alumni with career advancement, support and assistance.

Antioch Alumni Chapters.

The Office of Alumni Relations and members of the Alumni Board have received inquiries from many alums who are eager to organize Chapters either in their local areas or around common interests. Chapters have or are in the process of being organized in a number of areas throughout the U.S. Several members of the Alumni Board are developing a group of alumni of color.

Our experience with these efforts to date has established a need for clear guidelines on how information on alums is exchanged and managed, and how Chapter events attended by College representatives should be organized. These Guidelines are set out in sections I and III below.

Experience has also generated ideas on how to organize a Chapter for long-term sustainability, the kinds of events and programs that encourage interest and participation, and how to arrange structured opportunities for alums who want to volunteer their time and experience in support of the College. Section II describes the kinds of purposes and activities that we believe will create vigorous chapters that will be both appealing to alums and supportive of the College. Section IV provides some collected wisdom on how to keep a Chapter thriving over time

I. Guidelines for Exchanging Information Between the College and Chapters and Managing Alumni Databases.

The first step in organizing a chapter is to obtain a list of alums who may be interested in participating and contact them. The Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA) will provide the Chapter Coordinator a list of local alumni with their contact information.

Before providing this sensitive information, OIA will ask Chapter Coordinators to agree to honor alumni confidentiality, and not use alumni information for any personal, political or commercial purposes.

Once the Chapter list is generated it can be maintained locally, but all updates or additions need to be sent to the Advancement Office to maintain consistent database information.

In order to improve overall communication with alums, we also ask that Chapter Coordinators agree to:

have the names and contact information of the chapter leadership made public on the Antioch website;
report names, contact information and job description of leadership including committee volunteers to the Alumni Office;
communicate with the Alumni Office regarding the chapter’s activities
develop a communications strategy that makes good use of Internet and Web resources, and ensures that those without easy access to a computer are also kept well informed.

II. Suggested Organizing Principles and Possible Activities for Chapters.

[are these more than suggestions – more like things we would like Chapters to consider and take on in the interests of creating chapters that will support alum involvement and College needs?

A. The general purposes of Alumni Chapters and Communities include the following:

1. To bring alumni together for social activities, education, or community service activities.

2. Provide alumni with career advancement, support and assistance.

3. Keep alumni in touch with the College and up-to-date on its activities.

4. Provide meaningful and structured volunteer opportunities to support the College's co-op communities, student recruitment and fund raising efforts.

B. In order to further these purposes, it is suggested that the Chapters and Communities include the following:

1. To create an organizational and communication structure that makes effective use of the Internet and supports easy communication within the group and with the College.

2. To create educational and social events for alumni and friends of Antioch that will strengthen their bonds with the College, provide up-to-date information on campus developments and fund raising efforts, and allow them to network with one another.

3. To make alums aware of specific opportunities for supporting the College, and of the systems the College has set up to facilitate and record their efforts.

4. In areas where there are Co-op Communities, to provide appropriate support to Co-op Site Coordinators

5. To provide opportunities to increase contact with the alumni/development staff and alumni with the goal of increasing internal knowledge of our alumni constituency, identifying potential alumni leaders, and identifying future chapter leaders and volunteers.

C. Activities of Regional Chapters.

We ask that each regional chapter undertake at least the following activities:

Organize an annual local planning meeting with other area volunteers to brainstorm event ideas for the upcoming year and create a tentative schedule of events.
Take responsibility for planning and organizing at least one alumni event annually.
Engage volunteers in other activities to support the college, including student recruitment and co-op assistance
Establish a web- or internet-based communications system for the Chapter

Stay up-to-date on College news and activities, and keep the Alumni Office up to date on alumni contact information, e-mail and upcoming regional events and activities. [link to “reporting information to the Alumni Office]

D. Organizing Chapter Events

Here is a checklist of elements in planning and holding successful chapter events:

Engage a diverse group of alumni of various generations to help plan a menu of events that will appeal to the different interests of alumni in the region.
Contact other Regional Chapters for tips on successful events
Arrangements for event details for web posting ideally one month or more in advance
Determine who among your area alumni has free access to a unique event space and could add some special programmatic dimension to an event
Be creative with your invitation so that it stands out
Consider sending your invitation by snail mail and electronically. Follow-up phone calls by volunteers are extremely helpful in boosting attendance
Be sure the invitation has both a phone number and e-mail for RSVPs and questions.
Have a sign-in sheet at every event that asks for contact information including e-mail, as well as for volunteer interest areas.
Report list of attendees to Office of Alumni Relations
Follow-up with attendees within a couple of weeks by e-mail or letter after the event to keep them informed and engaged. Remind them to check the web site for upcoming events.
Create Structured Opportunities for Alums to Volunteer Their Time and Skills in Support of the College.

Here are a Few Ideas for Possible Types of Events –

A reception at a hotel or restaurant, a cocktail party or pot luck dinner at the home of an alum, a picnic at a local park.
A wine tasting event at a local winery, or beer tasting at a microbrewery or pub.
A tailgate party and group seats to a sporting event.
A musical, theatrical, media or gallery event featuring Antioch Alumni artists.
A monthly breakfast, lunch or after work gathering at a restaurant or bar with a central location. Events can be held on a specified day each month with an open invitation to attend.
Team participation in a community service project (habitat for humanity, street-clean-up etc.) .
An "insiders" behind the scenes tour or preview of a museum, gallery exhibit, business operation or other local attraction using alumni or their connections
An alumni book club.
A talk by a current or emeritus faculty/staff member.
A talk by noted alum.
A send off party for new/accepted students and their families.
A dinner or reception for students in the area on co-op.

III. Guidelines for Events Involving College Reps:

The College has a set annual budget for events involving College representatives. Chapters may request through the Office of Alumni Relations the attendance of a College representative. Such requests should be made at least 90 days in advance of the event.

When an administrator, faculty member, staff or trustee is on the program of a chapter event, the following activities should be coordinated with and agreed upon with the Office of Alumni Relations:

Coordinating the date through the President's Office if the President is to be involved.
Agreement on topic, guest speaker(s), agenda, site and arrangements
Staffing and Facilitation of the program
Pricing (if applicable) and budget of event
Design of invitation
Printing of invitation
Production of labels
The mailing
Handling reservations and RSVPs

IV. Suggestions for Creating Vital and Sustainable Chapters.

Chapters will be created, function effectively, and be sustained only with the active leadership of interested volunteers. The leadership structure for chapters will vary, depending on the needs, interests, and priorities of the group.

Experience suggests that chapter vitality and viability are enhanced by having several alums share leadership, with one or two serving as overall Coordinators and others taking on specific functions and activities, including event planning, student recruitment, co-op assistance, maintaining an active and accurate membership database, and career networking.
To insure long-term viability, it is important that leadership roles be rotated every year or to, that new alumni be periodically brought into leadership roles, and that succession planning be done with adequate lad time for the main leadership roles.

Identify future leadership to ensure chapter continuity.

V. The Student Referral System.

The Antioch College Office of Admissions, in conjunction with the Office of Alumni Relations is requesting alumni assistance in the student recruitment process. In the first phase of this plan, we are asking alumni to assist through student referrals. Student referrals are key to ensuring Antioch College is able to recruit a diverse student body that is well qualified and a fit for the Antioch College culture. An effective referral effort requires close communication between the referring alum and the Admissions Office.

The following steps outline how the student referral system works, and how alumni can take an active part in this vital effort.

The Alum identifies a student currently in his or her sophomore or junior year of high school who might have an interest in Antioch College.
The Alum fills out and mails in a referral card, or goes to the Antioch College website to www.antioch-college.edu and fills out the electronic referral form located under the Admissions web page. The Alum includes their personal contact information on the referral form for future follow up, including e-mail address and preferred phone number.
The Office of Admissions contacts the student through a series of letters, brochures, phone calls and e-mails to encourage the student to apply. Acknowledge the alum either via letter or electronically depending on how referral was received.
Upon the receipt of the letter the Alum calls the prospective student to verbally encourage them to apply and to find out if they have any questions about the application process. The application website contains an area for prospective students or alumni to submit questions via e-mail, which are answered by admissions staff within 24 hours, often sooner.
Once the Office of Admissions receives a completed application form from the referred student, the referring Alum will be notified.
The Alum calls the prospective student again to thank the student for applying to Antioch College and to encourage the student to attend if accepted.
Once the Office of Admissions has reached a decision on the prospective student, the Alum will again be notified.
If the applicant has been accepted. the Alum calls the prospective student to encourage him or her to choose Antioch College and to join the Antioch family!

VI. Co-op Assistance

Three communities have been designated as the first official Co-op Communities, where Second Year students will be concentrated for their first Co-op jobs, starting in the fall of 2006. These three communities are: Washington, D.C., Southwestern Ohio, and Northern New Mexico. In future years, other regions will be designated as Co-op Communities.

In these Co-op Communities organizing strong local Alumni Chapters, with a major focus on assisting Co-op students to find jobs and housing and get settled and feel welcomed is a top priority. Additional activities may include hosting social events for Co-ops, or opportunities for them to learn about their community.

In the meantime, every Chapter is urged to contact existing Co-op students in their communities and help them integrate into the community.

VII. Other Volunteer Opportunities

Reunion Volunteer Opportunities

Work Project - Participate in campus improvements just prior to Reunion or at other times the College has a need for assistance.
Anniversary Class Rep – Coordinate activities and communication throughout the year to build attendance at Reunion and to raise funds for the class gift.

Alumni Association Board Member

Nominate or self-nominate candidates to serve on the Alumni Association Board. Members can serve up to two three-year terms. Meetings are three times a year in Yellow Springs.