President's Plan for Alumni Relations at Rutgers

December 6, 2007

Dear Rutgers Alumni:

Today I presented, and the Rutgers Board of Governors accepted, my plan to establish a strong new partnership between the university and its alumni. The result of consultation and recommendations by a 27-member Alumni Task Force and discussion with the alumni community this fall, the plan will provide greater opportunities for Rutgers’ 360,000 living alumni to engage in the life of the university.

We are establishing a single new Rutgers University Alumni Association (RUAA) to which every Rutgers graduate will automatically belong without the requirement of membership dues. The RUAA will be the recognized university alumni organization and its board of directors will work closely with the university in increasing alumni engagement, support, and involvement. As we create this new organization, we will also restructure the Department of Alumni Relations to serve the core functions of alumni support and programming. My administration has committed to ensuring sufficient funding to support a vibrant alumni program and to provide Rutgers Magazine to every alumnus and alumna. We will also elevate alumni relations within the university by promoting Donna Thornton to vice president for alumni relations, serving as a member of my cabinet, and by establishing a joint committee of our governing boards on alumni relations.

The university will put these and other changes in my plan into effect with the help of an Implementation Team that I appointed today. Robert Stevenson ENG’65, a member of the Alumni Task Force, has agreed to chair this important team. The new RUAA board and an operating structure for the organization should be in place no later than March 31, 2008.

The foundation of this new direction for alumni relations is a partnership between Rutgers and its alumni, with shared management and shared priority setting. This is essential not only for a successful alumni program but also for Rutgers to reach its place among the top tier of Americas research universities. It is in such partnerships that universities flourish and alumni thrive.

You can read my plan at http://alumni.rutgers.edu/transform. While its details deal with structure and programs, the heart of the plan is an invitation to alumni to come home. Rutgers wants you to be a vital part of its future, just as it has been an important part of your past. Whether you have been a graduate for months, years, or decades, we want to bring you back to the university—if not in body then at least in spirit. We welcome and respect you, we value your achievements, and we want you to be as proud of Rutgers as the university is proud of you.

You have my best wishes and my thanks for your interest in your alma mater.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey