UVU Alumni

This morning I was up and out the door at 6:45 a.m. to prepare for the UVSC Alumni board meeting.  Though I arrived at work at 7:00, Linda Wickham, my faithful and wonderful administrative assistant, was here even earlier.   The board room was ready, the minutes and handouts were in place and the breakfast sandwiches were hot.  My only worry was that no one would show up.  I have this worry every time I put on an event.  It’s a holdover from Tupperware/Mary Kay/whatever home parties where even though I followed all the guidelines for a successful party, few people came.  My worries were needless.  By 7:35, the board table was full with almost all of the board members in attendance.  We had a terrific meeting with all kinds of information shared.

The first important order of business was the election of a new President Elect.  Scott Jenkins is our choice.  He is new to the board, having joined us in July of this year. He’s the executive vice president over manufacturing and planning for Idea Sphere, which owns Twin Lab.  He has had children attend UVSC and has been involved with the college through the years in a number of areas. I’m excited to work with him.  He’ll take over as President officially in April 2008, when Tom Powell will move to the position of Past President.

After Scott’s election, Michelle Lundell made the presentation I mentioned yesterday.  She showed the group some of the marketing materials used in their recruitment efforts.  She told us about the high school recruitment days when all of the colleges and universities in the state visit a high school on the same day. The students sign up for the three schools they want to visit.  It used to be that if UVSC was listed at all, it was the third choice for the students. But, now UVSC is number one or two on their lists.  This just shows what alumni know, that the word about UVSC is getting out and more and more students are choosing to attend UVSC over other possibilities.

After Michelle’s presentation, we heard from a number of the board members who reported on their committee activities or other campus boards on which they serve. This was very interesting and it was great to see how the groups can work together.  Curtis Morley reported on marketing committee activities.  He announced the formation of this blog, which as I wrote earlier, was his brain child. He also announced that we would like to build a marketing campaign around “UR UVU.”   We have alumni from all the different versions of UVSC and part  of my difficulty is connecting all of them to UVSC/UVU.  So, we’ll be working to inform all of our alumni, regardless of when they attended UVSC that they are alumni. 

We are sending postcards to 100,000 alumni in the database with a picture of the old Utah Technical College campus and the new Technologybuilding and the “UR UVU” slogan.   I’m asking them to contact us and to give us their email addresses so we can keep them informed about the college and the changes taking place.  I’m excited about the potential of uniting all the different alumni into one cohesive alumni organization.

Another report came from TJ Fund, who told us about UVUphoria, which is a year of events to celebrate the transition to UVU. We’ll have events on campus every month tied to UVUphoria. The major event will be June 30, 2008, when we’ll hold UVU Eve.  We plan to have concerts,  food, dances, fireworks, and other activities on campus for the entire UVSC community (which is basically Utah county).  The Alumni association will be involved in quite a few of these activities. 

The meeting included quite a few other reports, including one from Roger Woolstenhulme who represents athletics and the Wolverine Club.  He told us that one of the needs for athletics is a track. We have a great track team but no track.  Mary Robinson from the HASS advisory board told us that HASS needs a performing arts center.  We have a world class dance team, and they would like a home of their own.  Brian Wall reported on the School of Business Alumni Chapter and their involvement for Homecoming.  

I love these volunteers!  I appreciate their commitment and their willingness to spend their time at UVSC.   They add a richness and depth to our organization that we wouldn’t have without them.   So, though my day has been very long, and I’m in need of a nap, I’m charged about what’s happening at UVSC and how the alumni association is making a difference.