DATE: August 06, 2008

CONTACT: Wil Brasington, (864) 656-5652
wil@clemson.edu

WRITER: Angela Nixon, (864) 656-0382
anixon@clemson.edu

EXPERT: Wil Brasington

Clemson establishes new Alumni Council

CLEMSON — Clemson University has restructured its decades-old Alumni National Council, the governing body of the Clemson Alumni Association.

The Alumni National Council, which originated nearly 50 years ago to provide leadership to the Clemson Alumni Association, had a combined membership of 30 elected alumni representatives and various university-wide leaders. The council was responsible for financial matters, strategic planning and policy-setting for the Clemson Alumni Association as well as acting as university ambassadors. Each elected representative served a term of four years.

The new governance structure consists of two related yet distinct groups, the Alumni Council and the alumni board of directors.

The Alumni Council will be a more expansive body with a membership including each Clemson Club and alumni special-interest group president, representatives from each graduating class, the undergraduate and graduate student body presidents, alumni representatives from each academic college, former Alumni Association presidents, the members of the Alumni Association board of directors, and representatives from each of the other university boards, such as the board of trustees, the Clemson University Foundation, IPTAY and Board of Visitors. 

This council will have at least two regular meetings each year and will provide leadership, ideas, input and good will to help serve, involve and inform alumni and advance interests of the university. In recognition of the fact that Clemson alumni span the globe and are making their presence known both at home and abroad, the decision was made to drop the term “national” from the name of this council, said Wil Brasington, Clemson’s senior director of alumni relations.

The alumni board of directors will consist of 12 to 15 members — elected by the Alumni Council — who will serve three-year terms. Additionally, the chairman of the Clemson University Foundation, the president of IPTAY and a member of the board of trustees will have seats on the board. Primary responsibilities of the board will include general oversight of the programs and initiatives of the Clemson Alumni Association, financial audit and review, creation of governing policies and strategic planning.

Brasington cited several reasons for the changes.

“While the former Alumni National Council had been a driving force behind the many accomplishments of our Alumni Association over the years, the fact is we are a much different organization today than we were just five or 10 years ago,” he said. “Our leadership simply wondered if there was a different model of governance that we should adopt so as to provide a better fit with the makeup of today’s Alumni Association and ensure the highest level of engagement for those wanting to be involved. We feel this new model provides us with what we were seeking — a much broader, more expansive opportunity for alumni leaders to come together and share ideas, while retaining and strengthening a smaller unit to oversee the business side of our operations.”