AYA - Assembly

Assembly LXI: The Undergraduate Curriculum at Yale
Thursday, October 24 - Saturday, October 26, 2002
Assembly Chair Marc B. Lockhart '84
Executive Summary

Immediately following the close of the last plenary session of the Assembly, AYA Board of Governors Club Committee Chair, Susanna Krentz '80, welcomed the delegates who attended the session. She gave a brief overview of the charge of the AYA's Club Committee, and the issues that the Committee hopes to address in this academic year. Most of these issues are related to communicating with Club Presidents in a more effective and informative manner.

Nory Babbitt, Director of Club and Association Relations then spoke with the delegates about the results of the survey that had been conducted by the AYA in advance of the Tercentennial of all Yale Clubs and Associations. Results of the survey were passed out to those in attendance, so that each Club would be able to "benchmark" itself against other Clubs. She gave a brief overview about Yale Clubs in general - there are 135 domestic Yale Clubs and about 40 international Clubs. Yale Clubs are very individualistic, and vary widely, even within states. Club membership ranges from 3% of an alumni population up to 66%! Many Clubs do not charge dues, and most clubs attempt to break event on each event they sponsor. Results of the survey were also broken down by tiers of Clubs, with membership in a given tier reflecting both the density of alumni in a given area and a Club's activity level.

Jeff Brenzel '75, Executive Director of the AYA then spoke about some initiatives in development that would be of use to Yale Clubs. The Online Alumni Directory, launched during the summer of 2002, will become the basis for a number of online tools that Yale Clubs. The first under development will be a "Club Officers Tool Box." The Tool Box is planned as a secure site on which the AYA would be able to post communications and other useful information for Club Presidents. Also in development is an Online Career Networking System, modeled after a system that Stanford University has developed. This system will replace the Career Counseling Resource Network (CCRN) that is currently run through Yale Clubs. The Online career networking system will be created in partnership with Harris Publishing, Undergraduate Career Services and the other alumni services and career services offices spread through Yale's graduate and professional schools.

The second half of the Club Committee session consisted of four breakout discussion groups: Small Clubs, Medium Clubs, Large Clubs and International Clubs.

Large Clubs
In the group for larger clubs, delegates and guests tried to identify the primary drivers for Club activity among the alumni populations in their areas. Among the responses were annualized events that build attendance year to year, frequency of events and subsidized events for younger alumni. In terms of what new initiatives might drive more activity, ideas offered included Cross-Ivy group collaboration on events; dropping membership fees altogether; better marketing; moving event venues to different parts of large metropolitan areas and community service. It was also suggested that large clubs arrange to trade newsletters among themselves to spark friendly competition and stimulation of new ideas.

Medium Clubs
Among those attending the breakout for medium-sized clubs, the issues of greatest concern seemed to be recruiting members and activity planning. With respect to recruiting members, ideas included contacting new residents (move in/move out lists); making at least one annual mailing to all alumni, including non-members in email communications; creating "active" lists of those who have participated within the last five years; and staggering dues rates. Ideas for most viable activities included the annual Yale-Harvard Game; monthly lunches with speakers; bus trips; underwritten events; diversity of events; alumni singers; events for children; occasional formal events; and welcome receptions for students in conjunction with the Alumni Schools Committee representatives.

Small Clubs
Among those who gathered to discuss the challenges facing smaller Yale Clubs, the focus was also on membership issues. The group discussed the idea of abandoning the "membership" model and simply mailing to all alumni in the Club territory for each event, while at the same time seeking to identify patrons who could provide some limited financial support for club infrastructure expenses. The use of email was discussed, with questions about how much information to send, how often to send it, and how to keep email lists up to date. Successful activities for smaller clubs include sponsoring lunches as opposed to large-scale dinner events, focusing on the needs of families, maintaining a solid Alumni Schools Committee interviewing program, soliciting visits from Yale faculty or performing groups, using local talent for speaking programs, and maintaining book awards and community service projects.

International Clubs
For those delegates and guests who focused on international clubs, the primary questions involve how to communicate over large areas with widely scattered individuals. International Clubs have difficulty maintaining accurate email lists and determining how many alumni are actually living in their countries. With respect to activities, the events that seem to work best involve Yale performing groups, the use of local talent, and joint ventures with Harvard and Princeton alumni. It is difficult to obtain faculty speakers and difficult to learn about faculty who might be traveling abroad and be available to visit with an international club group.