UMBC ALUMNI COMMUNITIES & CHAPTERS
The UMBC Alumni Association aims to provide opportunities to initiate, develop, and maintain
relationships between our alumni, faculty and staff and prospective students and friends to
encourage loyalty, connectedness and support of UMBC and one another.
Given the challenge volunteer groups face in organizing, sustaining momentum, and leadership
succession planning, the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors and Alumni Relations
staff will actively work to help organize alumni groups. In particular, we endeavor to help them
build community and seek recognition as chapters to actively develop and maintain viability, and
to foster support of the UMBC Alumni Association’s mission.
Alumni Chapters
An alumni chapter is defined as a group of alumni who come from a common region, have
common ties to University programs, represent a specific college, academic department or
professional interest, represent campus student groups and other organizations, or represent a
constituency or interest group. Existing chapters include: the Chapter of Young Alumni, the
Chapter of Black and Latino Alumni and the Meyerhoff Alumni Chapter.
STARTING A UMBC ALUMNI GROUP OR CHAPTER.
Alumni Community Building: A First Step to Alumni Engagement
Organizing an official chapter can be a rewarding experience and is a great way to stay
connected to UMBC, develop a network of alumni and support the Alumni Association.
To explore the feasibility of a particular official alumni chapter, we encourage the
development of alumni communities based on geographic location or common interests.
These activities include meet-ups at a local restaurant, sporting events, picnics, etc. These
kinds of activities often help prepare groups for the structure and organizational planning
required to proceed through the official recognition process.
If you are interested in organizing some type of meet-up, please let an Alumni Relations
staff member know and they can help you advertise on Retriever Net (UMBC’s online
alumni community) or in the E-Triever (alumni e-newsletter), as space allows.
In addition to using personal connections to organize, we encourage you to join existing
UMBC alumni groups on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
If you decide you would like to create a more official connection to the UMBC Alumni
Association as a chapter, please let a staff member know and they will help you through
the steps outlined below.
Process to Establishing a UMBC Alumni Chapter
1. Express Intent
Contact the UMBC Office of Alumni Relations to formally share your intent to develop
the alumni chapter. A staff liaison will contact you to explore the opportunity, and to
assist you through the start up and recognition process.
2. Recruit Other Alumni
Are there enough UMBC alumni members in your area or of the targeted constituency to
support an alumni chapter? Your staff liaison can assist you with answering this question
and identifying potential alumni volunteers to assist in the process.
To start an official chapter of the UMBC Alumni Association, you need a signed
commitment from a minimum of 25-50 active members. The general guidelines are as
follows:
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25 for a group that represents a specific college, academic department or professional
interest; or
25 for a regional chapter outside of the Baltimore/DC metro area; or
50 for all other interest groups.
3. Contact Fellow Alumni
After we’ve determined there are enough UMBC alumni in your area or in the target
constituency to support an active alumni chapter, Alumni Relations staff will assist you in
creating an email communication or survey to solicit alumni interest in developing an
official group. The staff liaison will send the communication on your behalf and direct all
messages and replies to you.
We encourage you to also use any other means at your disposal to connect with alumni
including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Please note that the use of the name “Alumni
Association” or “Alumni Chapter” is reserved for groups that have been officially
recognized and approved by the Alumni Association Board of Directors. If you are trying
to garner interest to create an official chapter through social media sites, we encourage
the use of terms such as “ABC Alumni Group,” “ABC Alumni Interest Group,” “ABC
Alumni” or similar.
Note: If you are unable to gather the minimum commitment of support, we encourage you
to consider organizing a community building activity, join an existing alumni chapter or
volunteer in another way. Your Alumni Relations staff liaison can discuss alternatives
with you.
4. Organize a Meeting
After the interest email is sent out and you’ve received the minimum number of
responses, an initial meeting of potential alumni volunteers should be held. This meeting
will serve as an opportunity for alums to meet one another, generate ideas, solicit
additional volunteers and begin to lay the foundation for your alumni group.
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Find a location such as a restaurant with meeting space, conference room in an office
building or, in some cases, the home of the organizer (at your discretion). Additionally, if
you are local and would like to have the first meeting at UMBC, your staff liaison can
assist with booking a campus location for your first meeting. Consider teleconferencing
and web conferencing if a physical meeting isn’t an option.
Be sure you have a clear agenda planned for the initial meeting to help everyone
understand what is needed from potential volunteers and where the new group is headed.
5. Establish Leadership/Create a Constitution and Bylaws
To be formally recognized, alumni chapters must appoint officers willing to serve a two
year term in support of the chapter. At a minimum, we recommend you appoint the
following officers:
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President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
You will also need to establish a constitution and bylaws. Your staff liaison can provide
examples to guide the group. Your bylaws should include a mission statement that
reflects the goals and overall vision of the UMBC Alumni Association (connecting
alumni with one another and with the University).
6. Event Planning
The alumni chapter leadership should develop a schedule of proposed events/programs
that are in line with the stated mission of the group. There is no required minimum or
maximum number of events any alumni chapter can have in a given year; however, you
should consider the level of commitment and overall capacity of volunteers to organize
and execute planned events. During your first year, we recommend at least 2 events.
After that time, we recommend at least 2 and no more than 5 events per year.
7. Budget
The UMBC Alumni Association is a non-dues paying organization and, as such, no
alumni chapter can charge or collect dues. The UMBC Alumni Association will provide
nominal financial support for alumni chapters to assist with events and activities. When
planning your events, remember to keep Alumni Association costs to a minimum, strive
to break even and charge attendees the actual cost of attendance.
Once you have decided on your events and developed a budget, you need to formally
submit it (along with other items) to the designated Alumni Relations staff liaison for
approval and decision. Budgets must be submitted before June 30th each year for the
following fiscal year. Support can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars
and may vary each year; the following factors will be considered when determining
budget:
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overall university budget climate
Alumni Association budget
alumni chapter size
budget and event proposal
Please note that whenever a chapter is using approved Alumni Association funds, your
staff liaison will be responsible for managing financial transactions (i.e. collecting online
registration fees for chapter events, signing contracts, deposits and payments for venues,
collecting or overseeing the collection of onsite registration payments, etc.). If the UMBC
Alumni Association budget is not used, the group may handle its own financial
transactions.
8. Official UMBC Alumni Association Recognition
Once you’ve completed steps 1-6, you are ready to request formal recognition from the
UMBC Alumni Association. The Alumni Board meets 4 times per year; your staff liaison
will notify you of which meeting you will attend. Before the meeting you will need to
submit the following paperwork:
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Signed commitments from the minimum number of active alumni (can be in the
form of emails, letters, basic signatures, etc).
A constitution and bylaws
A list of officers who will serve two-year commitments
A list of alumni in targeted constituency (work with staff liaison to prepare)
An event plan and budget request
9. Formal Recognition
Once your alumni chapter is recognized, you are free to organize and execute events.
Chapters will be granted a two-year provisional status by the Alumni Association Board
of Directors and be invited to attend leadership meetings throughout the year.
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