COMMUNICATION ALUMNI COUNCIL
NOTES FROM MEETING
APRIL 24, 2010
Council Members in Attendance: Fran Mancia, Laura McHugh, Laura Roenick, Liz
Rockhold, Kamyab Sadaghiani, Mary Shirley, Kibibi Springs, Amy Stoody
Faculty Members: Linda Putnam, Karen Myers, Anna Laura Jansma
I. Linda reviewed the Council’s mission and purposes—the major goals are to help the
department link with the alumni, to provide assistance with career development, to help
the department with development and funding endeavors, and to foster outreach and
alumni connections.
II. Linda gave a brief update on the Department—awards and activities and impacts of
budget cuts. Linda and Karen provided some suggestions of ideas for activities that
might foster career education, target fundraising endeavors, and facilitate outreach and
alumni networking. Some suggestions were initiated in Karen’s Marketing
Communication class. The suggestions included:
A. Career development —Conducting workshops for students on internships,
job interviewing, transitions from college to the workplace; helping with oncampus mock interviews, developing mentorship programs, Career Day sessions,
and conducting career fairs. Other suggestions include lists of internship
opportunities, virtual internships, website career material, brochures,
organizational site visits (especially local organizations), and inviting alumni to
classes as speakers.
B. Student networking and alumni connections –students suggested electronic
social networks through Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter sites,helping with
service projects for majors, softball tournament, guided tours of campus and Isla
Vista, basketball mixers, pizza, and network gatherings.
C. Fundraising activities—special campaigns for departmental needs—graduate
student fellowships, undergraduate scholarships, furniture for the veranda, naming
opportunities for rooms and computer lab, naming the department, donor wall on
the 4th Floor for different levels of giving. Linda reviewed the needs for the
Honors Program—travel, technology, and support for research projects.
D. Outreach and networking with alumni –regional meetings with alumni at
UCSB reunions, developing a social network and contact system, developing
system of rotation for campus speakers—classes and Communication
Association.
III. After a lengthy discussion of different options, Council members selected several
priorities as a starting point for their activities. These options include:
A. Social networking and career networking —developing a UCSB COMM
facebook for majors with connections to Career Center and/or Alumni
Association. It would develop types of jobs, occupations, organizations, job
availability, internships, organizational events for social networking, etc. The
department might involve Communication Association and a COMM 199 RA to
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help with this project. Laura Roenick volunteered to be the Council member
point person for this project. May need to deal with the issue of alumni being
required to have a UCSB email account.
B. Internship Workshop –Anna Laura reported that we have about 60
internships per year for academic credit, but that we do not track overall numbers
of internships (paid or not paid) that are not for credit. Council members felt we
need to encourage students to get internships early in their college career and seek
multiple internships. The Council decided to plan an internship workshop for
students and host this for the fall meeting. The workshop will focus on what are
internship jobs, how students can locate internships, paid and unpaid internships,
internships for credit, and how internships benefit the job search and employment.
The workshops will be targeted for students in the pre-communication major.
Kibibi Springs will be the point person for this activity.
C. Fund Raising and Development –Council members made a number of
suggestions for fund raising and development. Council members noted that
alumni want to see where the money goes; to make it concrete; and publicize what
the money can do. The Council needs some coordinated efforts—development is
often too diffuse.
1. Developing an expectation of giving --The Department needs to instill
in current students that they need to give back after graduation through
donating their time and money. We might consider a program in which
alumni give back a certain amount each year to the department. We need
to stress developing a philosophy of lifetime involvement in the
department and the university.
2. Alumni networking and development —host regional events in
Sacramento, LA, Bay Area; charge to attend the events, and have the
money targeted to a graduate student fellowship and/or undergraduate
scholarship
3. Targeted Gifts for Department Needs —develop a list of department
needs with specific target amounts. Aim for lower level contributions, for
example, purchasing specific furnishings for the veranda or for computer
labs. Linda Putnam will develop this and circulate it to the Council.
4. Fund raising for department needs —have silent auction items at
alumni events at regional sites or on campus community events—e.g.,
local restaurants with gift cards, etc. Alumni could donate airline miles
for the silent auction or to help honor student/graduate student travel. Sell
t-shirts on web site and through networking—Amy Stoody will serve as
point person for t-shirt and on-line sales of alumni t-shirts. Funds would
go to a targeted project like honors program or furniture and other
departmental needs. Another suggestion included contacting local
restaurants such as Baja Fresh or Giovanni’s. One day a month could be a
departmental fundraiser. They give 5% back to the nonprofit. The
department would promote.
5. Awards Dinner and Recognition –Recognize the alumni donor of the
year with a plaque and publicity. Develop a low dollar donor wall—gold,
silver and platinum to recognize donations.
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6. Liz Rockhold will serve as point person to help with development
activities.
IV. Organization of the Council
A. Next Meeting--The Council will meet in the fall, possibly October 89, 2010 in conjunction with the Bradac Lecture. Council members
would come in on Friday afternoon for the lecture and reception and meet
on Saturday morning. Council members will conduct internship
workshops for students on Saturday afternoon.
B. Membership and Size of the Council – Council members agree to
keep the group small, but think recruiting two additional members would
be good. Linda and Karen will talk with alumni who graduated in the
1990s or 1970s as possible Council members.
C. Student Representation –Council members thought it would be a
great idea to have an undergraduate student member and a graduate
student liaison. Linda and Karen will chat with department members and
contact some students for this role.
D. Communication between Meetings
1. Mary Shirley—will develop a platform, Google Groups for
exchanging ideas about projects between meetings.
2. Linda will arrange for a conference call among members every
other month for updates on projects and activities.
E. Branding the Council—Fran Mancia will help us brand the Council
and get recognition for our endeavors in the university setting—with the
Alumni Association and the administration. He will coordinate with Amy
in developing the alumni t-shirt and other ways to brand the Council and
its endeavors.
V. Summary of Action Steps and Names of Council Member Point Person—
faculty and staff will be involved in these initiatives, but this list summarizes the
Council member roles
A. Database for Social Networking among Alumni and Students—Laura
Roenick
B. Internship Workshop—fall meeting—Kibibi Springs
C. Fundraising and development
1. List of targeted gifts, donor wall, donor award—Linda Putnam
with Liz Rockhold
2. On-line t-shirt sales for alumni—Amy Stoody
3. Regional event, campus events, and campaigns – Liz Rockhold
D. Platform for Council Communication—Mary Shirley
E. Branding of the Council—Fran Mancia
F. Recruitment of new Council members and students—Linda Putnam and
Karen Myers
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