Alumni Association Board Members Appointed

UC Merced’s Alumni Association Board Members were selected and named during summer 2011. Only recently, in mid-October, were the names of the board members officially announced to the greater UCM community.

Currently, there are 11 board members who have been selected. These members were chosen after a careful process in which dedicated campus volunteers and involved alumni association members combed through nominations and choose the best candidates with the alumni community’s best interests at hand. A 12th member is anticipated and will be voted for and accepted by the current members.

Board members were predominantly self-nominated due to personal history and involvement, and after being nominated, board members were selected and tasked as leaders and main determinants of the association’s operations.

By working with Director of Alumni Affairs, Heather Buckner, alumni board members receive guidance in the area they would like to be engaged. Buckner works closely with the board members by helping to manage meetings, keeping an agenda, and also implementing campus initiatives that alumni board members would like to get involved with.

Because UCM’s alumni association is still a young group, currently consisting of 1,288 alumni, they are still growing in numbers as well as in their plans for involvement.

Though UCM values student input greatly, opinion and participation is not disregarded once a student becomes an alumni. The Alumni Association is what awaits students after graduation from UC Merced. It allows alumni to have the opportunity to still be involved in school affairs and continue their education on current happenings of the campus.

“I think it’s important for students to see it as – there is going to be activity, there is going to be involvement once you graduate, and there will be ways for you to stay in touch with the university. Your relationship with us doesn’t end as you walk across the stage at commencement,” states Buckner.

Benefits and services for alumni include being able to stay in touch with UCM, receiving communications on what is happening on campus, being able to attend events with the chancellor, access to any UC library, and discounts and services at any UC recreational center with your cat card. The alumni association is also attempting to launch a few new benefits such as discounts on taking graduate school preparatory courses.

There is no limit as to how early one can pledge to become a member and receive these alumni benefits.  If students would like to receive alumni benefits before graduation, they can contact the Collegiate Alumni Association, which asks for a $10 contribution to become a member.