Alumni Association President’s Greeting
Dear SPSU Alumni:
As president of the Alumni Association, it is my responsibility, along with my fellow Alumni Board members, to represent the voice of alumni. We are continuously focused on improving your alumni experience and want to hear from you about how we can keep improving.
While we look forward to your input, we have already started paving the path to a greater alumni experience. In fall 2011 the board created the Alumni Board Strategic Plan focusing on six key areas:
• Alumni Engagement
• Alumni Career Development and Networking
• Student Outreach
• Alumni Board Development
• Alumni Board Visibility
• Fundraising
These areas were identified by a detailed gap analysis conducted by your fellow alumni, and the plan is aligned with the University’s Strategic Plan.
As board members, we take pride in being “best at basics.” We spent a good part of fiscal year 2012 focusing on alumni board development and growth that ultimately resulted in strong improvement in student outreach, alumni engagement and board visibility. We take much pride in the diversity of our board, which consists of 19 of the most proud and hard working alums of SPSU with representation from 10 different academic majors and graduates from 6 different decades. With this energetic team we are going to expand our window of focus this year to alumni career development, networking, and fundraising to build a better future for SPSU students. As challenges of today’s economy and student life get more complex, it takes the mentorship, volunteer time, and donations of SPSU alumni to propel our graduating students into the future.
SPSU relies more and more on outside funding, as state funding of higher education drops to lower levels. The Alumni Board seeks to assist the University by reaching our goal of 10% alumni participation in the 2013 Annual Fund. There are many ways to make a gift, including online.
Finally, I just want to add that we want to see you; we want to reconnect with our friends and make new ones, so please join us at our alumni events on and off campus to help us grow our family. Please contact me or the alumni relations office if you wish to connect with SPSU.
Best regards,
Aakash Shah ’06, IET
President, SPSU Alumni Association Board
ashah2@spsu.edu