The Communications Committee discussed the work that the communications subcommittee has completed over the last six months. The subcommittee held several conference calls and studied the committee’s mission and purposeful acts. A document outlining this work was circulated via email in preparation for the meeting so that the entire Communications Committee could review it beforehand. A summary of the purposeful acts outlined include:
- Create a brief meeting summary for each council meeting for alumni councilors;
- Include a key topics or major issues section within the meeting summary provided to councilors;
- Conduct periodic councilor surveys or polls — internal to the council — regarding specific tools that work well/poorly;
- Track metrics not within the Alumni Liaison Committee’s current scope (for example, how many councilors sent each of the four expected communications);
- Address full council (at each meeting/once each year) to share metrics and give brief presentation on communication tools;
- Participate each year in the orientation program
- Provide training sessions for councilors;
- Establish a means to safeguard council “legacy” of information; and
- Review opportunities for improved communication with a scheduled frequency.
The document proposed the following revised Communications Committee mission:
The Communications Committee shall 1) encourage and facilitate communication between and among members of the council and its respective constituencies regarding both the council’s activities and the College as a whole; 2) encourage and facilitate communication within the council itself by providing a) tools and resources to aid constituent discourse, b) metrics regarding successful communication practices c) training to improve the council’s overall accessibility to and from the alumni at large, and (d) a means to safeguard council legacy of information; and (3) regularly review opportunities to improve council communications broadly.
The document also outlined the means to accomplish the mission through a standardized meeting agenda. The Communications Committee unanimously approved the list of purposeful acts and the proposed mission.
Diana Lawrence, director of alumni relations communications, gave a presentation about Dartmouth and alumni relations online resources and tools. She also provided information about the Alumni Council Facebook group.
A discussion about various means of communications and tools followed. The committee agreed to discuss social media communications and options for the Alumni Council at the next Communications Committee meeting. The committee also decided to invite Mike Backman, director of alumni information resources, to make a presentation about alumni relations technical resources at the next committee meeting.