• Ad Hoc Committee on Alumni Council Structure to Present Amended Council Constitution for Vote at 195th Meeting

    Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Following the Dartmouth Alumni Council's adoption of a new mission statement and core responsibilities at its 194th meeting in May 2007, the newly formed Ad Hoc Committee on Council Structure (ACCS), composed of current and volunteer former councilors, began a comprehensive review of the council's membership and committee structure. On the basis of this review, and building on the earlier work of the Alumni Governance Task Force specific to the Alumni Council, the ACCS will present for vote at the 195th meeting of the Alumni Council, November 29-December 1, an amended council constitution that the committee believes will enable councilors to better carry out the new mission statement and core responsibilities. The amended constitution will need to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the councilors attending the 195th meeting.

The ACCS is composed of current councilors Martha Beattie '76, Susan Luria '89, Cindy Shannon '76, J.B. Daukas '84, and Rick Silverman '81 (council president) and former councilors Joe Stevenson '57, Bill Carney '75, and Todd Donovan '92.

The ACCS proposes the following changes to the Alumni Council structure:

  • Addition of the new mission statement and core responsibilities to the council constitution;
  • Removal of the standing list of committees of the from the council constitution;
  • Use of email as well as regular mail for official council communications;
  • Two candidates for president-elect of the council (rather than one);
  • One class representative to council for each class through 55 years;
  • Three class representatives to council for classes 55 years and older;
  • Formation of 10 regions (groups of alumni clubs ) that would elect one representative each (rather than randomly selection of 10 reps from the smaller alumni clubs;
  • Two representatives from each recognized alumni affiliated group;
  • Reduction of the number of at-large representatives to council from 21 to 6;
  • Election of the president of the Alumni Association by all alumni to a one-year term as president of the Alumni Association and an automatic three-year term as a full Alumni Council member (at any one time, two past presidents of the association, along with the current association president, would sit on the council);
  • Two graduate school representatives to council from each of the graduate school programs (Thayer, Tuck, Dartmouth Medical School, and Graduate Arts and Sciences);
  • Restructuring of the seven representatives from class organizations (president, secretary, newsletter editor, treasurer, head agent, planned giving, and mini-reunion chair) as follows: one representative for presidents (who would represent reunion/mini-reunion chairs as well), one representative for treasurers, one representative for Webmasters, one representative for secretaries and newsletter editors combined (similar to the current system, these two class associations will alternate selecting a representative every three years who will be responsible for reporting to both constituencies), and one representative for head agents and gift planning chairs (with same format as secretaries and newsletter editors);
  • Dissolution of the council Committees on Alumni Organizations and Continuing Education;
  • Combination of the Athletic and Student Life Committees into a single Student Affairs Committee;
  • Renaming of the council College Relations Group as the Alumni Liaison Committee and reforming its composition to include the president, president-elect, and past president of the Alumni Council; the president and two most recent past presidents of the Alumni Association; three council members elected by the council; three alumni elected by the council from the full Alumni Association; and one trustee selected by the Board of Trustees.

Detail of Constitution Amendments Proposed by Ad Hoc Committee on Council Structure (11/20/07)

by Deborah Klenotic