The changing face of the UT Alumni Association is going to include more alumni faces.
A new advisory council will be appointed in addition to the 32-member Board of Governors. The association’s recent strategic study recommended the new structure.
“Our strategic plan called for a smaller, more engaged Board of Governors that would be more hands-on than the previous 78-member board was able to be,” says Kim Cross, UTAA president. “But we thought it was important to maintain a broad representation of our 325,000 alumni in leadership positions, so we decided to add the advisory council.”
A task force of the Alumni Association is studying the formation of the advisory council, which likely will consist of 60 to 80 appointed representatives. The members will represent all campuses of the university, as do members of the Board of Governors.
“The UT Alumni Association always has been a very inclusive organization,” says Executive Director Lofton Stuart. “Though we saw the need for a smaller governing board that could bring specific talents to the governance of the association, we didn’t want to sacrifice the energy and enthusiasm that comes from the grass roots.”
Stuart said he believes the two volunteer groups working together will make the UTAA even stronger and better able to serve all UT alumni. “The more voices we hear, the better our association will be.”
