Beginning Ten — The Road Ahead
Posted on June 1, 1991Time flies. It seems like only yesterday that my wife, Debbie, our 18-month-old son, Michael, and I moved to Chapel Hill, and I began the always exciting, if sometimes exhausting, job as your alumni director. Would you believe we’re beginning our tenth year? Working together with dedicated, independent-minded Association officers and directors, a loyal and hard-working staff and a supportive University administration, we have accomplished much during these nine years.
1) Membership Growth — Membership has grown by 24,000, from 28,000 to 52,000, an 86 percent increase. Life members have grown by 12,300, from 10,700 to 23,000, a 115 percent increase.
2) Alumni Center Progress — With gifts and pledges totaling $12.5 million from more than 18,000 alumni, faculty, and friends of Carolina, the George Watts Hill Alumni Center is fast approaching a 1992 opening.
3) Publications Enhanced — Both this award-winning Carolina Alumni Review magazine and the University Alumni Report newspaper have benefitted from re-design and expanded and improved content.
4) Programs Expanded — We’ve produced an award-winning slide show narrated by Charles Kuralt ’55, entitled “On the Road in Chapel Hill.” Faculty have been added to many of our alumni tours. We now conduct on- and off-campus seminars in cooperation with University departments. The alumni reunion experience is greatly enhanced by the addition of “Saturday Morning in Chapel Hill” and enrichment seminars. Last year we hired a full-time director of enrichment.
5) Strengthened Carolina Clubs — We have added an Assistant Director for Club Development and are devoting more Association resources to increase alumni involvement at the local level.
Club-sponsored scholarships are being funded, alumni admissions receptions are being held, and community service and career assistance initiatives have begun. Eight Young Alumni Clubs have been formed in larger metropolitan areas to encourage active participation as soon as a student graduates.
6) Publication of Alumni Directories — The most extensive directories ever have been published, including this year’s Bicentennial Directory. The Association’s records staff, during these nine years, has processed over 270,000 address changes and 450,000 other records changes.
7) Strengthened Relationships With The General Assembly — Communication with members of the General Assembly helps explain Carolina’s contributions to addressing urgent state problems. The Tar Heel Network was established with alumni in each community to share our University’S challenges and achievements to legislators and citizens.
8) Long-Range Planning Process Established — Our Association has developed three Long-Range Plans which chart an ambitious future course for the Association. A comprehensive alumni survey has been conducted as well as several focus groups.
Yes, we should be pleased with the progress we have made. We are even more excited by the growing sense of commitment we find from alumni who share responsibility with the faculty, students and administration in shaping our University.
Alumni care about the quality of teaching and the scope of the curriculum, and we can help assure that students are well prepared for the challenges they will face after Carolina. We can help identify and recruit outstanding students, faculty and administrators.
Alumni realize how important public and legislative support is for our University, and we can be effective representatives of the University in our communities and to members of the General Assembly.
The GAA should serve alumni by providing you with communications and opportunities to network and to be involved with our University. Our Association should allow you to fulfill your need for educational enrichment and provide recognition of your achievements.
Over the course of the last nine years, I have had the opportunity to meet Carolina alumni throughout North Carolina and across the nation. I have visited nearly every Carolina Club, many of them several times, and I have confirmed what I long suspected: Carolina, among all universities, has the most loyal and dedicated alumni anywhere. It is our challenge as an Association to provide alumni with the fullest opportunities to make their needed and varied contributions. We as alumni are the only permanent constituency of the University. We share equally with the faculty, administration and students the challenge of preserving and enhancing the University’s excellence.
Yes, Debbie, Michael (age 10 1/2)and now Brian (age 8) and I are enjoying Chapel Hill. We are grateful for your continuing interest and support. We look forward to a productive, exciting future as we continue the work of making a great university greater.
Yours at Carolina,
Douglas S. Dibbert ’70
