Michael Wong '96, chairman of the Asian-Pacific Alumni on the ND Board of Directors discusses recent initiatives:
At our annual fall meeting, the Board of the Asian-Pacific Alumni of Notre Dame (APA of ND) returned to campus with a mind to look at our organization and operations to determine whether we could improve on our efforts to perform our mission. For those not familiar with the APA of ND, we were established to:
- provide an alumni network for AP graduates
- develop relationships and alliances with local Notre Dame clubs on matters of common interests and concerns
- provide an ongoing alumni support system for AP students at Notre Dame
- assist Notre Dame in achieving its commitment to cultural diversity amongst its alumni, students, faculty and administration
As we regrouped at our bi-annual return to campus, it became evident that an area where we could find the most potential for improvement was in the use of our regional directors. Presently, 10 of the 19-member Alumni Board are regional directors. Since the establishment of the APA of ND, they were assigned responsibility for expansive geographical areas covering numerous states and alumni clubs, much like what the ND alumni national organization calls for. It was obvious that due to a limited budget and the requirement for significant time commitments, our regional directors could not be expected to be traveling far and often to attend ND regional and club functions as their responsibilities suggest they do.
Understanding this reality, it led to our looking at where our constituents were located. We were impressed by our findings. It turns out that most of our Asian-Pacific alumni live in a number of concentrated areas: New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Hawaii. By focusing on these areas, and having regional directors living in these locations, we believe that we can better serve the great majority of our constituents. To cover the areas of the country that fall outside of these local areas--those with relatively small Asian-Pacific populations--we will be creating two at-large regional directorships (East and West). This new organization will become effective on July 1 and will be noticeable in the upcoming board elections this spring.
In our review, we also identified an opportunity to reduce costs while still maintaining our effectiveness. There is significant overlap with regard to the responsibilities of the alumni relations director and the Young Alumni director. Because we consistently have a number of Young Alumni filling other positions on the board, it was decided that the Young Alumni director position would be dropped. The effective date of this change would be in 2009 when the present incumbent’s term ends.
Additionally, the board has decided to create an advisory group to the APA of ND Board, whereby non-board Asian-Pacific alumni would be asked to take on an appointed role to assist and advise the board in its mission. Details regarding this program are being developed and will be communicated to our APA constituents shortly.
These changes were instituted to better address the board’s challenges of the future: promoting Asian Studies at Notre Dame; establishing APA of ND scholarships; assisting Notre Dame’s efforts in Asia; assisting in Asian-Pacific student recruitment; and promoting Asian-Pacific alumni participation in school activities and programs.
Be sure to read the March issue of ND Today, which will feature a summary of the winter Alumni Board meeting minutes.
