Guidelines for Alumni Chapters

The SAC Alumni Association encourages the development of alumni chapters across the islands and abroad to enhance stronger relationships between alumni, at a grass roots level. Alumni chapters are organized on a geographic basis. We recognize our alumni as among our most valued and talented resources and encourage alumni par-ticipation in shaping the institution’s future.

General Chapter Goals

  • Promote the interests and welfare of SACA
  • Provide opportunities to participate in and serve the SACA community
  • Promote programs that enrich the professional, cultural and personal lives of alumni
  • Represent alumni interests and concerns

Establishing an Alumni Chapter

Forming an alumni chapter is an exciting and rewarding experience and one that you will value for years to come. Chapter leaders and interested members should ask themselves the following questions to help guide the direction and focus of their chap-ter:

  1.  What will be the mission of this organization? How will we best serve the SAC Alumni Association and our particular constituencies?
  2. What types of activities will our group be involved in to support the chapter’s mission (educational, networking, social, community service, college related, etc.)?
  3. How will we communicate with our potential membership (direct mail, letters, newsletter, telephone network, e-mail, etc.)?
  4. How will we recruit new members?
  5. Five years from now, what will be our chapter’s accomplishments and our role in them?

How to Organize a Chapter

Individuals who are interested in forming a chapter need to follow certain steps so that their chapter can be properly reviewed and approved by the SAC Alumni Association.

    1. Once a group of alumni have come together and expressed interest in forming a chapter, the SAC Alumni Office should be notified at 242-436-1718 or by e-mail at thesacalumni@gmail.com.
    2. Develop a list of alumni within the chapter’s proposed geographic area.
    3. Contact the alumni to assess interest in establishing a chapter. This can be done by, e-mail or through the Alumni website and can be in the form of a letter or survey. Alumni Association will assist with this effort. In the process of com-municating with the alumni, recruit additional volunteers.
    4. Schedule introductory organizational meetings. These can be via teleconfer-ence call or face-to-face meetings. For each meeting, a designated person should prepare minutes of the meeting. The first order of business for the group will be to identify officers who will serve on the steering or planning committee to include a chairman, co-chairman, treasurer, and secretary. Additionally, an an-nual program plan should be created.
    5. Once your group has agreed to apply for SAC Alumni Association Chapter Sta-tus, a written request should be submitted to: President of Alumni Association, Office of the SAC Alumni Association, P.O.Box GT 2701, Nassau, Bahamas or by e-mail at thesacalumni@gmail.com. The chapter application will then be submitted for review. If eligible, the request will be voted on at the next Alumni Association Board meeting. The following must be included in the written re-quest:
      1. Interest in establishing a chapter
      2. A list of at least three to six alumni who are willing to serve as chapter officers or chapter advisory board members
      3. Verification that you have held at least one organizational meeting, with the date of that meeting(s), a list of meeting attendees, and any notes or minutes of the meeting(s)
      4. The chapter’s initial vision and direction as determined at the organi-zational meeting
      5. A proposed annual program plan
      6. A statement verifying that the members present have read and agreed to the Constitution and by-laws established by the Alumni Association (the constitution and by-laws are available on the SAC Alumni Asso-ciation Web site and can be mailed or e-mailed to interested individu-als upon request).

Once the Alumni Association Board has reviewed the request, and upon majority vote of members present, the Alumni Board will recommend approval. The President of Alumni Association will notify the designated chapter steering committee of the status of their request as soon as the decision is made available. The chapter will be consid-ered an official chapter once these steps have been taken and approval has been granted.

Maintaining an Active Chapter
Once a chapter is established, the chapter must stay active to maintain its SAC Alumni Association status. To be considered active, chapters must accomplish the following:

  • Business meetings: Chapters must conduct at least one business meeting per year and submit all meeting minutes to the President of Alumni Association.
  • Alumni events: Chapters must hold at least one general alumni functions of educa-tional or social nature annually. All Chapter events and activities must be coordinat-ed through the Alumni Relations Office and the Outreach Committee. Prior approval must be obtained from the Alumni Relations Office for all programs.
  • Reports: Chapters must submit a year-end report to the President of Alumni Associa-tion who will forward these reports to the Outreach Committee. The year-end report must be received by July 30 of each fiscal year.
  • Policy: Chapter must adhere to SAC Alumni Association policies and procedures.

Alumni Association/Alumni Relations Office will assist established Chapters in these ways:

  • Help arrange meetings and identify possible college speakers
  • Offer programming, marketing, and communications consultation
  • Prepare, design, print, and mail event flyers
  • Send e-mail announcements for events
  • Provide an alumni roster of alumni in your area, either in list or label form
  • Provide Web site hosting, HTML help, and Web page posting assistance
  • Provide information on college faculty, administrators, and events
  • Provide chapter, college, and association news through email newsletters, and on the Alumni Web page
  • Assist chapters in creating chapter annual plans
  • Assist chapters with student scholarship fund drives, as well as with alumni ad-missions program information for prospective students

Chapter Regulations

  1. Organization
    1. Membership is open to SAC alumni, faculty, and staff.
    2. The names of the initial steering committee are submitted to the President of Alumni Association who then forwards the list to the Outreach Committee for final approval. Officers are voted upon at the first chapter meeting. Nomina-tions may come from the floor.
    3. The steering committee may establish committees, if appropriate.
  2. Finances
    1. Chapters may not collect dues, but may charge additional program fees to cover both the event and incidental chapter expenses such as postage.
    2. A program plan and budget must be submitted and approved by the Alumni Association President before publicizing a chapter event.
    3. A chapter may request financial assistance for a particular project by submit-ting a proposal to the Alumni Relations Director.
  3. Activities and Publicity
    1. Chapters should sponsor diverse, high-quality programs to stimulate partici-pation from all segments of the alumni population.
    2. Chapters should submit drafts of alumni publicity and all alumni mailings to the Alumni Relations office for approval and mailing.