Alumni leading to yes - Broad College of Business - Michigan State ...

And the potential for a dynamic alumniassociation goes far beyond thoseexisting programs and symbols toinclude university reputation, degreevalue, rankings and advancement, andtaking MSU and its alumni impact fromland grant to world grant.In that spirit, the MSUAA leadership,with the support of MSU PresidentLou Anna Simon, very seriously andsystematically launched a strategicreview process in 2006. Working witha consulting firm and with input fromalumni, club leaders, faculty andstaff, every aspect of the association’sprograms, services and structurewas subject to critical analysis andwas benchmarked against alumniprogramming best practices elsewhere.The result of the 18-month process is anew strategic plan for the association,approved at the board’s OctoberHomecoming 2007 meeting that will leadthe organization to yes in five strategicareas: value creation, communications,engagement, collaboration andsustainability.Throughout the process, some 14Broad School alumni serving on theNational Board and its committeesprovided business planning and strategyperspectives drawn from their dailyexperiences in corporate, non-profit orentrepreneurial business environments.Best practices: Getting it right“My first year on the board coincidedwith the start of the best practicesstudy,” says Kevin Kelly (BA Economics’79), executive director of the MichiganState Medical Society (MSMS) andpast recipient of the MSU AlumniAssociation’s Distinguished AlumniAward. “From the perspective of thenew guy, I could take an unbiasedlook at the findings as we proceededtoward developinga strategic plan.”Those findingscame, in par t,f r o m s u r ve y s ,interviews anddirect communica t i o n s w i t hre gional clubs,c o l l e g e u n i t s ,deans and otherstakeholders inalumni relationsKevin Kellyprogramming atMSU. The bestpractices study entailed close-upexamination of alumni associationsat the University of California atLos Angeles (UCLA), University ofConnecticut, University of Floridaand the University of Michigan.The study group gave particularattention to processes and practicesfor developing institutional vision,developing transparent goals andobjectives, data-driven decision making,marketing, data reporting, outsourcing,professional expertise and advocacy atthose institutions. In combination, thestudy delivered an unbiased look at theorganization’s structure, its strengthsand weaknesses and the status of itskey relationships.“It was very impressive to me that oncethe issues were identified, the boardleadership acted with velocity towardexecution. That was very strong. Afterall the reports were in, there mighthave been the temptation to say, ‘Well,let’s just think about this awhile,’ or tocall for more study, but there were nodelays,” Kelly says.Start from where you areJohn Hannah, MSU president from 1941to 1969, is known for saying, “Start fromwhere you are.” Association leaders tookSteve Tolethat advice and set the baseline in termsof membership, budget, personnel, andcross-unit relationships, and then asked,“Where do we go from here?”“We really started from zero,” says Kelly,“but we were not embarrassed by theneed for change. Rather, board memberswere energized by the tasks ahead ofthem and like good business people,their response was, ‘I have the capacityand the tools to effect change and makeimprovements.’ The immediate resultof that was outreach to regional clubs,a better understanding of what collegealumni units need, and a move to greaterefficiencies, opportunities to utilizetechnology and strategies to leverageresources and maximize results.”The willingness to change is thebeginning to solving problems, he adds.“That attitude is one my fellow businessalumni (on the board) use to makeimprovements in their businesses everyday. They are not afraid of change. Riskis an accepted part of doing businessthat must be assessed and managed inorder for the business to move ahead.”06BROADBUSINESSwww.bus.msu.edu