About Us

Strategic Plan 2005–2010

Strengthening Our Network: Strategic Plan 2005–2010

History/Background

In 1838, not yet one full year after the founding of the Mount Holyoke Seminary, Mary Lyon founded the Memorandum Society for graduates of the seminary. The Memorandum Society, foremother of the Alumnae Association, was created by Mary Lyon because of her “concern for the future well being and stimulation of her students” and “to develop group solidarity.” Mary Lyon suggested that the goals of the Memorandum Society should be to obtain and perpetuate facts about its members, to increase the facility for improvement of its members, and to print and disseminate a catalogue of all members every five years. The establishment of the Alumnae Association in 1872 sought to promote the prosperity of the Mount Holyoke Seminary and to bring together in social reunion all members of the seminary. Today, the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College attempts to meet all of these goals. The Alumnae Association is dedicated to serving the needs of alumnae and assisting alumnae in their desire to continue to serve the College.

As we plan for the future of the Alumnae Association, we recognize that we build on a solid foundation and that more than 33,000 alumnae have the potential to form an even more powerful global network—especially when they are eager to stay connected to one another and to the College. To support and serve this vibrant and growing group, the Alumnae Association has rewritten its mission statement and completed a new strategic plan. The mission statement and strategic plan reflect goals and objectives critical to enhancing institutional vitality. The plan articulates the nature of the Alumnae Association's independence as making it possible to communicate in the open, holistic tradition of the liberal arts. It also spells out the Association's desire to be a strong collaborative partner with the College. At the core of the strategic plan is the determination to achieve the dream of becoming a world-class alumnae association.

Mission Statement

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is an independent organization that serves a worldwide network of diverse individuals, cultivates and celebrates vibrant connections among all alumnae, fosters lifelong learning in the liberal arts tradition, and facilitates opportunities for alumnae to advance the goals and values of the College.

Vision Statement

Relaunch the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College as a world-class organization that is valuable, visible, relevant, and inclusive.

Goals

I. Alumnae Connections: Serving a Global Network
II. The Alumnae Association and the College: Forging a Powerful Partnership
III. Campus-wide Collaborations: Linking to Students, Faculty, and Administrators
IV. Effective Board Governance: Achieving Strategic Goals

Develop the Association into an integrated global organization, ensuring that core benefits are accessible to alumnae around the world.

• Integrate the global perspective in every Association initiative
• Through an active awareness-building campaign, clearly define membership benefits to alumnae and current students and articulate the value of maintaining a relationship with the Alumnae Association and the College
• Continue to improve communications and connections to and among alumnae worldwide
• Ensure that the Alumnae Association is a welcoming and inclusive organization for all alumnae
• Enhance career networking and life-experience networking and provide alumnae with easy and effective access to each other and to Association services
• Build new strategies for connecting international alumnae

Develop the technological infrastructure and maintain the information necessary to provide alumnae with active, global, and around-the-clock connections.

• Continue to collect and maintain accurate biographical information on all alumnae
• Build a dynamic Online Community by adding new services and improving and promoting current services for alumnae and students
• Update technology for more effective support of strategic plan objectives
• Support and encourage staff training
• Use the Internet (e-mail, Web) effectively to communicate and support transactions with a worldwide alumnae body
• Use the Internet and staff resources to support more effectively the work of Alumnae Association club, class, and committee volunteers

Foster opportunities for alumnae to participate in lifelong learning, both on and off campus and online.

• Research technologies needed to support online academic programs
• Establish strong faculty liaison connections
• Explore distance-learning opportunities
• Work with the College to create a streamlined process for encouraging alumnae to assist the College by offering their intellectual capital and skills

Actively identify and develop initiatives that enhance our working relationship and build new partnership opportunities.

• Increase alumnae awareness of and participation in important College programs
• Advance the goals of the College and the Alumnae Association through collaborative initiatives
• Work with the College to translate today’s Mount Holyoke College to alumnae
• Build visibility and reinforce Mount Holyoke’'s distinctive strengths
• Develop and share with the College knowledge about the worldwide alumnae community

Provide current students, faculty, and administrators with a strong and rewarding relationship with the Association by informing them of the benefits available to them and by creating opportunities for students to experience those benefits while still on campus.

• Develop strong and effective networks among alumnae, students, administrators, and faculty through on-campus or Web-based programs that add value for each constituent
• Create targeted communication plans for each group to increase awareness of the Alumnae Association and services available to that group
• Extend selective access to the Online Community to current students and encourage their participation
• Continue to work closely with the SGA Alumnae Student Advisory Committee to strengthen Alumnae Association programming for current students
• Cultivate relationships with faculty that lead to the creation of programs reflective of the campus’s intellectual vibrancy
• Work with all College departments to collect and share alumnae information appropriately in support of departmental programs and goals

Organize the Association’s structure, staff, and volunteer workers to meet the needs and priorities of the Alumnae Association and its members.

• Support Alumnae Association staff and volunteers in their endeavors to meet our strategic goals
• Develop funding strategies to increase the Alumnae Association’s Founder’s Fund endowment
• Configure the board structure to align with emerging needs
• Continue to review annually the Joint Agreement between the College and the Association

Create annual plans that will enable the Association to achieve this multiyear strategic plan.

• Annually, develop detailed tactical plans and timelines
• Use planning and measurement instruments to assess annual progress toward each goal
• Refine priorities and plans to best meet the mission statement and vision statement

• Caroline Fuller Sloat ’65, cochair
• Katie Glockner Seymour ’79, cochair
• Carmen Boston ’84
• Peggy Brumfield Bruton ’57
• Catherine C. Burke ’78,
• Kristen A. B. Comings ’93
• Blair L. McElroy ’95
• Jennifer L. Mele ’93,
• Aili Petersen ’02
• Linda Ing Phelps ’86
• Cynthia L. Reed ’80
• Ex officio: W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, Alumnae Association executive director
• Susan Beers Betzer ’65, Alumnae Association president

There is no ‘they.’ There are no people who are fundamentally different from us in ways that matter. There is no ‘they,’ there is only us, all of us. To divide humanity into ‘us’ and ‘them’ naturalizes injustice. — Holly Hanson, associate professor of history, baccalaureate address, 2002