UCI Alumni Association   

Dear Anteater community,

For nearly 50 years, the UCI Alumni Association has prioritized enriching the lives of alumni and engaging them in a lifelong advancement of our university. We have worked hard to become the hub and the home for more than 166,000 alumni in our Anteater family, many of whom work on campus today.

Our alumni base continues to grow – in size, diversity and location. We now have alumni in dozens of countries around the world. By 2020, UCI will have more than 200,000 alumni. We’ve also grown at home. In recent years, we’ve seen the addition of a beautiful new alumni center, a very enthusiastic board of directors and new leadership.

To build upon our great momentum and focus on our brilliant future, UCIAA staff and volunteers have developed a strategic plan for 2016-18 built on solid research, industry best practices and alumni and leadership input. We learned that more strategic communications, expanded global partnerships, new technologies and a data-driven approach to engagement are key.

The plan is based upon three main areas:

• Alumni as a Bridge to the Community – develop a culture that welcomes alumni and community participation
• Culture of Engagement – foster lifelong Anteater pride among students beginning with their first encounter with the university
• Support the Careers of our Students and Alumni – create a powerful, scalable career support program for students and young alumni

These pillars will serve as our roadmap. With your support, we will build a strong central team and become an excellent partner that provides strong centralized communications, high quality events for alumni, inspirational event space, cutting edge IT interface, a robust network of chapters, and a powerful measurement system to show the return on investment.

In order for UCI to continue to thrive, it is important to make sure our alumni stay informed about the university, enjoy new programs and activities, strengthen their ties to the campus through our chapters and actively connect with what makes UCI a phenomenal institution long before they graduate and leave the campus. Faculty and staff have a significant hand in these focus areas. Your UCI pride and interaction with students today plays a vital role in engaging our alumni of tomorrow.

When UCI invests in the lives and careers of its current and former students, they go on to truly value their relationship with the university. Involved alumni are our ambassadors, sharing their time, talent and treasure, which in turn provides more opportunities for faculty, staff and students.

UCIAA is here to help each school, department and unit hone its strategy. Let’s continue the journey together and strengthen the Anteater Network.

Sincerely,

Barney Ellis-Perry

CEO, UCI Alumni Association
Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni Relations