I want to pause to offer our congratulations to the students who are graduating at the end of this semester. The May 2013 graduating class will be the first to automatically become members of the SIUE Alumni Association. As you may have heard, we have eliminated the dues paying model which helped establish the programs, services, and scholarships for the Association for its first 40 years. Now we are using an all-inclusive, non-dues model which will retroactively welcome anyone who has ever graduated from SIUE into Association membership. For those of you who made the choice to purchase lifetime memberships, we now consider you to be holders of Premium Membership status. We can now focus our attention on delivering the services most highly sought by our graduates, including higher levels of career services, programs, and opportunities for engagement. Funding for those programs will be generated by an increase in the graduation fee paid by each student upon completion of their degree. This will provide the Association with a consistent revenue stream which can enable us to better plan, budget, and provide for the needs of our alumni and students. Please feel free to offer suggestions and comments on the plan as well as those services you feel would be beneficial.
Steve Jankowski ‘74
Director of Alumni Affairs
