Established in 1866, the Pitt Alumni Association is a member service organization dedicated to serving the needs of more than 260,000 addressable alumni worldwide.  The Office of Alumni Relations within the Division of Institutional Advancement provides the administrative support for the Pitt Alumni Association. 

The organization is staffed by nineteen (19) alumni relations colleagues who are responsible for a variety of programs and alumni services including:  strategic planning, awards, career networking, student relations, learning and travel programs, communications, homecoming, reunions and special events, international network of alumni clubs, councils and affinity groups, governmental advocacy, marketing, membership, student recruitment and scholarship programs.  The Alumni Relations staff works with alumni professionals from the 16 schools and colleges.

The Association is governed by a 70-member volunteer Board of Directors, representative of the entire University community and more than 100 constituent groups and area representatives.  The board establishes policy, develops business objectives, and reviews progress.  An associate vice chancellor serves as the executive director of the Association.

Historically, the Pitt Alumni Association has been an underdeveloped asset and has been funded at a lower level than comparable AAU institutions.  The Association increased its total budget dramatically in the recent past due to the establishment of a variety of entrepreneurial marketing activities, including the initiation of a membership dues program and affinity credit card programs. 

In FY’05 the Association developed a new three-year rolling strategic plan involving 63 stakeholders. This process involved the services of two outside consultants from UCLA and Purdue.  The association’s strategic plans have created a common vision for the work of the Association among Association and University leadership.  Outlined below are some of the highlights of the Association’s programs since the early 1990’s:

• Between 1992 and 2007 the number of constituent organizations grew from 45 to 110 (including clubs, councils, societies and area representatives including 24 in foreign countries).

• The number of alumni sponsored scholarships, ranging in size of award from $2,000 to $36,000, rose from four in 1992 to 60 in 2007.  Eleven freshman send-off events were conducted in FY’07.

• The Pitt Alumni Recruitment Team (PART), founded in 1993 and co-sponsored by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, now boasts more than 1500 volunteers located in 46 states who participate in more than 500 programs annually.
  

• Sponsor for Pitt Athletics providing greater visibility for the association.  The association also provided pre-game events for football and basketball.

• The Pitt Alumni Association launched two online annual reports resulting in significant savings of $50,000 annually.

• The Pitt Alumni Association Web site generates more than 1.2 million hits a year.

• The Pitt Alumni Online Community, begun in 1999, has attracted more than 25,000 registered members.  Alumni can take advantage of the online community features, including a searchable alumni directory.

• In July 2001, the first issue of “The Pitt Connection,” an email newsletter, was launched. Today more than 85,000 alumni receive the monthly email newsletter.  In FY ‘07, the PAA delivered more than 1,000,000 email messages to alumni. 

• The Pitt Alumni Association initiated the Pathways to Professions Event, a major effort to facilitate career networking between students and alumni which attracts more than 500 participants during homecoming weekend.

• The Pitt Alumni Association in conjunction with the Office of Career Services launched the Pitt Career Network (PCN), a new alumni and student career module.  The PCN has more than 4,500 volunteers with more than 29,000 searches.

• Formed in 1994, the Alumni Legislative Network’s roster of more than 450 volunteers serve as advocates for higher education in general and Pitt in particular on both the local and Commonwealth levels.  The program is co-sponsored by the Office of Governmental Relations. 

• The Blue and Gold Society, founded in 1992 by the Pitt Alumni Association in cooperation with the Office of Student Affairs, serves as the Association’s student ambassador organization on campus and hosted more than 100 events this past year.  CASE recognized the Blue and Gold Society as the top student advancement organization in 2000.  Currently, there are 42 students from the Oakland Campus who are members of this group.  Bradford Campus’s Blue & Gold chapter was organized in 1999, and has 16 students. The Johnstown Campus organized their chapter in the Fall of 2003, and has 10 members.  The Blue and Gold Society now serves as the sole sponsor for the Homecoming King and Queen event at Homecoming.
  
  
• After lengthy benchmarking and research, the Pitt Alumni Association recognized the future is with students and the PAA needed to be more visible among the student population.  Therefore, the Student Alumni Association Program (SAA) was launched in July, 2007 and is a comprehensive membership program for students.   In FY’07 more than 770 students joined the SAA.  “Pitt alumni student membership …it’s just what you do.”

• The comprehensive membership dues program, begun in FY ‘95, today has a paid membership exceeding 22,000, including more than 5,500 life members.

• The Pitt Alumni Association has established twelve Pitt Club scholarship funds totaling about $400,000 in cash.

The Pitt Alumni Association’s new Strategic Plan adopted in July 2005 is consistent with the resolutions established by the University’s Board of Trustees (February, 1997).  The resolutions included priorities of:

• Aggressively pursuing excellence in undergraduate education
• Partnering in community development
• Maintaining excellence in research
• Securing an adequate resource base
• Ensuring operational efficiency and effectiveness

In accordance with the above five priorities Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and the Alumni Association leadership identified four strategic directions for the association’s new strategic plan and these are outlined below:

• Financial Strength
• Student Involvement
• Communications
• Partnerships

updated: 02-28-2008