Organizational Structure

To form a new MSU international alumni club or to reorganize an inactive club requires a firm desire and commitment by a pivotal group of local MSU alumni and friends of the University. When forming or reactivating an international club, there are the additional challenges of greater distance between alumni and fewer opportunities to return to the University and gain first-hand support. The MSU Alumni Association recognizes these dynamics and suggests the following steps for organizing an international alumni club.

How to Start or Manage an MSU International Alumni Club

1. Want to start an MSU alumni group in your country/region?  Contact us! See additional contact information for Patrick Scheetz on the main International Clubs page.
2. Spartan Alumni Ambassadors – What are their responsibilities and duties?
3. Start a New Club or reorganize an inactive club?
4. Select and contact a nucleus of four to six key MSU alumni to form an organizational committee. Call a meeting to decide the date, time, and place for an organizational meeting. Invite all MSU alumni in the club area.
5. Finance, prepare, and mail announcements of the organizational meeting to all alumni within the club area. Contact Patrick Scheetz for addresses of MSU alumni and other assistance.
6. Club Officers – Duties and responsibilities of Alumni Club officers (job descriptions). Identify a president, vice president/president-elect, secretary/treasurer, and at least two board of directors members. Distribute job descriptions with clearly defined duties and responsibilities.

7. Model Bylaws for MSU International Alumni Clubs.

8. The MSU Alumni Association is always looking for MSU alumni ambassadors in every country and especially in countries without an MSU international alumni ambassador.

9. Club Web Space for MSU Alumni Clubs (FREE)

10. Club Event Plans – Publicize upcoming club events.  Club Event Reports:  Report your Club's events for the MSU Alumni Magazine and for the eNews sent to MSU international alumni.

Club Boundaries

International alumni club boundaries are defined with participation from local alumni and may include entire cities or a country.

Building Affiliation

The decision to organize an MSU international alumni club should be based upon the degree of local interest shown by alumni in the surrounding community. The degree of interest can be determined usually by a mail survey. More recently, email surveys have been used. Two factors that are critical in the decision to organize a club are the number of alumni who show an interest and the number of alumni volunteers who are willing to operate the club on a regular basis.

Minimum numbers of volunteers needed in this regard vary according to geographical location of the club and the range of programs the club assumes. Ten alumni volunteers that are available at a given time and committed to keeping the club alive are a good starting minimum.

Local Volunteers Required

The single most important action this is required of a new club president is the recruitment of other alumni volunteers to assist with running the club. By having others to help, you not only ease your load as club president, but you also give other club members a reason for being involved. Further, you minimize the likelihood of the club members perceiving the international alumni club as exclusively belonging to you and accordingly building expectations on that misperception. The sooner the members see the club as the product of volunteer efforts from many MSU alumni and friends, the sooner they are likely to offer their own efforts to ensure the club's success. In other words, as the members feel ownership of the club, they will commit themselves to its success.

Assistance from the MSU Alumni Association

The MSU Alumni Association stands ready to work collaboratively with alumni throughout the world to organize or reorganize an international alumni club. To this end, the MSUAA will provide a range of services including advice, printing and mailing, and supplying materials such as green pens, name tags, flags, and display items to facilitate the convening of initial meetings.

First Organizational Meeting

Convene the initial organizational meeting of the international alumni club and invite all MSU alumni and friends that have expressed an interest in becoming actively involved. Schedule a convenient time and date at an accessible location. When setting the meeting date, allow sufficient time for delivery of meeting announcements.

1. Draft Bylaws for the club by using the sample bylaws provided by the MSU Alumni Association. Present the club's proposed Bylaws.
2. Present the slate of candidates for the club officer positions and for members of the club's board of directors. Nominations should be taken from the floor. Officers and directors should be elected by majority vote.
3. Introduce the club's objectives and proposed activities.
4. Choose committee chairpersons for the following suggested committees: Activities, Publicity, Nominating, Program, and Bylaws.
5. For the club's records, list the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of those in attendance. Collect email addresses too.
6. Send a report of the meeting to the Assistant Director for International Alumni Clubs at the MSU Alumni Association. Include a list of club officers and board members. In addition, send a copy of the club's new Bylaws.
7. The MSU Alumni Association will issue a Charter for presentation at the next general meeting of your international alumni club.

General Suggestions for Club Events:

When budgets permit, you might mail club event announcements, emails, and newsletters to all alumni in your geographical area to heighten their awareness of the club's existence and the activities it sponsors.

Contact the Office of International Students and Scholars, 103 Center for International Programs, to obtain information about students from your area that are studying at MSU. Invite the student during vacation periods to participate in club activities. Help them to see themselves as members of the alumni community.

Offer a variety of programming. The club's alumni community is diverse and its leadership and programs should reflect this diversity.

Remember that some events will generate greater or smaller attendance numbers than others. Low attendance for a single event should not be reason for concern. The total attendance figures for a year are a stronger measure of alumni interest.

Schedule speakers from your local community whenever possible. As examples, office holders, public servants, local dignitaries, business people, and students might be invited. Indeed, anyone that has an interesting and informative message for club members might be asked.

MSU alumni that are in the hospitality business and the media can be helpful resources when planning alumni club events.

Ideas for Club Events

As club president, you will receive copies of event announcements and newsletters published by other alumni clubs. When reviewing these publications, you might notice the range of events and activities that the clubs organize. While the range is extensive, most alumni club events are designed to bring together MSU alumni and friends for social purposes. There are secondary purposes such as scholarship fund raising, educational or cultural enrichment, or varying formats, or themes which will distinguish one activity from the next. As you and your board plan club activities, it may be helpful to remember that some activities work better in some communities rather than in others.

Indeed, some alumni communities are not as diverse as others, nor are they as rich in resources, nor as blessed with a strong sense of community. You and your board will know better than anyone else what will work best in your community. In any case, clubs have the greatest success when they begin with a modest schedule rather than an ambitious one. In some instances, it takes alumni longer to warm to the notion of alumni club activities.