1. Purpose

   To provide colleges, schools, departments, sanctioned student organizations and interest groups, and alumni at-large with policies and implementation procedures for establishing alumni organizations and for sponsoring alumni activities with the primary purpose of promoting the mission and purpose of Ohio university.

2. Policy

   Ohio university officially recognizes only one alumni association. The Ohio university alumni association in accordance with its bylaws and directives must charter all alumni organizations, clubs, groups, societies or corporate partners. Failure to conform to the following procedures can result in the revocation of the group's charter.

3. Procedures

   1. Establishment of alumni organizations

      1. The Ohio university alumni association, the official alumni association of the institution, grants charters to alumni groups. These groups may represent colleges, schools, departments, groups based on interests or affiliations, corporate entities or organizations, or be based on a geographic location where critical masses of alumni reside. The alumni association recommends the designation "Society of Alumni and Friends" for university entities (i.e., college, school, department or interest group organizations); "Chapter" for geographically based organizations; and "Partner" for groups based on corporate or other programmatic affiliation. The term "association" may not be used for an alumni constituent group's designation.

      2. The assistant vice president for alumni relations at Ohio university, or his or her designee, shall be contacted about procedures for establishing constituent alumni groups. The bylaws of the Ohio university alumni association define the procedures for establishment of such organizations. Adherence to these procedures is required of all groups desiring to form alumni organizations. The procedures outline the requirements pertaining to membership and administrative policy for these organizations.

   2. Sponsorship of alumni activities

      1. Role of the office of alumni relations

         The office of alumni relations will assist university units planning or sponsoring alumni activities on campus.

      2. Communication

         1. The office of alumni relations, which coordinates all alumni association programs, must be consulted in advance of all planned alumni activities sponsored by colleges, schools, and departments of the institution. Announcements of alumni activities and programs must first be reviewed and approved with the office of alumni relations to ensure that no scheduling conflicts occur, and advancement communication and marketing to ensure that style and brand guidelines are met.

         2. All communications from the alumni organizations, including minutes of meetings, announcements of events, agendas, newsletters, flyers, and web pages must be reviewed on a regular basis with the office of alumni relations and advancement communication and marketing staff. Official publications must state that the organization is officially chartered by, recognized by, and affiliated with the Ohio university alumni association. (Please refer to Policy 31.010, "Publication of Periodicals Distributed to Off-Campus Audiences," for procedures concerning periodicals and newsletters distributed off campus.)

      3. Mailing lists

         1. Advancement services will assist units and departments by providing convenient, timely retrieval of information, including online access and the generation of mailing lists for delivery to the Ohio university mailroom (or other approved mail house or vendor), and the generation of email lists for use by advancement communication and marketing (ACM) on behalf of units and departments, as needed.

         2. ACM provides broadcast email services to Ohio staff and alumni volunteers.

         3. Advancement services does not provide postal or email mailing list files (e.g. .csv or .xlsx files) to units, departments or other partners.

         4. Alumni groups, colleges, units and departments needing support in connecting with alumni and friends should contact their Ohio alumni association liaison by phone at 740-597-4300 or by e-mail at alumni@ohio.edu.

      4. Fund raising

         Alumni organizations must consult the office of development if they plan to conduct fund-raising projects. (Please refer to Policy 37.001, "Fund Raising from Private Sources.") Likewise, any alumni organization that desires to charge dues must first consult the office of alumni relations.

      5. Logo design

         The Ohio university alumni association utilizes the official university logo, an official associated brand logo, and/or an accompanying Ohio alumni association mark. One of these logos must be a component of all printed materials of alumni organizations and must be a component of the home page of any alumni organization's Web site.

      6. Services

         The Ohio university alumni association sponsors a number of special membership service programs for all alumni. These include an alumni travel program, life and health insurance, a merchandising program, credit card program, and web services program. alumni organizations are not permitted to sponsor special service programs without prior approval of the assistant vice president, alumni relations.

Reviewers

Proposed revisions of this policy should be reviewed by:

1. Executive Staff Policy Review Committee

2. Advancement leadership

3. Dean of Students

4. Academic Deans

5. OIT Security Office

6. University Communications and Marketing

Forms, References, and History

1. Forms

   The following forms are specific to this policy:

   1. The "Information Services List/Label Request" forms are available from Advancement Services (advinfo@ohio.edu).

2. References

   There are no items relevant to this policy.

3. History

   Draft versions of this policy that were circulated for review, their cover memos, their forms, and Reviewers' comments on them are available on the password-protected Review site.

   Prior versions of this policy were approved on:

   1. March 31, 2003

   2. January 13, 1989

   3. May 28, 1985