Harris School Commissions Alumni Board Task Force
September 22, 2010
In a growing effort to better connect alumni to their alma mater, the Harris School of Public Policy Studies has formed a task force to help establish the graduate school’s first alumni board.
“We don’t have a formal way for alumni to engage with the School right now,” said Don Laackman, MPP’09, a principal at Civic Consulting Alliance and chairman of the task force. “An official board is a key component to making sure people feel more connected.”
On September 13, the 12-member committee of former Harris School class leaders held its first meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Chicago—hosted by alumna Kandice Berridge, MPP’06—to discuss where to begin. Over the coming months, the group will make recommendations on how to structure the new board, which will be charged with a number of responsibilities to help connect Harris School alumni to students, the School, and other alumni.
These responsibilities include:
• Working with the Career Development Office in identifying employment and internship opportunities for current Harris School students.
• Aiding the Admissions Office with encouraging prospective students to pursue a degree at the Harris School.
• Assisting the Office of External Affairs in raising participation in the Harris School’s annual fund.
• Expanding alumni-to-alumni networking opportunities around the world.
Established in 1987, the Harris School is the youngest graduate school at the University of Chicago. In the past decade, its enrollment has increased dramatically, with 56 percent of all alumni graduating after the year 2000. Until now, reaching out to this growing alumni body has require one-on-one contact from staff members like Colleen Peterson, director of external affairs. But with almost 2,200 alumni currently living all over the world, and more graduating each year, she says getting more alumni involvement is critical for sustaining a rich and vibrant Harris School community.
The alumni board task force will meet again in November to propose a mission statement and recommend initial steps toward assembling the Alumni Board, which the Harris School expects to accomplish by the end the fiscal year. “Nobody knows the Harris School program better than our degree holders,” Peterson says. “Their input into our student and alumni programming is critical to our continued growth.”
Contact Information
Communications Office
Phone: 773-702-7681
