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The Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) is an organization of individuals committed to providing opportunities for enhancing the role of former students in support of higher education. CAAE is composed of chief executive officers of alumni associations representing many of the nation's leading educational institutions. CAAE is committed to the recognition of alumni as a vital constituency within the university community.
The CAAE CREED is a statement of the collective beliefs of the individual members of CAAE. It represents their commitment to advancing higher education through alumni involvement and the professional development of CAAE members. The following articles are statements of these beliefs in summary form and are meant to present guidelines for the university community to better understand the diversity of opportunities for alumni service.
ARTICLE 1
Alumni have a lifelong commitment to their alma mater. Their capacity and ability to serve are limited only by opportunities for service made available to them. Their willingness to volunteer is limited only to the extent those opportunities are presented in ways that capture their interest and encourage their involvement.
ARTICLE 2
The campus community has traditionally emphasized the need for collective input from its varying constituencies for effective institutional governance. Such constituencies are often limited to students, faculty, staff and administration. CAAE believes that alumni should play an important role in providing input based on their views of the quality of their educational experience as demonstrated in their professional, vocational and personal lives.
ARTICLE 3
Alumni involvement is enhanced when alumni have opportunities to establish priorities and levels of service consistent with institutional values. Such service is accomplished best within an environment that appreciates that alumni self-expression and an independent voice are of great value to the educational enterprise.
ARTICLE 4
The recognized opportunities for alumni service include, but are not limited to, enhancing private and public support; recruiting students; identifying, communicating and advocating institutional needs to a greater public; helping in the design of educational products to meet societal needs, and assisting in developing a campus environment of quality, diversity and integrity.
ARTICLE 5
CAAE believes that alumni professionals are capable of providing a unique insight that results from their participation both within the campus community and in their relationships with alumni in a broader external environment.
ARTICLE 6
CAAE believes that there are a variety of organizational frameworks for implementing an effective alumni relations program. However, it is important that, regardless of specific structure, provisions be made for opportunities for alumni to chart their own approaches for service consistent with institutional goals.
ARTICLE 7
Alumni opportunities for self-funding programs in support of institutional goals are predicated on a strong combination of volunteer and professional leadership. Such leadership is committed to income-producing programs that stand the tests of quality, integrity, service and, when appropriate, educational content. Entrepreneurial activities to support organizational funding, scholarships, faculty and student recognitions as well as programs of service and communication are to be encouraged as long as they meet the aforementioned criteria and are consistent with good business practice.
ARTICLE 8
CAAE believes that an alumni professional should be viewed as an educational statesperson capable of articulating institutional goals and needs. The alumni professional is frequently seen as the singular daily contact between the institution and a primary constituency. As such, the professional needs to be a two-way communicator, representing the interests of both alumni and their alma mater.
ARTICLE 9
CAAE believes that college and university presidents should value a strong, constructive and independent alumni voice and encourage the development of programs that enable alumni to be full partners within the university community. To further encourage such participation alumni professionals should be given the opportunity to participate in senior level deliberations and thereby provide special insights into decision-making and governance.
ARTICLE 10
CAAE shares the common belief of the entire university community, that higher education is fundamental to the quality of life for our society and its people. We believe that personal happiness, the prospect for resolving societal challenges and a peaceful solution to the problems of peoples and nations is vested in the understanding that comes from education. Therefore, CAAE holds as its highest priority a commitment to maximize the opportunities for educated people (alumni) to assist in all ways possible the higher educational enterprise.
This creed was adopted unanimously at the annual meeting of the Council of Alumni Association Executives on July 29, 2003.
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