HOW MANY University students remember that they owe the Alumni Association $350, payable in a lump sum or in an installment plan, upon their graduation? According to the Alumni Association's Web site, one-third of all U.Va. students are members of the association and will owe dues following their graduation; however, many of these students signed up for this $350 plus debt only a week into their first year at events such as the First-Year Food Fest or the Student Activities Fair, lured by the offer of a free U.Va. Nalgene water bottle and failing to consider actually paying such a sum of money so soon after graduation.
The University of Virginia Alumni Association has a responsibility to its young alumni to ensure that they understand fully what they are agreeing to before signing up for the benefits of the organization and, furthermore, ought delay or redesign the initial sign-up process so that students might better consider whether or not they would like to owe such a large sum upon graduation.
The Alumni Association boasts the membership of 34 percent of all University graduates, with more and more joining every year. The Association certainly has a responsibility to attract as many graduates as possible, and this process is considerably easier if those graduates join while still enrolled as students when their connections with the University are strongest. But asking first years to commit to a payment nearly four years in advance is almost ridiculous. No student can say within the first week of his or her time at the University whether or not he or she will be financially able (or financially willing) to pay $350 or more soon after graduation. Students are not provided with a full description of the benefits of the Association if they choose to join within their first few days here.
The current process of recruiting students in the beginning of their time at college is flawed because so many students will, inevitably, sign up for the organization without considering the ramifications of that decision and then, four years hence, owe a debt that they are not willing or able to pay. Many students, too, will sign up without actually knowing what benefits the organization can offer, and the information provided after sign-up does little to make this information more available. Indeed, a student would have to actively seek to find out what services the Association provides when this information ought to be understood by all members.
Even the installment plans, potentially designed to fit a student budget, do not offer a better solution. No matter the case, a first year who signed up for the Alumni Association at the very beginning will end up owing between $350 and $450 within the first seven years after graduation. The current options for alumni joining after their days as a student is only a little more expensive ($400 to $500 over up to seven years) than the student plans, and despite the increase in cost, these plans are more reasonable because they allow for a conscious decision, rather than a thoughtless signature to the page within the first week of college.
Assistant Director of Membership Beth Gardner said in an interview that "all programs and services are available to all alumni, but members help provide these services and receive extra benefits and priorities in the process." When asked about the reasoning behind such an early sign-up for the Association, Gardner said that the University "is one of very few universities that reaches out to students from the very beginning." The Alumni Association is designed to allow students to connect to other alumni even while they are students, and Gardner stressed that this begins during the undergraduate experience.
Students could be better informed as undergraduates if the Association were to send out periodic information via mail or e-mail to all students -- not just members -- stressing the many services they provide. Also, while the organization gains many of its student members in the first few days of school, it should focus more on older students -- third and fourth years -- who might benefit more from the Association's programs and connections. These students are closer to graduating and closer to actually being alumni.
While it is possible for those who initially join the Alumni Association to cancel their membership (and their payments) by notifying the Alumni Association whenever they would like to terminate the membership, the Association should, through its own merit, be able to attract a sufficient number of young alumni without roping them into an agreement four years before it comes to term. The Alumni Association has a responsibility to its young members to let them know more about the benefits of the Association, rather than encouraging students to sign up and never use the services provided.
Elizabeth Mills is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint writer.
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