Welcome (back) dear alumni!
Here we are again with another UCAA Newsletter; we are trying to use our other mediums such as Facebook and LinkedIn to keep you posted about the whereabouts of our community; and you have also been very active in responding to our events and calls, that gives us extra motives and incentives to continue our work.
Like always most of our work is behind the scenes: We facilitated the publication of the 10th edition of the Post magazine despite all the financial barriers, and it was not only “bigger” than the previous editions but it was also published on higher volume and sent to a selected number of companies and your parents, namely those who are currently residing in the Netherlands to show them a glimpse of what we – as the alumni – are doing and the money they spent on our education at UCU has not all gone to waste. We are very proud of the Post magazine and we would like to thank the editorial board of Post for all their work throughout these years.
We are following through the Strategic Outlook which we shared with you last year (to be found here). Our annual report (to be found here) is approved by UCU Management Team and our audit is conducted with transparency. We are very proud to have lowered our overhead costs to less than 10%; and this is very much in line with our strategy for our financial sustainability; in the same path we have approached external sponsors for Post and our other activities. Over 2015, the board worked tirelessly to sustain the other aspects of our foundation: we have shifted the structure of the organization from “individual-based” to “position-based” meaning that the activities of every section is “continued” after the departure of the person holding that position rather than being “invented” again. As a volunteer-based organization this was one of our biggest challenges over the years.
As of Spring 2016, we are rolling out another step of our strategy for financial sustainability: we are promoting and encouraging the members of the community – aka YOU – to become a donor for UCAA. As of Spring 2016 our events are only free of charge for UCAA donors (and the recent graduates i.e. the ones graduated in the last 5 years). As explained in our Strategic Outlook, we need to diversify our resources and your contribution is an integral part of our bigger plan.
We also would like to thank two of our departed members namely Esther Kieft (’11) and Thijs Olthof (’14) who contributed significantly to our growth. And we are welcoming two new board members: Tycho Sikkenk (’12), who filled the treasurer position and Lot Wagemakers (‘11) as the new events coordinator.
We all look forward to the coming year full of events and new ideas.
Your UCAA Board
Events!
UCAA PubQuiz, 9th April
Same as every year, we are bringing you a PubQuiz! Come and join us in the UCSA bar on the 9th of April for some fun with old friends!
You can come with an already formed team (up to 5 people) or just join a team on the spot!
Changing your address in our records!
Have you been receiving our Alumni magazine the Post? Every half year when the Post is published, a number of copies are returned to us as undelivered. Please forward to us your current posting address at info@ucaa.nl and we will take care of the update!
