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College Alumni Association Establishes National Council he Columbia College Alumni Association (CCAA) has established a new National Council for interested and active alumni who are unable to meet regularly in New York City. According to Carlos R. Muñoz, president of the CCAA, the new council is an adjunct to the Association's Board of Directors and an important new effort to reach out to College alumni across the country and around the world.
"The National Council replaces the former Regional Board structure, which made no requirements of its membership," said Muñoz. "Alumni attended meetings when they could and usually could not. The National Council, however, meets annually with the CCAA Board in New York and holds regular meetings in the East, Midwest and West. "Alumni in these areas have begun ongoing work projects in the areas of student recruitment, job placement and fund-raising. Meetings in each of the pilot cities—Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles—were held over the past year and efforts will be expanded this year with an eye to eventually 'roll-out' to other cities around the world." The National Council consists of approximately 100 members who live across the country and in such international locations as London, Paris and Singapore. It is led by Marshall Front, CC'58, with the support of Dean of Students Roger Lehecka, CC'67. This year's joint meeting with the Alumni Association Board will be held on Oct. 24, the day before the homecoming football game against Yale, and will feature President George Rupp as a speaker. Part of that meeting will be devoted to the CCAA's ongoing efforts to implement the recommendations in its 1993 "Report on the Future of Columbia College," which listed a series of recommendations in areas of the quality of student services and facilities, maintaining and improving the core curriculum, and changing the financial reporting system of the College. The Association meeting will also focus on the issues involved in the College's Enhancement and Enlargement Program, relations between College fund-raising activities and those of the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations, and the establishment of an endowment to support the core curriculum. Other items to be considered include an update on the renovations of Butler Library, a College football highlight film, and the work of Association committees in admissions and financial aid, athletics, communications, facilities and the quality of student life. Muñoz also announced the establishment of the Alumni Development Committee under the direction of CCAA Vice President Suzanne Waltman, CC'87, to focus on involving more younger alumni in Columbia activities. The committee has 50 members and last year sponsored three alumni events that involved about 500 College graduates, primarily from the classes of 1987 through 1996. In addition to being a Columbia College graduate, Muñoz holds a master's degree in economics from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the College Board of Visitors. He is executive vice president in charge of credit and risk management for Dime Bancorp.
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