Welcome from the President

Welcome to the home of the CUSSW Alumni Association.  As the new President, I look forward to an exciting two years strengthening our Association.  Always remember, this is your Association and the more involved you are, the stronger we become.

We realize that many of you do not live or work in the New York City area, so we are working diligently at bringing CUSSW to you.  The Office of Development and Alumni Relations is organizing many regional events to keep you connected to the School and to your colleagues and classmates in your locale.  Many of these events are hosted at the homes of alumni and I’d like to thank all those who have volunteered to work with us in our outreach efforts.  I encourage everyone who has attended a regional event to stay connected with those who you have met – meet for lunch, coffee or cocktails; participate in a University sponsored event or activity; start a book or journal article club – and assist the School in expanding outreach by volunteering to be an alumni contact for new graduates, or by calling alumni to let them know of an upcoming activity or event, etc. 

Also, technology today allows you to participate on committees via conference call.  Our current list of committees is available through the Alumni Office, so please contact them if you would like to join a committee.  If you live in the tri-state area, opportunities exist for attending lectures and local events.  Please check the calendar often as it is updated regularly.

I am pleased to announce that the number of registered users in our online community, AlumniConnect, is growing daily.  AlumniConnect now has many active discussion groups and keeps you connected to colleagues and classmates.  You can update your profile, post a class note, search for alumni based on, among other things, method or field of practice, and more!  All you need is a UNI and password to log in.  Visit the site at http://www.alumniconnections.com/cussw.  If you need assistance logging in, the Alumni Office will be happy to help you.

This year, in addition to celebrating the Golden and Silver Anniversary Classes, we are encouraging EVERYONE who graduated in a year ending with a 3 or an 8 to participate in the reunion dinner.  The dinner will be held on Friday, May 2, 2008 (location TBD) and will be held in conjunction with the Annual Conference (Saturday, May 3, 2008).  If you would like to help by getting your classmates together for the reunion, please let us know! 

Please call the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 212-851-2375 and inquire about the many opportunities and benefits associated with the Association, including reading privileges at the library, and email forwarding.  I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at an upcoming CUSSW event.

Penny J. Schwartz ‘73

President, CUSSW Alumni Association
sw-alumpresident@columbia.edu