Message from Peter Van Flein
June 23, 2020
Dear Fellow Alumni and Friends of the University,
For the past five years I have served on the UAF Alumni Association board, including as its president for the last three years. Quite a lot has occurred in that time and I would like to take this opportunity to update the community on our accomplishments.
At the beginning of my tenure, the UAFAA board and executive director worked together to update the organization’s strategic plan, its bylaws and a new Memorandum of Agreement with then-Chancellor Brian Rogers to better outline our relationship with the university. We created new board member job descriptions and moved our voting process online, significantly lowering the cost to the organization and increasing participation.
We have also encouraged university leaders to shape the annual Blue and Gold Gala into a more UAF-focused event and to leverage the gathering to raise funds for the university. We streamlined our awards to include two annual recognitions, the Distinguished Alumnus Award and the William R. Cashen Service Award. We changed the date of the Nanook Rendezvous alumni reunion to align with the community’s Golden Days celebration in the summer. And we launched an online engagement platform called Nanook Network where alumni can find classmates, mentor students and make professional contacts.
We ar