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Back to Story List: April 2002

By Diane Krehmeyer
Cavalier Daily Alumni Association President

The Cavalier Daily Alumni Association will be 20 years old in the year 2003. Not surprisingly, over the course of 20 years, both the CDAA and the organization that we support, The Cavalier Daily, have changed substantially.

Both groups have increased their membership, improved their financial stability, and are established members of the University and alumni community that operate with greater responsibility and freedom than in 1983.

In the face of these changes, the CDAA Board of Directors decided this year to embark on a strategic planning process designed to assess the current strategic efforts of the CDAA and better refine the direction of the organization.

The CDAA last conducted a strategic planning process in 1994, which involved only the four then-members of the executive committee. While that strategic plan successfully received full board support for implementation, this time we decided to open the session to all interested board members, compiling an eight-member committee for more thorough input and discussion.

These individuals participated in an all-day meeting on March 9, 2002, at the home of board member Bob Cullen in Chevy Chase, Md., and developed the initial draft of what will become the strategic plan for the CDAA for the next five years.

I would like to take the opportunity here to thank the following CDAA board members who joined me as members of the Strategic Planning Committee: Andrew Csontos (’95), Bob Cullen (’70), Michael Fagan (’79), Lisa Guernsey (’93), Scott Ramsey (’92), Candice Shepherd (’97), and Gregory Trevor (’86). Their time and effort is appreciated.

The meeting was quite productive and followed the standard process for strategic planning: A review of the organizational mission and past accomplishments, an environmental assessment, the creation of an organizational vision, and the development of subsequent strategic goals and action plans.

Self-assessment is always a therapeutic process, and having the time to discuss in detail the strengths and weaknesses of our organization as well as our future plans was extremely refreshing. We acknowledged that we really ought to undergo this process more frequently!

While I would love to share all the outputs of the meeting here, I do want to stress that the session itself is really only the beginning of the strategic planning process.

The results of the discussions have been compiled into a draft strategic plan, which is currently being edited by the committee members. Once it has been fully edited, it will be presented to the full CDAA board of directors in its entirety for review and approval at the fall 2002 board meeting in Charlottesville.

Upon receiving board approval to implement the recommended action plans, we will then share the entire strategic plan with the membership of the CDAA, via College Topics and our web site, www.cdalumni.org.

While the strategic plan has taken a great deal of time, it has not hindered the CDAA from continuing our ongoing mission-related efforts.

For example, Program Director Sarah Lindenfeld Hall organized the first workshop of the year on April 6, featuring Joanna Kakissis, a reporter from the Raleigh News and Observer and adjunct journalism professor at N.C. State, who spoke to CD staffers on newswriting.

Also, the Scholarship Committee awarded the three CDAA-sponsored scholarships to CD staff members John McArdle (Herring), Brady Wolfe (Pierson) and Laura Parcells (CDAA/VPA) at the Cavalier Daily’s Spring Cocktail party on April 12 (for more information, see left).

And as always, CDAA Events Chair Mandy Biles has organized the CD Open House during Reunions Weekend. If you are in town on June 8, please drop by the CD offices from 4-6 p.m. for cocktails and appetizers and to visit with the current CD staff.

Having been a part of this organization for about half of its lifetime, I am proud to reflect on all that the CDAA has accomplished, and look forward to sharing with you our plans for the next few years.