MMM Charter Development

MMM ALUMNI COUNCIL BOARD CHARTER
[Working Document - please comment.] Comments: Even though I drafted this, it seems overly "rules-based" to me. What do you think? We need to have a fairly well defined structure, but making it "fun" and "voluntarily productive" is how we've been most successful.

OBJECTIVE
The MMM Alumni Council will provide a means to enable alumni to continue to benefit from their association with the MMM program while continually enhancing the MMM program via their involvement. The MAC provides a forum to coordinate and leverage the resources of, or associated with, MMM alumni to enable professional benefits. Additionally, the MMM program will optimize its leverage with the MMM alumni to ensure that the program continues to improve in those ways that only an alumni population can enable.

I. Mission

 * 1) Extend "The MMM Bond" beyond graduation and across Classes
 * 2) Provide a communication channel to help MMM Alumni better support the MMM Program (current MMM Students, Co-Directors and Professors) - and vis-versa
 * 3) Foster MMM Alumni Success through a stronger professional network

II. Strategy

 * 1) Establish and maintain good communication channels that fostering friendships/professional relationships across Classes, and help maintain and grow existing friendships/professional relationships within each Class
 * 2) Understand how the MAC can best serve the MMM Alumni population (via periodic surveys)
 * 3) Define a manageable number of Projects/ Events, to meet the needs of the MMM Alumni population
 * 4) Encourage Alumni Participation in Projects/ Events - as a Lead, a Co-Chair, a Supporter, or Participant
 * 5) Conduct periodic Onsite meetings on Northwestern's campus - to "sync up" with MMM Students, MMM Administration, Kellogg Administration, McCormick Administration... and most importantly, with other MMM Alumni [this is a yearly event in the Fall]

A. Organization

 * Class Co-Captains. Co-Captains are the backbone of the MMM Alumni Council (MAC), essential to its success. Each Class shall be represented by two or three Co-Captains, whose primary purpose is:
 * Maintain a Contact List for your Class (strictly Opt-in)
 * Communicate Class input to the MMM ALUM BOARD
 * Communicate updates, events and other programs/initiatives from the MAC to your Class
 * If a Class Co-Captain cannot attend a Conference Call (or the Onsite Meeting) he/she shall coordinate with His/ Her other Class Co-Captain(s) to make sure that your Class is represented.
 * If it is not possible for any Class Co-Captain to attend a call or the onsite, it is the Co-Captain's responsibility to obtain the update from a Steering Committee Member.


 * Ad-Hoc Event/Program Lead. An Ad-Hoc Lead is a short-term role, for Alumni to take a leadership role in defining, planning and executing a specific Event or Program.
 * Ad-Hoc Program Leads may be a Co-Captain, or may be any MMM Alumnus.
 * Great way for a MMM to get involved
 * Events may include Summer Connect Events, other Regional social/ professional events, co-Sponsored events with Kellogg (or other joint MBA/ Master of Engineering programs), etc
 * Programs might include developing a MMM Alumni job board, growing and promoting use of the MMM Linked In Group, helping MMM Students obtain better summer internships, helping MMM Administration and/or Professors find good speakers/ project sponsors among Alumni, charity programs,
 * Time commitment is for the duration of the Event


 * Ad-Hoc Event/Program Volunteer. An Ad-Hoc Volunteer is a short-term role, for Alumni to work with Program Leads in defining, planning and/or executing a specific Event or Program.
 * Ad-Hoc Program Volunteers may be a Co-Captain, or may be any MMM Alumnus.
 * Time commitment is for the duration of the Event


 * Steering Committee Member. The Steering Committee's purpose is propose specific projects for the MMM ALUM BOARD to prioritize.
 * The Steering Committee shall be 5-6 ALUMNI who have the desire, commitment and can make time to be actively involved in shaping the direction of the MMM MMM Alumni Council.
 * The Steering Committee Members shall be elected by the MMM ALUMNI PRESIDENT and approved by a majority of MMM MMM Alumni Council Members
 * The MMM MMM Alumni Council Vice President shall be one of the Steering Committee Members.
 * Steering Committee Members shall commit to a one-year term
 * The Steering Committee MUST consist of at least TWO members from the prior year (former Presidents and Vice Presidents qualify).
 * Ideally, the Steering Committee would include an Alumnus representing each group:
 * "Recent Grads" (within 5 years)
 * "Senior Alumni" (Alumni who graduated in the first 30% of all graduating classes)
 * "The Middle Group" (in between the other two groups)


 * Vice President. The MMM Alumni Board Vice President's role is to be the "Number Two" Alumnus to facilitate the activities of the MMM ALUMNI BOARD to achieve its stated Mission.
 * The Vice President shall be able to stand in for the President when necessary, to coordinate and run occasional conference calls for the full MMM ALUMNI BOARD.
 * Should the President opt to delegate "point-of-contact" responsibilities with any one of the following, the Vice President shall have 'right of first refusal': MMM Advisory Board, Kellogg Administration, McCormick Administration and the MMM SEC President.
 * The Vice President shall have 'right of first refusal' to assume the President's role after the President has served his/her term.
 * The Vice President shall be able to select two of the Steering Committee members, subject to the approval of the President.


 * President. The MMM Alumni Board President's role is to facilitate the activities of the MMM ALUMNI BOARD to achieve its stated Mission.
 * The President shall coordinate and run occasional conference calls for the full MMM ALUMNI BOARD. Typically, these calls shall occur once a month, but there must be at least 7 calls per year.
 * The President shall be the primary point of contact with the MMM Co-Directors, MMM Advisory Board, Kellogg Administration, McCormick Administration and the MMM SEC President.
 * The President may delegate one or more of these relationships--excepting the relationship with the Co-Directors, which must remain with the President.
 * The President shall select his or her successor, with a two-thirds majority approval by active Alumni Board Members
 * The President should come from the Steering Committee, if possible - but must someone who has been a dedicated member of the MMM ALUMNI BOARD for at least one year who has participated in at least three-fourths of all conference calls (and has no unexcused absences).
 * The President's first act shall be to coordinate the Yearly MMM ALUMNI BOARD Onsite Meeting (on Northwestern's campus). Put differently, the out-going President shall work with the incoming President to define and execute the Onsite meeting.
 * It is highly recommended that an "Onsite Team" be established to assure a successful meeting (see below).

B. Active MMM MMM Alumni Council Member
The purpose of this section is to create guidelines, so the MMM Alumni Council may remain a vibrant on-going body and members may understand what is expected of them. To be effective, it assumes that the President keeps attendance.


 * Active MMM Alumni Board Member. A Board Member is considered active if any of the following are true:
 * Minimum attendance of three-fourths of the conference calls during a course of the year
 * Minimum attendance of one-half of the conference calls, AND coordination with Co-Captains so your Class is represented at each call
 * Participation in Onsite Meeting is desired from all members, where schedule allows


 * Active MMM Alumni Class.
 * Class is represented in at least 85 percent of all conference calls
 * Class has an 85 percent complete and up-to-date Class Contact List
 * Co-Captains communicate to and from their Class with MMM Alumni Board activities, requests of the Alumni Board, etc


 * Less Active MMM Alumni Board Member (or Class).
 * Class or MMM Alumni Board Member falls below definition of "Active" (above), but above "Dormant" (below)
 * No "formal" action will be taken
 * Informal, "positive peer pressure" may be applied by Classmates and/or Steering Committee Members to keep the Alumni Board active


 * Inactive MMM Alumni Board Member (or Class).
 * Misses over half of the conference calls without prior notification and does not attend Onsite
 * AND does not participate in any of the events/programs during the course of the year
 * The President or Vice President, or fellow Class Co-Captain shall ask the MMM Alumni Board Member if he/she will be able to commit to continued participation, or if it is a good time to "roll off" the Board so we can find a replacement
 * UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL "INACTIVE" STATUS BE DEEMED "BAD", AND THE BOARD MEMBER MAY ELECT TO:
 * Continue on the Board, committing to be more active
 * Roll off the Board (hopefully, to be available to be an Event/Project Lead/Volunteer at some point in the future.

C. Succession
As a volunteer group consisting of highly busy professionals with dynamic careers, we have decided that each position shall be defined as a one-year commitment, with the a recommended "overlap period" within given positions, for smooth hand-offs.


 * President.
 * As described above, the President shall be selected by the out-going President.
 * In case where this is not possible, the new President shall be selected by the Steering Committee, in a majority vote from candidates selected by Steering Committee.


 * Vice President.
 * Shall be selected by the incoming President, with majority approval of the Alumni Council.


 * Class Co-Captains. Each Class Co-Captain "Team" shall recruit their own replacements.
 * There should be at least a one-conference call overlap of at least one Co-Captain (so there is not a wholesale "changing of the Guard" every year).
 * In case this is not possible, the President shall find volunteers to be Co-Captain
 * The President may choose to delegate this to a Steering Committee Member


 * "Majority Approval", defined.
 * Majority Approval means any one of the following:
 * Unanimous approval of proposed projects/ succession planning, and other items put to a vote DURING THE ANNUAL ONSITE MEETING
 * Two-Thirds approval of proposed projects/ succession planning, and other items put to a vote DURING A REGULARLY SCHEDULED CONFERENCE CALL, where at least two weeks notice of the conference call has been given
 * Two-Thirds approval of proposed projects/ succession planning, and other items put to a vote BY EMAIL TO ALL ACTIVE MMM ALUMNI BOARD MEMBERS. MMM Alumni Board Members shall be given seven calendar days to vote.

MMM / MEM