Greetings Club Leaders,

The University of Illinois Alumni Association looks forward to welcoming home our Illini Club leaders and their families on Friday, September 13 at Alice Campbell Alumni Center.   The UIAA will provide free alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages and food during the reception.  This is a great opportunity for you to meet and network with your fellow club leaders during our favorite weekend of the year: Homecoming!

This reception will be hosted from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM.

Please RSVP for the reception here. This reception is open to friends and family.

We look forward to welcoming you back on September 13!

Greetings Club Leaders,

I-L-L!

We are looking forward to seeing you on August 30, 2024 at 11:00 AM central time for our monthly Zoom meeting. If you need to access our Zoom meeting on Friday, August 30 you can join by clicking this link.

Thank you for your continued engagement and fundraising efforts on behalf of our beloved University and the Alumni Association.

Beginning on July 1, 2024, the following adjustments will be made to the Clubs Program/Tier System for participating Illini Clubs:

– Main Quad level clubs will be eligible for up to $1500 in reimbursements annually. The maximum reimbursement amount per event will still be $750. To qualify for reimbursement, your club must submit the post-event evaluation form, an itemized receipt (showing what was paid for), and a list of attendees for the event (if your club accepted registration via Magnet or a gamewatch QR code, you do not need to submit an attendance list with your post-event report). Illini Union level clubs and Morrow Plots level clubs will still received $500 and $250 respectively in reimbursement support per year.

– All clubs (Main Quad, Illini Union, and Morrow Plots) will be eligible to receive a dues-free checking account and FEIN support from our partners at the University of Illinois Community Credit Union. Interested clubs will need apply for an FEIN from the IRS website and then work directly with the UICCU to open a checking account. Please note that an FEIN is required in order to open a club checking account with UICCU. Additionally, you will need an FEIN to create a Stripe account if your club wishes to utilize the paid event registration and paid membership features available through your club’s Magnet node.

– A Professional and Personal Development Constituent Journey event category has been added as a new event type for FY25. Please note that these events are separate from the Networking event category. PPD event types include but are not limited to: Webinars with a PPD focus; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion events; Mentorship; Workshops, and Skill Development.

– The QR code resource for gamewatch (football and men’s basketball) attendee sign-ins will be a postcard-based program for FY25. If your club wishes to participate in the program for football season, please complete this form by August 16, 2024. Participating clubs are encouraged to pass out postcards with the QR codes individually to gamewatch attendees for them to sign into the event. Individuals who sign-in will be entered into a weekly drawing for a prize pack courtesy of the UIAA and Illinois Athletics. A list of your gamewatch attendees will be sent to clubs on a weekly basis as the season progresses. If you plan to submit a request for reimbursement for a gamewatch event, there must be a confirmed attendance list for your gamewatch event.

We hope that these expanded resources will help your club with your engagement goals for the upcoming year. As always, thank you for your continued partnership!

Dear Illinois family,

We are excited to share some big news as we celebrate 150 years of building relationships for life. Please join us in warmly welcoming David Bambrey as the new President of the University of Illinois Alumni Association (UIAA)!

Why We’re Excited
Norma Lauder, our board chair, sums it up well: “The appointment of David Bambrey heralds a new chapter in our illustrious history. With his proven leadership and deep-rooted connection to our community, we are confident he will propel our Alumni Association into an era marked by innovation, promise, and achievement.”

About David Bambrey
David comes to this role with an impressive background. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from Washington & Jefferson College, he began his professional journey at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence. He has also made significant contributions during his time at the Ohio University Alumni Association and, more recently, as vice president of alumni and student engagement here at the UIAA and also as the interim president for the last four months.

Honoring a Legacy
As we welcome David, we also pause to honor the legacy of the late Jennifer Dillavou, our former president and the first woman to lead the UIAA.

Chancellor Robert Jones adds, “The University of Illinois Alumni Association is more than a network, it’s a family. Under David’s leadership, we anticipate a renewed energy in our alumni engagement efforts, all while honoring the remarkable legacy left by our former president. This is a time of reflection, gratitude, and anticipation as we embrace what’s next for our Alumni Association.”

David’s Vision
David himself is enthusiastic about what lies ahead: “As we celebrate 150 years of building relationships for life, I am both humbled and excited to lead our Association into the next phase of our development. I am committed to strengthening the bonds that make our alumni community so special. Together, we’ll continue to shape a future filled with connection, pride, and success.”

Meet David at Our Community Welcome Event
We’d love for you to meet David in person! Join us at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center on Tuesday, September 19, from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. It’s a great opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations, hear more about our vision, and, of course, enjoy some light refreshments.

Thank you for being a part of this vibrant Illini community. We can’t wait to start this new chapter with you!

In Orange and Blue,
Your UIAA Team

Greetings Club Leaders,

Foremost, to our clubs who opted-in to participate into the UIAA Clubs Program (often referred to as the tier system), the UIAA cannot thank you enough for your partnership. The first year of this program was a massive success, with well over 200 club-hosted events and over 8,000 event attendees being reported to the UIAA. As such, congratulations on an outstanding job in FY23!

Beginning on July 1, 2023, we will raise the maximum reimbursement amount per event for our clubs who achieved Main Quad or Illini Union tier status. On that date, the maximum reimbursement amounts per event will be increased to the following amounts:

– Main Quad clubs – Your maximum reimbursement amount per event will increase from $500 per event to $750 per event. Your pool of reimbursable funds for the year will remain at a maximum of $1250.
– Illini Union clubs – Your maximum reimbursement amount per event will increase from $250 per event to $350 per event. Your pool of reimbursable funds for the year will remain at a maximum of $500.

Morrow Plots level clubs reimbursable financial support will remain at $250 for the fiscal year with a maximum of $250 per event.

This change will be discussed during the June Club Leaders Zoom meeting, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions about these changes during that meeting.

Once again, congratulations on a job well-done during this first year of our new clubs program. The UIAA values your continued partnership.

The University of Illinois Alumni Association’s new clubs program (aka tier system) will launch on July 1, 2022.  Beginning on that date, domestic regional, affinity, and identity clubs may begin to participate in the tier system by following the established guidelines and leveraging the offered resources.  For those clubs who have already notified the UIAA of their intention to participate in this new clubs program, we thank you for being tremendous partners to our organization and we look forward to working with your club to expand your audience. 

For clubs who plan to participate, please notify Tyler Gagai at gagai@uillinois.edu of your club’s intention to participate.   Conversely, if your club has decided to not participate in this program, please notify Tyler of your club’s intention to opt-out.

If your club is located outside of the United States, please note that the UIAA is unable to extend tier system resources to your club at this time.  However, the UIAA does encourage international alumni clubs to utilize our events information resource as a means of gathering ideas for events that will reach different constituencies.

Thank you for everything that your club does for our beloved University. We look forward to working with you to connect Illini alumni from all walks of life.

Foremost, welcome to the Illini Club Leaders Resource Website!  Moving forward, this website will be updated regularly with announcements from the UIAA that may impact your club in addition to important information and news from the University.  We highly recommend that you bookmark this site as it will not be accessible from the main UIAA website. Any important updates will be highlighted as announcements (as you are reading now).   Please note announcements will include but not limited to the following:

• Updates and changes to tier system resources and guidelines
• University of Illinois athletic schedules as they become available (this includes all DIA sports)
• Special announcements from the UIAA
• Monthly UIAA Club Leaders Zoom Meeting information
• Information related to major on-campus events, such as Homecoming

It is our intention that this website serves as a means of keeping all our clubs updated with timely and relevant information and helps strengthen your connection to the UIAA and the University of Illinois. We hope that your club utilizes this website on a regular basis.