FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC PLANS NEW ALUMNI INITIATIVE

DANVILLE, VA, May 29, 2007 --A comprehensive on-line database featuring more than 68,000 former

Marie Harris of the Alumni Relations Office at Danville Community College, left, and Buddy Rawley, Director of Development, discuss the progress of the new alumni initiative.

students is being developed, making DCC one of four community colleges in Virginia with an on-line alumni directory, according to Marie Harris of the Alumni Relations Office.

The database, developed by Harris Connect (no relation to Marie Harris), an organization which specializes in alumni-based directories for higher education institutions, will include individuals who attended Danville Technical Institute (DTI) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) – Danville Extension. Both institutions operated on DCC’s campus before the community college’s formation in 1966.

“Historically, community colleges have never had an alumni association,” says Harris. “It has recently become a movement in the community colleges but is still in its infant stage across the nation. The alumni database has become a priority because of the length of time Danville Community College has been in existence and the numbers who have graduated with ties to the college.”

Harris says the College has an alumni base of approximately 68,000 alumni, plus 4,000-5,000 from VPI-Danville Extension. An additional 434 students graduated in 2007 and will be included.

By accessing the Web site, DCC alumni will be able to connect with former classmates, seek mentors or become mentors of other alumni, search job opportunities from over 400 companies, learn more about DCC through articles and e-mails, and post comments and photos. For database purposes, a DCC alumnus is defined as any individual who has completed at least one academic class at DCC, DTI or VPI-Danville Extension.

The Web site and its many offerings will become an information avenue for alumni to give back some of their talents to the institution. Buddy Rawley, Director of Development, says the site will be interactive and continually expanding both in alumni and in offerings that meet alumni needs. Along with alumni, the administration, faculty and staff will be afforded tools for direct communication with former students—tools that had been previously unavailable. The alumni database is made possible with a pledge from the DCC Educational Foundation.

“The (Educational) Foundation Board feels that it is important that DCC has a vehicle to communicate with alumni and inform them of what’s happening at Danville Community College,” Rawley says. “It is very generous of them to fund this project. We hope that the alumni initiative will be a successful operation and that we’ll have the opportunity to hire a full-time Director of Alumni Operations.

Other plans for Harris over the next six months include the development of an Alumni Board of Directors and a three-year plan for an alumni organization. She expects the framework for a completely functional alumni operation and office to be in place within another year. 

“There is a heavy emphasis on making graduating students aware that they are DCC alumni and how they can take advantage of the alumni association,” says Harris. “It is also quite appropriate to start this emphasis during the 40^th anniversary of DCC. What better way is there to celebrate than to link the past with the present?”

Harris promises more details about the website will be available soon. For more information, contact the Alumni Relations Office at 434.797.8499; toll free at 800.560.4291, ext. 8499; or click here.