Maintenance of Alumni Records

The KU Alumni Information and Records System is able to provide to any recognized University office the following information about alumni: home and business addresses, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and a variety of selections and sorts such as academic discipline, class year(s), geographic area, gender and birth, nickname, professional name and married names for alumni, etc. Information products, including up-to-date mailing labels and/or printed directories, are made available to units upon request for any authorized University purpose. Authorized administrators also may view the biographical information about their alumni from their own computers and, when software acquisition and programming is complete, will gain the ability to sort data and print reports.

The following procedures will help ensure that the KU Alumni Association’s comprehensive records system is accurate and serves both the University and its alumni well.

1. Because maintaining alumni biographical records and mailing lists at the unit level is a costly duplication of effort, units or volunteer groups of either organization are forbidden to maintain shadow databases.
2. Any address changes or updated biographical information should be forwarded to the KU Alumni Association immediately upon receipt to ensure that records are as accurate as possible.
3. The KU Alumni Association and KU Endowment regularly request address corrections of all alumni. Departments should refrain from requesting address corrections on second, third, and fourth class mailings in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of payment for address corrections.
4. Offices requesting information should provide two weeks’ notice whenever possible.

Adherence to these procedures is important for several reasons. The University is under ongoing pressure to reduce expenditures that are not directly related to the academic mission and to protect confidentiality of alumni, donor and other records. Using a single alumni database allows the institution to conserve resources. A single database also significantly reduces the frustration alumni experience when their requested biographical record changes are not shared by academic units with the central database. A centralized, accurate, and complete alumni information and records system is an essential component of a first-class University advancement program.