Hello RIT/NTID alumni community,
We hope you are all doing well. The NTID Alumni Association Board of Directors had a wonderful October meeting during NTID’s 55th Anniversary Reunion and RIT’s Brick City Homecoming weekend. The weekend was filled with lots of events, touring new spaces within NTID and the RIT campus, board discussions, and then we finished it all off with a fantastic win by the RIT Men’s hockey team!
In order to be more transparent with the alumni community and keep you all informed of what the NTID Alumni Association Board of Directors have been doing, we have created this “From the NTIDAA Board” update, which will be sent out via Alumni News following our regular Board meetings.
Here’s a quick overview of what occurred during our Fall 2023 meeting:
On Thursday afternoon, the NTID Foundation Board, NTID National Advisory Group and NTID Alumni Board kicked off by meeting with NTID President Dr. Gerry Buckley, SVP ’74, ’78 liberal arts (social work), for updates and news on NTID, students, faculty and staff. We then broke out into smaller groups and the alumni board met with Brittany Taylor, the new director for the Department of Access Services. Following that, Bryan Hensel, executive director in NTID’s Office of External Affairs, discussed plans for the spring meeting and the new initiatives regarding RIT’s Sentinel Society. We then all walked over to the ribbon cutting for the newest RIT building, the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), which is a multi-purpose makerspace with classrooms, workspaces and performance studios. It combines the arts, design and technology in one place. It’s a really beautiful space for students!
Due to it being RIT Brick City Homecoming Weekend and NTID’s 55th Anniversary Reunion, Friday’s schedule was a little different than usual meetings. We attended the RIT Leadership Breakfast, which brought together all boards and alumni leadership groups across campus. It was a wonderful morning of networking and learning. The alumni board met privately afterward to close any discussions from the prior day and make our committee plans for the next six months.
Here are some key takeaways from each NTID Alumni Association Board committee:
Alumni in Training is continuing to support the mentoring program, spring student and alumni networking event and exploring programming with the NTID Office of Admissions.
Diversity and Governance is reviewing the 2020 action letter and identifying new areas for growth for the next four years regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at NTID.
Alumni Programming is continuing to advise on growing the NTID Alumni Ambassador program. Looking to add members from the middle of the country.
Development is focusing their efforts to complete fundraising for the alumni museum and add membership to the Sentinel Society.
Communication is continuing to support all our committees with their social media needs.
Our alumni board business concluded at this point, and we joined in the celebrations for the NTID 55th Anniversary Reunion. Members of the alumni board ran a scavenger hunt for reunion attendees and created trivia cards for the tailgate event. It was fun to see both activities bring enjoyment to all who participated.
We will continue to provide regular updates following our board meetings and let you know how these projects are moving along. Meanwhile, please watch the NTIDAA Facebook page and NTID Alumni News for updates and stories connected with the above efforts. Thank you to all of you who continue to support RIT/NTID.
And as always, GO, TIGERS!
Anna-Marie Unger, NTIDAA President, and Bola Desalu, NTIDAA Vice President
