Department of Alumni Affairs (Rec. Gr. 106)

Historical note

The Department of Alumni Affairs evolved out of the University of Rhode Island's Division of Public Affairs. The Division was established in the 1930s to fulfill the university's obligation to acquaint the public with its activities. A major part of the department's responsibilities included forging strong relationships with new and existing university alumni and keeping up steady communication. Because of numerous other responsibilities of the department, rapid growth within university and an increase in the number of alumni, the Division of Public Affairs endured a period of expansion and reorganization in the late 1940s. By 1951, the Division was separated into several departments, including the Department of Public Information, the Publications Office, the Placement Office, the Office of Television and Radio News, and finally the Alumni Office.

The Alumni Office, and its first director, George A. Gilbert, inherited the responsibilities of working with the university's alumni community as well as working in collaboration with the URI Alumni Association, the university's largest volunteer organization. In 1955, George Gilbert stepped down as director and the position went to his former assistant, Thomas V. Falciglia. Under new direction, the Alumni Office developed several new alumni programs including the Century Club, the Annual Alumni Weekend and the Alumni Vacation College.

Two of Assistant Directors of the Alumni Office had specific and unique roles. The Assistant Director of Programming and Events was in charge of planning special alumni and university events such as Homecoming and class reunions, while the Assistant Director of Communications was in charge of the publishing and distribution of the semi-annual Alumni Bulletin, which is distributed to all contributing and participating alumni.

For a significant amount of time from the mid 1950s to the 1970s, the Alumni Office was involved in campaigning for a series of state referenda involving university bonds. The Office was responsible for running television and radio ads as well as distributing flyers and pamphlets arguing reasons to vote yes on bond issue referenda. The Alumni Office also organized several campaign rallies over the years in support of university advancement.

Also during this period of time from 1955 to 1975, the university expanded rapidly. Under Thomas Falciglia's direction, the number of alumni that the Alumni Office catered to increased from 7,000 to 30,000. However, in the spring of 1976, Thomas Falciglia was reassigned to the University of Rhode Island's Community Relations Department and left his position vacant. The Alumni Office entered a transition period where it searched for a new director. James W. Eastwood was interim director for a year, as was Dennis C. Macro. However, the position wasn't permanently filled until Thomas Falciglia's Assistant Director, William Bowers, assumed the role in 1979.

For the next few years, as University of Rhode Island continued to increase in size and in number of students, so did the alumni community. This growth put stress on the Alumni Office in addition to its growing range of responsibilities and insufficient staff. In 1986, William Bowers stepped down and Karen Davis assumed the role as interim director. In 1982, to meet the demands of a growing university, the Division of Public Affairs began to reorganize into the University of Rhode Island's Department of University Relations. The Alumni Office was divided into the Department of Alumni Affairs, headed by newly appointed Director Patricia Lombardi, and the Department of Communications, led by Director Jeane Moore, which took over the publishing and distribution the Alumni Office's publications like the biweekly alumni newspaper The Pacer and the semi annual Alumni Bulletin (renamed Quad Angles in the 1990s). The Department of Communications also assumed new responsibilities vacated by other dissolved departments, like the Office of Television and Radio News. The URI Foundation also emerged out of the Alumni Office, as well as the Development Office. This overall reorganization was finalized in 1988.

As of 2009, the Department of Alumni Affairs, led by Executive Director Michele Nota, continues to plan and participate in alumni and university events, provide clerical support to the URI Alumni Association and publish the semi-annual Quad Angles in collaboration with the Department of Communications.