Qustions
and Answers on GWAAUS
It’s been
nearly two months since GWAAUS was founded. There have been some
questions and concerns we received regarding the organization. We thank
you for your input and hope to address your concerns here.
Q:
What is this GWAAUS? Do I have to be in it since I am from GW?
A: GWAAUS is a non-profit organization. Our primary goal is to
connect with all GW alumni in US, to help each other out and to
promote our University in this country. Participation is voluntary.
Our ‘Open Door’ policy gives you the freedom to come and go at will,
and there is NO membership fee involved!
Q:I
like to socialize with friends from my own grade; I don’t feel
comfortable going to gatherings where GWAAUS is involved.
A: You should continue to socialize with your own circle of
friends. However, there are other people who may want to expand their
circle and meet new friends, especially the new comers and people in a
remote area of the country by themselves. These people would like to
have a support network. That is what this organization is for: to
provide the connection to our alumni for the support and opportunities
they are seeking for. There will be gatherings initiated by the
organization in the future to invite all alumni so we can meet new
friends. You don’t have to attend this type of gatherings if you
don’t want to.
Here’s an
excellent example of a strong alumni network at work: recently I was
visiting the University of Southern California with my son during his
college search. The school told us that one of the top reasons people
come to this school is because of its alumni network. They can almost
guarantee that their graduates can find a job anywhere in the world
within 6 months of graduation because they have a strong alumni working
for the graduates. Maybe one day, GWAAUS can offer that type of service
to its alumni in US.
Q:
As a board member, I feel obligated to attend these conference calls
that I really don’t have the time for. What should I do?
A: So far, we have had two calls: one is the meeting to found the
organization, and the other is to discuss the plan for this year. We
realize people have other obligations and cannot always be present. We
have decided to reduce the number of conference calls by doing most of
the voting and discussions via email. You will be receiving an email
soon from Zhou Xiaoping to experiment with this method.
Q:I
feel there are too many GW77ers on the board. We need a broader
representation.
A:You are absolutely right. However, at this early stage, we are
still trying to find alumni from other grades who are able and willing
to serve. So far, of all the alumni contacts we have, GW77 makes up a
good 25% with about 50 people. GW78 counts in with 15, GW79 with
35, GW80 with 30, and GW81 with 20. You can see a trend here. As for the
other grades, the number is even smaller. Since this is an English
speaking country, alumni from other language departments are naturally
few and far between. But we are working hard on it and will continue to
do so until there is a good balance.
Q:Since
the founding of GWAAUS, the GW77 website has almost no activity.
What’s wrong?
A: We share one webmaster for both sites. Mr. Harry Feng is
taking on a lot of responsibility to maintain the sites. He needs help.
If you have the talent and time, please don’t hesitate to offer to
him.
Activities
are initiated by people. Please contribute to the website by sharing
your stories, ideas, and pictures. You can simply email your materials
to Harry. We are also in the process of selecting good materials from
other alumni sites (GW79, GW80, and GW81) to publish on the GWAAUS site
so we can share with each other. We need volunteer editors. |