The National FFA Board of Directors voted Thursday, Feb. 8, to realign the National FFA Alumni Association. As part of a strategic initiative, the board passed recommendations to realign the association and rename it National FFA Alumni and Supporters.
“In order to be more inclusive of our volunteers, while still maintaining the recognition that our former members have come to know in FFA, the National FFA Board of Directors decided to change the name,” said Joshua Rusk, executive director of National FFA Alumni and Supporters. “In the National FFA Organization, you don’t have to be a former member to be an alumni member, and the board wanted the name to reflect that opportunity.”
In addition to the renaming, effective immediately, the board of directors realigned its alumni membership with the National FFA Constitution by changing the organization’s alumni association bylaws to operational policies. These operational policies will be controlled by the board of directors with recommendations from FFA staff and the newly named National FFA Alumni and Supporters Advisory Committee (formerly the National FFA Alumni Council). The operational policies allow the board authority and responsibility for both alumni and student membership.
Also, the current alumni delegate process will be eliminated. Annual alumni dues will be voted on electronically by all active FFA alumni members, and life dues will be set by the board of directors.
The advisory committee will be composed of a minimum of, but not limited to, 12 individuals. It will be represented by four regional representatives, two at-large members, three past National FFA Officers and representatives from the American Association of Agricultural Education (AAAE), the National Association of Agricultural Education (NAAE), and the National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education (NASAE).
A nominating committee, made up of at least three regional representatives, one organizational representative and one past National FFA Officer representative, will then recommend new committee members to the board of directors following an application process. The board will then appoint members to the advisory committee.
