UAA Survey Results 2011

 Some 74 (98.7%) agreed that an important function of an alumni association is to facilitate keeping in touch with friends and colleagues.  Some 38 (52.8%) said that UAA is doing enough to keep members in touch.  Thirty-six respondents (51.4%) believe that UAA is providing enough information about today’s development issues.  Development issues of most interest, as well as other types of information. a. USAID policies and internal reforms, including staff and systems rebuilding and management; regular information on budgets, evaluation findings, USAID Forward and other policy developments. b. Addressing USAID’s lack of autonomy and dominance by State and DOD priorities. That said, the current USAID-State relations, legislative developments, issues and status; USAID- DOD relations; roles and responsibilities of each.

c. NGO volunteer work in the U.S. and abroad could benefit from alumni skills, such as program planning, project proposal writing and project evaluation. A clearinghouse for those alumni interested and willing to volunteer in these and other areas of NGO development would be welcome. d. New approaches to financing Foreign Aid. e. Communications – use of blogs and twitter; use of URLs for advocacy. Providing book reviews on development topics. f. Facilitating networking among former colleagues, including facilitating the development of local UAA chapters. g. Concern about relevance for members outside the Washington area, including inability to attend events, which relates to need for local chapters where UAA members can become involved. Possible affiliation with local universities.

h. Less parochial approaches to issues confronting the developing world arising from global poverty and virtual anarchy in failed states. There seems to be an unwritten assumption (perhaps flavored by economic determinism) that today's most important global issues revolve around, or can be impacted best through increased official development aid. i. Information on how USAID dollars are spent in different U.S. states. Since most USAID activities and projects are funded through contracts with U.S. companies, individuals and educational institutions, and goods and services are transported by U.S. companies, in talking to U.S. audiences about foreign aid it is very useful to indicate how the money is spent. j. More discussion of development issues, especially the area of development in difficult environments (wars, low or no local government support, etc.); priorities in terms of sectors (e.g. low funding for agriculture even though it is key in most countries); the relationship between funds expended vs. technical assistance provided and development outcomes.

 Forty-four respondents (61.1%) would like to share their views on U.S. public policy toward the developing world.  Fifty-four respondents (73%) said it was useful for the UAA to provide occasional information on how to get their views to government or media.  Forty-six respondents (62.2%) said they visited the UAA website once or twice each month, while 24 (32.4%) said that they never visited.  Most interesting or helpful aspects of the website (participants could vote for more than one).  37 (75.5%) mentioned the Directory;  35 (71.4%) noted the information on development and foreign aid;  21 (42.9%) noted tributes and obituaries;  12 each (24.5%) voted for jobs and the Speakers Bureau; and  11 (22.4%) voted for the Forum.  UAA Newsletter. Some 62 (86.1%) noted that they believe that ing the UAA Newsletter bi-monthly is about right.

 Forty-nine (67.1%) of the respondents noted that the $75 annual membership contribution was about right, while 19 (26%) thought it was too high.  Among non-members, 15 (65.2%) of the respondents noted that $35 would make them more likely to make an annual contribution, and 7 (30.4%) said that $50 would make them more likely to contribute.  The vote was split on whether respondents would be willing to participate in a regional chapter of the UAA. Thirty respondents (47.6%) said yes; 31 respondents (49.2%) said no.  When asked if people would be willing to organize a meeting of USAID alumni in their region, 40 (72.7%) said no; 14 (25.5%) said yes.  Forty-two (67.7%) said they would be interested in UAA-organized social events in their area; 18 (29%) said no.  Forty-one (59.4%) noted that they had encouraged other USAID alumni to join the UAA; 28 (40.6%) had not.

 Ideas about what would make the UAA website more interesting or useful included the following: a.Of the 26 respondents to this question, five noted that they hadn’t checked it, but now plan to do so. Three thought it is fine as it is. b.AID news that does not duplicate AFSA and USAID publications. More information on USAID’s 50th anniversary celebration. c.Identifying information along with names mentioned in articles, e.g. their most recent positions at USAID or the Bureaus in which they work. Some of these individuals are not known to alumni who may have retired some time ago. d.Issuing a monthly UAA Newsletter featuring current development issues, along with other items of membership interest. e. Transcripts of the presentations made at meetings in Washington for people who live outside the area and aren’t able to attend.

f.An updated, current listing of USPSC short-term assignment vacancies and names of mission staff to contact to apply for short- term assignments. g.Volunteer opportunities. h.Regional activities and contacts. i. Blog and url sites for advocacy and who is doing what. j. A political focus -- lobbying for change or in support of USAID. Organizing debates, and/or support for selected local and national political campaigns.

Unrelated to the website, another comment was that UAA define what services are provided to members. One respondent said that if one lives outside the beltway, the only “service” of membership is the Directory. There was another suggestion that membership levels be tiered, with different levels of contributions – this would attract more people. An additional comment, also unrelated to the website, is that for some alumni, a purely social function of the UAA would be welcome – a chance to get together with colleagues/families with whom they worked in Washington and overseas.