UA Establishes Community Affairs Board of Advisors

BrittKatie3178xc-TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Division of Community Affairs of The University of Alabama has announced the creation of an alumni board of advisors made up of outstanding individuals with a commitment to community engagement and student success.

The board will support campus-wide initiatives that increase student success and retention and facilitate student involvement in entrepreneurship, innovation and development of thoughtful global and community leaders.

The board will also mentor current students and assist in recruiting outstanding future leaders.

“We are excited that these outstanding graduates are willing to come back and support their alma mater in such a meaningful way,” said UA President Stuart R. Bell. “It is clear that this group of former students represent the great future leadership of our country and the world.”

The executive committee of the Board of Advisors is made of Katie Boyd Britt, president; Joseph Bryant, vice president; Divya Patel, treasurer; Calvin Han, secretary; David Bailey, chair of the entrepreneurship and innovative initiatives committee; Victoria Javine, chair of the academic success and student retention committee; and Rashmee Sharif, chair of the global and community leadership development committee.

According to Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president for community affairs, the executive committee of the board has begun pulling together outstanding talent from UA alumni for membership on the inaugural Board of Advisors.

“The caliber of individuals willing to serve has simply been amazing,” Britt said. “We are all so eager, excited and appreciative of this opportunity to serve our University in this manner, and we are looking forward to our first meeting on campus in April.”

The Division of Community Affairs was created in 2004 and is recognized nationally and internationally for its leadership in community engagement. The division provided the leadership for the recent reaffirmation of the University’s Carnegie curricular and community engagement classification. The division also publishes the Journal of Community Engaged Scholarship, one of the leading refereed journals in the field.

Recently, Pruitt was elected president of the board of directors of the Engaged Scholarship Consortium, a group of national and international higher education institutions committed to community-engaged scholarship. His leadership has been recognized with induction into the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship.

“The recognition we have received for our work on campus and internationally is most gratifying, and I am looking forward to the contributions this outstanding group of servant leaders will make to our society now and in the future,” Pruitt said.

The board will hold its first meeting April 29 on campus.

Contact

Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782

Source

Carol N. Agomo, Division of Community Affairs, 205/348-7405