Class Volunteer Handbook

Welcome, Wellesley class volunteer! We are so appreciative of your efforts on behalf of your class and the College. 

Your work to expand engagement with all alums is critical to our collective mission: to support institutional priorities by connecting alumnae to the College and each other. The information and resources provided here will guide your efforts and serve as a reference for you in your volunteer role. The WCAA has also created supplemental resources, including FAQs, video tutorials, and a peer support network to help you learn your responsibilities and expand your knowledge as a volunteer. You can find this information on our “Resources for All Volunteers” page. While our online resources are designed to be your first point of contact, the Alumnae Association staff are also here to support you, and can be reached at alumnae@wellesley.edu and 781-283-2331. 

The Wellesley College Alumnae Association (WCAA) was founded in 1880, and as of 2024, the office of the WCAA exists as a department of Wellesley College. The WCAA Board serves as an advisory alumnae board to the WCAA office and the College, and the WCAA Board maintains substantial representation on the board of trustees of the College. The WCAA Board president serves as a College Trustee ex officio with voting power, and has the ability to nominate four alumnae trustees and a young alumnae trustee. On administrative and programming fronts, the WCAA office and Board work together to collaborate with the Office of Admission, Career Education, the Development Office, the President’s Office, and other College departments.

All alum volunteers are guided by our Volunteer Tenets, which are designed to help you navigate your volunteer role(s).

It is the Alumnae Association’s expectation that all volunteers will:

• Treat alums, staff, and all members of the Wellesley community with respect and civility in person, in email, in print, and on social media.
• Commit to a role that suits your skills and capacity.
• Communicate regularly with alumnae volunteers and WCAA staff.
• Actively seek opportunities to engage new alums. 
• Resolve any conflicts in a transparent and open manner.
• Acknowledge any potential conflicts of interest and recuse oneself when appropriate.
• Keep your contact information current at alum.wellesley.edu, including address, email, and phone number. As a volunteer, you must agree to be contacted by the WCAA or other alums via any of these channels. 
• Recognize that your actions will reflect on and speak for not only you, but for other alumnae and the College.

Alumnae Association key contacts provide the following support to class officers:

• Provide lists of classmates who are Lost or Deceased. 

• Provide directions and assistance for sending e-blasts through the class website. 

• Provide directions and assistance for creating online events and forms through the class website. Volunteers are expected to use the Forms function to check sign-up reports for events requiring registration. 

• Hold the class’s treasury in an account at the College and issue a quarterly report to the class president and treasurer.

• Receive money for events organized by the class; the class is responsible for creating and tracking ticketing forms. 

• Pay bills for class events/expenses upon receipt of proper documentation (see Your Group Treasury).

The WCAA does not provide the following to volunteers:

• Custom mailing lists for e-blasts (all messages should be sent to all classmates)

• Email addresses for your classmates

• Printed directories (online directories are available on your class site and alum.wellesley.edu)

• Web design services

• Support for paper mailings for classes after 1969

The WCAA periodically sends important emails that you should be sure to read and save. 

• Top 5 on the 5th is our primary volunteer communication, and is sent on the 5th of each month. It contains important College news, volunteer updates and reminders, helpful suggestions for programming, and other relevant resources.

• SedMini is an occasional newsletter sent to all alums a few times a year. It provides a recap of WCAA news as well as College and campus life updates.  

• The WCAA may occasionally send other communications (invitations to events, survey opportunities, messages from the College president, etc). 

If you are concerned that you are not receiving one or more of these communications, please inform your WCAA key contact.

Classmates who would like to update their contact information and/or contact preferences must contact the College directly. For more information, see Record Updates below.  

Wellesley magazine is sent to all alums four times a year; alums may opt out of paper copies of the magazine by updating their alumnae profile. 

Alumnae Association Staff

You can find the Alumnae Association staff listed here: https://www.wellesley.edu/about-us/offices-departments/alumnae/about-the-association/contact-us

To contact the main office, please email us at alumnae@wellesley.edu or call 781-283-2331.

Record Updates

Alums can provide the College with any contact information changes by updating their profile at alum.wellesley.edu or by letting the Record Update department know via email at recordupdates@wellesley.edu or phone at 781.283.3791. Occasionally, these updates may come to you as a class volunteer instead of the College. Record Updates will need to receive updated information from the alum themselves, rather than a volunteer. 

Wellesley Fund Office 

If a classmate has questions about giving to the Wellesley Fund, please connect them with the Wellesley Fund office at 781.283.2802 or giving@wellesley.edu. 

The Wellesley Fund Volunteers work directly with the Development Office and should reach out to their class contact within the Wellesley Fund Office at 781.283.2802 or giving@wellesley.edu. 

Career Education 

The Wellesley Hive is an easy-to-use platform for mentorship, networking, and professional opportunities—designed exclusively for Wellesley students and alumnae to connect around the world for career support and exploration.   

Once a member of the Hive, alum volunteers are able to network on Leadershare, a private discussion forum for Wellesley volunteer leaders to ask questions, exchange information, etc.

Alumnae Directories

The WCAA offers several directories, including an all-alumnae directory located on our homepage at alum.wellesley.edu and one specifically for your class, located on your class website. These directories can be filtered by name, class, state, city, country, current or past employer, job title, or occupation. Users must log in with their MyWellesley username and password for access. 

Please note: While the online directories provide email addresses for many alumnae, compiling these addresses into a private list, or using them to send mass emails is strictly prohibited. Solicitation emails are not permitted under any circumstances, regardless of the number of recipients. Please review our list and email policies for further information.

MyWellesley Login Help

The Wellesley Login allows alums to sign into various College systems and websites using a single username and password. It is your login for all Wellesley systems, including:

• The Wellesley College Alumnae Association (WCAA) online community

• All class, club, and SIG websites 

• The Wellesley Hive, our mentoring and networking platform exclusively for Wellesley alumnae and students

• The Class Notes section of the Wellesley magazine website

• Volunteer tools (including the online Report of Giving accessible to Wellesley Fund volunteers)

• Select parts of the College website

If you or a classmate needs assistance recovering or resetting your MyWellesley username and password, please visit https://www.wellesley.edu/alumnae/wellesleylogin for assistance. Please note: in early 2025, Wellesley increased alumnae data security by adding dual-factor authentication. If you have not yet set up two-factor authentication you will be prompted to do so upon login. More information can be found here.

Wellesley magazine

The award winning Wellesley magazine, available in print and online, keeps readers connected to each other and to the College. Magazine staff works with each class secretary to edit and publish class notes on a quarterly basis. Alums may opt out of paper copies of the magazine by updating their alumnae profile. 

The class president* is responsible for leading the class board, whose primary focus shall be to help connect classmates to the College and to each other. The majority of the class president and board’s work during the 5-year term will fall during years 4-5 (the years immediately leading up to Reunion). During all 5 years, the Alumnae Association asks all class boards to communicate with your class 2-4 times per year via an email communication from the portal provided by the Association. 

Responsibilities:

• Provide overall leadership and direction to the class board. Familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of each of the board members by reviewing the descriptions for each class role included in this handbook.  
• Together with the class board, establish appropriate goals and priorities. As the leader of your class’s volunteer board, ensure that the goals and priorities are reasonable and aligned with supporting engagement with the College and with one another. We hope you will find ways to bring joy to this work. We ask class leaders to do the following (at a minimum):
  • Communicate with classmates 2-4 times annually.
  • Communicate with your classmates regarding opportunities for them to stay connected to Wellesley. 
  • Help ensure that your classmates are receiving communications from the College and Alumnae Association, following guidance from the WCAA;  

• Lead your class meeting in your reunion year. 

• Structure the class board and leadership roles to ensure continuity by providing and fostering opportunities for new leadership to develop.

• If class volunteers step down mid-term, play an active role in finding their replacements.

• Communicate with board officers as needed and offer guidance when appropriate. 

• Exercise overall financial oversight for the class in conjunction with the class treasurer.

• Approve communication plans for the class in coordination with your class’s communications chair.

• Maintain regular contact with the WCAA’s Volunteer Coordinator. Share your successes and request guidance as needed. 

• Ensure that your group submits the “Event Attendance Reporting Form” (available on the Online Resources page) for all events, so your class activity is represented in the WCAA’s overall alumnae engagement metrics. 

• Submit your class’s year end report (a form will be provided) to the WCAA by June 30. 

• Along with treasurer, receive and review quarterly financial reports issued by the WCAA and update fellow board members. 

• The summer prior to your Reunion, and no sooner, appoint a Reunion chair or co-chairs. 

• Attend all required WCAA virtual trainings.

• Commit to serving your full 5-year term. If you must step down, we ask that you play an active role in identifying your replacement.  

* In instances where co-presidents lead the class, the same responsibilities are expected, although some may be divided at the discretion of the class officers.

The class Vice President serves as an additional class leader and as a resource for the class president. 

Responsibilities:

• Support the president in providing leadership and direction. 

• Together with the president and other class officers, establish goals and priorities. 

• Provide and foster opportunities for new leadership to develop. Help to identify potential future volunteers for class leadership. 

• Attend all required WCAA virtual trainings.

• Commit to serving your full 5-year term. 

The Class Treasurer partners with the WCAA staff to guide the spending of the Class’s finances. This role is responsible for communicating information about class funds to fellow officers and for keeping track of expenditures and reimbursements, which are processed by the College. While class funds are securely held at the College, the class officers remain decision-makers regarding treasury expenditures. For helpful resources including forms and FAQs on the WCAA’s financial structure, visit the Your Group Treasury page. 

Responsibilities

• Exercise overall financial oversight for the class in conjunction with the class president and WCAA.

• Provide class board with insight into the state of the class treasury, which is held in a dedicated account at the College. 

• Help volunteers to understand the reimbursement / expense payment process. 

• Submit requests (including receipts and necessary bills) for vendor payments or reimbursements, according to the procedures/eligibility noted in our Your Group Treasury page.

• Please note: reimbursements may only be received by the volunteer who provided the initial out-of-pocket payment for the expense. Treasurers may fill out the payment request form on an alum’s behalf, but treasurers may not reimburse a classmate and seek reimbursement for themselves. Please read more on our Your Group Treasury page).

• Receive and review quarterly financial reports issued by the WCAA and update fellow board members. 

• Attend all required WCAA virtual trainings.

• Commit to serving your full 5-year term. If you must step down, we ask that you play an active role in identifying your replacement.  

For helpful resources including forms and FAQs on WCAA’s financial model, visit the Your Group Treasury page. 

Class e-communications are sent exclusively through the WCAA’s communication platform (i.e., your class’s website system), which is tied to the College database and stays up-to-date with any address changes. 

The Communications Chair is responsible for learning and utilizing the communication platform to send class e-blasts. This officer is also responsible for updating the class website. At a minimum, the class officer lists and contact information should be maintained; content beyond these basics is at the discretion of the class board. 

Complete administrative website training is available online, including instructional videos, a written manual, and a robust FAQ. 

Responsibilities:

• Send class communications using only the Alumnae Association’s communication platform.

• Update and maintain the class webpage to the minimum expectations outlined by the Alumnae Association during annual volunteer orientation.

• Attend all required WCAA virtual trainings.

• Familiarize yourself and your board with the following resources:

  • WCAA’s List & Email policies

  • List and email request form 

  • Email Troubleshooting Guide - Helping Wellesley Emails Reach Your Inbox

  • Record Updates process 
     

• Commit to serving your full 5-year term. If you must step down, we ask that you play an active role in identifying your replacement.

The Magazine Correspondent has the crucial role of collecting and compiling class notes four times a year for Wellesley magazine. These columns keep alumnae connected to each other and to Wellesley, and help classmates celebrate and support each other.

Responsibilities:

As class magazine correspondent, your main job is to write four columns a year of no more than 500 words each.

Schedule

• Fall (published mid-November): columns due Sept. 1

• Winter (published mid-February): columns due Dec. 1

• Spring (published mid-May): columns due March 1

• Summer (published mid-July): columns due May 1

• Please note: The spring and summer deadlines are only two months apart; others are three or four months apart. If the due date for the column falls during a weekend or on a holiday, please submit before 8:30 am Eastern Time the next business day.

Other responsibilities include:

• Attending board and class meetings. 

• Submitting Reunion class meeting minutes to the WCAA as documentation for the class.

• Attending all required WCAA virtual trainings.

• Committing to serving your full 5-year term. If you must step down, we ask that you play an active role in identifying your replacement.

Please refer to the Magazine Correspondent Handbook compiled by the editors of Wellesley magazine for more guidance about class notes, including best practices, formatting restrictions, and photo submissions. 

Every five years classes celebrate Reunion, and one or two members of each class serve as Reunion chair(s) to assist in the coordination of the class experience. Planning begins no sooner than early fall prior to the year that Reunion will take place. Current class officers may serve as Reunion chairs, but may also recruit other classmates to serve in these roles. Reunion chairs for each class are the primary contacts for the Alumnae Association staff. 

• The WCAA plans the majority of Reunion events including:
  • All meals, social hours, and events with alcoholic beverages
  • Programs open to all alumnae (faculty lectures, parade, stepsinging, etc)
  • Logistics (rentals, transportation, on-campus housing, etc). 
• Class Reunion Chair responsibilities include: 
  • Raising awareness and excitement amongst classmates for Reunion weekend via class communications and (optional) pre-Reunion virtual programs
  • Planning and facilitating 1 class program for classmates (simple discussions, panels, classmate demonstrations or lectures, exercise class, etc). 
  • Coordinating decor for class headquarters and Saturday night dinner 
  • Selecting class insignia
  • Working with the WCAA to identify/discuss any proposed  Saturday night class entertainment at class dinner (DJ or otherwise) 

Class Reunion Chairs may opt to elect a small Reunion committee of classmates to whom the above tasks may be delegated. 

All Reunion Chairs (as well as other class officers) should review our Reunion Chair Handbook, which is full of important information on planning your class's celebration. 

Class Web Platform

Class e-communications are sent exclusively through the WCAA’s communication platform (i.e., your class’s website system), which is tied to the College database and stays up-to-date with any address changes. 

Complete administrative website training is available online, including instructional videos, a written manual, and a robust FAQ. 

What The Communication Platform Can Do

The communication platform has many features beyond sending emails. Here are some highlights:

• Collect registration information and/or sell tickets for an event

• List events on your class calendar and on the WCAA’s all-alum calendar

• Host an archive of previous all-class emails

• Host video and audio files 

• Post photo galleries

• See who has read or clicked on an email blast sent to the class
   

Classmates can log into the main alum website (alum.wellesley.edu) to update their profile information, including contact info, dorm history, career history, religious affiliation, and more. Additionally, the WCAA offers class, club, and general directories on their respective web pages. Please refer to “Alumnae Directories” in the "Contacts" dropdown above for details, including guidelines for use. 

Class Notes

Magazine correspondents are responsible for soliciting and compiling class notes four times a year for Wellesley magazine. Calls for notes are sent out via the class’s email system, and replies are set up to automatically reply to your class magazine correspondent. 

For more details, please refer to the Class Magazine Correspondent section above or to the guide provided to all secretaries by magazine staff. 

Mailings

In an effort to reduce our environmental impact, the Alumnae Association no longer facilitates paper mailings for classes after 1970. Classmates without email addresses will receive a save-the-date postcard in the year leading up to Reunion so they are aware of upcoming celebrations.

Social Media

Groups may choose to run their own social media channels via Facebook, Instagram, etc. The Alumnae Association does not monitor or maintain those accounts and we ask that you follow our suggested Social Media Guidelines. 

Be sure to encourage classmates to follow the Alumnae Association’s social media accounts so they can keep up to date on our all-alum programming and campus news! You are also welcome to tag us in your social media posts!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellesleyalums/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellesleyalums/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wellesleyalums

Email Troubleshooting

Classmates may contact you with concerns that they are not receiving email communications. There are many factors that can be at play when it comes to emails not being received. Please invite them to review this guide which will walk them through steps to help messages from Wellesley make it into their inbox.

Appropriate Use of Alumnae Information 

Current alumnae volunteers may be given access to alumnae information. The information provided is for official Wellesley College alumnae use only. Use of the information for any non-Wellesley College Alumnae Association purpose—including but not limited to solicitation of any kind; reproducing and storing in a retrieval system by any means, electronic or mechanical; photocopying; or use of the addresses or other information for any mailing other than alumnae related events—is strictly prohibited. Any misuse of the data may result in legal action from the Wellesley College Alumnae Association. 

The information provided is maintained by the Wellesley College Alumnae Association database and represents the database content as of the date it was retrieved. 

Wellesley College takes seriously its responsibility to protect the privacy of the members of the Wellesley College community. We have recently updated our Privacy Notice, which should make it easier for you to understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and how it’s used. 

If you have any questions about appropriate usage of alumnae information, contact alumnae@wellesley.edu.

Death of a Classmate

A challenging aspect of being a class officer is communicating the news of a classmate's death to the class. Many times, classmates hear about a death before the College does. Please relay this news to alumnae@wellesley.edu. An obituary or other documented proof of death is needed in order to update the alum’s profile. We can also accept notification directly from a direct family member (i.e., child, spouse, parent). If you are unsure if there is enough information to confirm a classmate’s death, please email alumnae@wellesley.edu.

When we receive confirmation of a death, we include it in a monthly report distributed to class leaders. This notification contains the date of death and the most recent address on file for the deceased alum, unless an alternate contact address is specified by a family member.

It is generally the purview of the class secretary to determine how the news of a classmate’s death is reported to the class. While most correspondents report recent deaths in their columns, correspondents may work with the board to determine if other memorial options are desired, including a 100-word memorial submitted to the magazine, or an email to classmates via the online communications system. 
 
Please note that you may not share any external fundraising information over the Alumnae Association online platform. If there are any fundraising efforts following the death of a classmate, you may include a line that directs alums to an outside contact. For example: “For more information about how to support X’s family, please contact Y.”

Virtual gatherings provide an accessible option for classes and other groups that cover large geographic areas. The WCAA has a dedicated Zoom account for volunteers to use for meetings and programming purposes. Volunteers are responsible for booking their own meetings and ensuring there are no conflicts with other alumnae groups. For instructions on how to access this volunteer Zoom account, please ask the Volunteer Coordinator. If your class hosts frequent Zoom meetings, consult with the Volunteer Coordinator about obtaining a College-provided Zoom account for your class’s use. Please do not use your class treasury funds to secure a separate Zoom account. 

Virtual events are an easy way to host a low or no-cost event, be it a demonstration, presentation, or discussion using breakout rooms. When hosting a virtual program, you have the option to invite an alum speaker from a distant location. Check out the BlueSpeak directory for numerous guest speaker options.

In addition to this handbook, the WCAA has many online resources, tools, webinars, and guidelines available for your use. To view our other resources, please visit the Resources For All Volunteers page.