Message from the Chair of the 2015 Election Committee
Dear Fellow Cooper Union Alumni,
I am thrilled that so many alumni responded to the CUAA’s call to vote in this important election. In the final count, 1,667 alumni voted, crushing our goal of 1,000 votes and breaking all recent records including the 2013 record of 1,298. I am deeply gratified that, as Peter Cooper predicted, the graduates would surely rally around the institution at this critical time.
As I reflect upon the election process that began in early January, we faced some daunting challenges that made our success far from certain:
Challenge 1: Conduct the election independent of the Office of Alumni Affairs. In the past, the Cooper Union Alumni Affairs Office and the CUAA collaborated on the election. This year, with no funding, administrative support or access to the school’s alumni database, the CUAA was forced to develop its own alumni database, and due to limited resources, rely almost exclusively on email communications and balloting.
Challenge 2: Develop a new election process and increase voter participation. The Election Committee drew upon the diverse talents of its members to bring innovative ideas, communications, outreach, quality assurance and technology together to achieve a new and improved election process.
Challenge 3: Adapt readily available, low cost technologies. The requirements were extensive: provide user friendly interface, restrict one person one vote, allow continual access and change to ballots, verify correct number of selections, permit comments from participants, preserve the integrity of the process, provide quick results and more.
What made this possible? The Election Committee was comprised of 20+ volunteers who possessed the right skills and expertise. Everyone worked hard and worked together. In true Cooper Union fashion it was a synergy of science and art.
Many people contributed to the success of the 2015 CUAA Election, and unfortunately they are too numerous to recognize individually. I would however, like to extend my sincere appreciation to the Election Committee, CUAA President John Leeper, the Executive Committee, Alumni Trustee Robert Tan, Secretary/Treasurer Peter Ross, the Teller’s Committee, and the candidates who stepped up to offer their services in support of the CUAA. Finally, I’d like to give special thanks to my Co-Chair Sean Cusack, our chief technology advisor, implementer, and election strategist, and to Mary Lynch who provided on-going support and emceed the Meet the Candidates Night to make it a very successful event.
We are all winners in this election. The alumni have shown that we are strong and unwavering in our support of Cooper Union. Your responses to the referendum questions and your comments will provide invaluable information to the incoming leadership.
Our voices have been heard! Stay tuned for more election results.
With my sincere appreciation,
Kay Nordstrom
Chair 2015 Election Committee