SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

"They helped me immensely as the new executive director"

As California’s esteemed San José State University has grown from its beginnings as the state’s normal school, its Alumni Association has changed to reflect the diverse and vibrant community to which all San José State graduates are connected. Beginning in 1873 at the school’s 11th commencement ceremony, a group of far-seeing alumni organized the Society of Graduates and claimed title to the earliest alumni organization in the university’s history. As the college grew, so grew the Alumni Association. By 1951, a full-time director was required to oversee its broadening operations, and a permanent alumni office was established on campus. The development of the Dee Portal Memorial Scholarship heralded the beginning of another important, ongoing tradition: the awarding of scholarships to deserving students. The Alumni Association was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1955 and formally defined its purpose: to promote the common interests of the college and its graduates. Today, the Alumni Association continues to serve the university’s 350,000 graduates with networks, events, and the largest alumni-supported scholarship program in the California State University system.

With the untimely loss of the Association’s Associate Vice President several years ago, a lot of institutional knowledge was lost. Fortunately, YPTC was already assisting the organization. Valerie Gonzales, the new Executive Director, quickly called on YPTC for even more help to get through the transition. “I’ve just been absolutely, completely and forever grateful to YPTC,” she says. “They helped me immensely as the new executive director.”

Today, YPTC is still making sure that the Association’s financial needs are being taken care of properly, whether it’s producing financial summaries, detailing transactions, submitting quarterly tax forms, or coordinating with outside vendors to maneuver through the everyday work. “There’s a lot that they do for us on a daily or weekly basis,” she says. “We’re a very small team, and my background isn’t in finance.”

“They’ve just made life very easy for someone like me who was new to these types of processes and transactions. They’ve helped me learn about and stay on top of our transactions and get clear, concise financial reports to the Board of Directors in a friendly, easy way that is seamless,” she adds.

“YPTC gives us additional oversight and makes sure that we have checks and balances in place. If there’s ever a question about any of our transactions, they catch it. It’s helpful that we have someone else overseeing everything.”