CLEMSON UNIVERSITY — Clemson University has restructured its decades-old Alumni National Council, the governing body of the Clemson Alumni Association.

The Alumni National Council, which originated nearly 50 years ago to provide leadership to the Clemson Alumni Association, had a combined membership of 30 elected alumni representatives and various university-wide leaders. The council was responsible for financial matters, strategic planning and policy-setting for the Clemson Alumni Association as well as acting as university ambassadors. Each elected representative served a term of four years.

The new governance structure consists of the Alumni Council and the alumni board of directors. The Alumni Council will be a more expansive body with a membership including each Clemson Club and alumni special-interest group president, representatives from each graduating class, the undergraduate and graduate student body presidents, alumni representatives from each academic college, former Alumni Association presidents, the members of the Alumni Association board of directors, and representatives from each of the other university boards, such as the board of trustees, the Clemson University Foundation, IPTAY and Board of Visitors. This council is to provide leadership, ideas, input and good will to help serve, involve and inform alumni and advance interests of the university, university officials said.

The alumni board of directors will consist of 12 to 15 members — elected by the Alumni Council — who will serve three-year terms. Additionally, the chairman of the Clemson University Foundation, the president of IPTAY and a member of the board of trustees will have seats on the board. Primary responsibilities of the board will include general oversight of the programs and initiatives of the Clemson Alumni Association, financial audit and review, creation of governing policies and strategic planning.

“While the former Alumni National Council had been a driving force behind the many accomplishments of our Alumni Association over the years, the fact is we are a much different organization today than we were just five or 10 years ago,” said Wil Brasington, Clemson’s senior director of alumni relations. “We feel this new model provides us with what we were seeking — a much broader, more expansive opportunity for alumni leaders to come together and share ideas while retaining and strengthening a smaller unit to oversee the business side of our operations.”