This notice was sent to members on 19 April 2023
To members of the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Toronto (MAA),
For more than one hundred years, the MAA has been financially supporting medical students at the University of Toronto. It has also served to connect medical alumni through publications and by helping with reunions. Incorporated in 1947, the MAA has operated separately from the Faculty of Medicine, now the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFM).
Over the past decade, there has been a steady decline in the number of MAA donors and donation revenue. We can now foresee a time when annual donations will not meet our needs. In considering this situation, the MAA Board has concluded the best way to continue to support current students and alumni is to end independent operation and join with the TFM.
The MAA is negotiating an agreement with the TFM. While all details have not yet been worked out, the TFM has agreed to continue the MAA funding programs. In fact, MAA funds transferred to the Faculty will be matched from University funding, effectively doubling the amount our programs can achieve.
Support for class reunions will continue. The TFM Alumni Relations office has staff to support class reunions and has been doing so in recent years in partnership with the MAA.
The legacy of the MAA will endure. Our awards and bursaries will be maintained with MAA in the title. New Medical Alumni Association (MAA) Awards will be established with undesignated MAA funds, to be awarded annually to several medical students based on financial need. The MAA Matters digital magazine will continue; there will be recognition on donor walls at the Faculty and central University; and there will be a permanent Medical Alumni Association Garden outside the Medical Sciences Building. Alumni will continue to have a voice in the TFM through a Medical Alumni Advisory Council which will be established.
This has not been an easy decision, but the MAA Board of Directors believes that joining with TFM is in the best interests of both medical students and alumni. We will soon be announcing a Special General Meeting of members (all MD alumni) to confirm the decision. We look forward to your support for this important step in ensuring ongoing alumni support of the medical students.
Sincerely,
David McKnight, 7T5
President, MAA