With an external review of the College's alumni relations program complete and the findings of a phone survey of alumni tabulated, senior administrators and alumni leaders are formulating a plan that will help strengthen bonds between students, graduates and their alma mater.
"Our recent survey showed that our alumni feel exceptionally good about their experience here," says President Tipson. "I believe it is time for the College to reward that loyalty by devoting more attention, more energy and more resources to the College's relationship to its graduates. I have formed and charged a Task Force on Alumni Relations, comprised of alumni and senior administrators of the College, to recommend to me a set of principles that will govern the reshaping of our Alumni Relations Office and assist in creating the job description for the new position of Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations.
The Task force will then pass the baton to a working group of alumni who will begin to put the principles into practice."
The President's Task Force on Alumni Relations will develop a three-to-five year plan for increasing alumni engagement with the College.
Drawn from all institutional quarters, committee members include Ann Bourne '78 (career development), Kevin Coveney (admissions), Meredith Davies Hadaway M'86 (college relations and marketing), Sarah Feyerherm (student affairs), Beth Herman (development and alumni relations), Joe Holt '83 (senior administration), Bryan Matthews '75 (senior administration), Nancy Nunn '79, M'91 (annual giving), Tim Reath '96 (vice president, WC Alumni Council), George Spilich (faculty), and Susannah Chase Wittich '90 (former employee, now a volunteer.)
College leaders have identified a disconnect between the quality of the undergraduate experience and the quality of the alumni experience. "We do such a good job of creating community when our students are on campus," notes Elizabeth B. Herman, vice president for development and alumni relations. "Now the College must build the sustainable relationship structures that will connect an alumnus to the College throughout his or her lifetime. For a lot of understandable reasons, the College's efforts to engage alumni in meaningful programs and projects have been inconsistent and very limited over time. We intend to change that."
Building upon the work of the President's Task Force, the Washington College Alumni Association Task Force will create a new design for alumni volunteer leadership and will set new by-laws to govern the activities of the entire alumni association.
Chaired by Alumni Council president Lorraine Kenton Polvinale '69, the WCAA Task Force includes Interim Director of Alumni Relations Judie Barroll '88, M'91, Peter Maller '90, Jay Marchant '63 and Valarie Sheppard '86. Dan White, a consultant with eAdvancement, conducted the alumni relations review and facilitates both task forces.
The committee work is scheduled to begin in mid-July and to conclude in mid-August.
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