Details
Posted: 09-Jun-22
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Salary: Open
Working/Functional Title
Assistant Director of Alumni Relations
Position Summary
An integral member of the College of Social Science Advancement team, this position oversees a plan of strategic and dynamic alumni activities and communications for the Colleges 150,000+ alumni to increase participation and deepen relationships and engagement. The position coordinates, designs, implements, and evaluates the alumni activities of the College with the goal of helping alumni to establish a lifelong relationship with their alma mater. This is accomplished by engaging alumni in activities and events; keeping them informed; involving alumni in college boards and programs; and providing services that keep alumni networked within the College as well as with their alumni peers. Additionally, this position will be responsible for overseeing the Annual Giving Program in the College of Social Science. This position serves as the liaison for the College Alumni Board and assists with strategies to increase involvement and charitable participation in the College. The alumni officer serves as an expert to connect different units within the College of Social Science to Social Science Alumni. Relationships should be made with internal college constituents (e.g., faculty and academic staff, student groups, and career services personnel) and engaging alumni. The core objectives are to align with the College Development goals by providing a foundation for discovery and next steps via the cultivation and stewardship process; to concentrate on alumni relations with a focus on engagement (create opportunities, awareness and support) with young alumni; to build advocacy for the College of Social Science; building local and global networks of engaged alumni and friends of the College; and to raise funding to support the College. The Assistant Director supports the Social Science alumni communities in the development of meaningful and enriching engagement activities. Duties and Responsibilities:
Discovery
The Assistant Director will discover interested alumni and their capacity to enhance their impact as an alumnus, providing a foundation for a positive relationship with their alma mater. The Assistant Director would be actively involved in the role of development by engaging in discovery visits and being responsible for a portfolio of 50-75 alumni, cultivating 50 individuals in the development sector. The Associate Director would initiate meetings with College leadership and chairs/directors, and engage in additional programs of interest.
Engagement Activities
The Assistant Director will serve as the expert for academic engagement between students, faculty, and alumni. The Assistant Director will be required to be a point of contact to the College of Social Science Career Services unit and all unit-level academic advisors, to assist if needed from an alumni engagement perspective. The Assistant Director will establish a relationship with the active Social Science student groups, educating them on their role as "future alumni". The Assistant Director will facilitate engagement opportunities with alumni to speak to active students, share their Spartan story, and provide active students with mentoring, internship and other career and leadership opportunities. Expectation would be 12-15 events per year.
Alumni Board Management
The Assistant Director will be instrumental in the structure, logistics, and fulfilling the management of Alumni Boards ad the College, Department, and School levels. The Assistant Director will be the primary point of contact for the success of the Alumni Leadership Council, as well as support the Development Office and individual units with external alumni advisory boards.
Annual Giving Program Management
Collaborates with colleagues from University Advancement Annual Giving and the College of Social Science Communications team to oversees the Annual Giving Program for the College to create alumni engagement through giving.
- Revises and executes annual giving plan each year, including the direct mail solicitation, follow-up strategies and other opportunities throughout the year
- Coordinates with Greenline (student call center)
- Develops plan for LYBUNT & SYBUNT strategies
- Develops annual plan for Give Green Day
Event Planning
The Assistant Director will be tasked with assisting the College of Social Science Events Manager with all alumni relations and development focused events. Signature events include: Homecoming, Social Science Week, Womens Leadership Institute and Gov. Blanchard Public Service Forum. The Assistant Director will be responsible for all alumni engagement events in collaboration with the Alumni Association. This includes coordinating and brainstorming annual and new event opportunities, additional receptions, departmental events, and other strategic university and/or college wide events. Once identified, the Assistant Director will coordinate, facilitate, and manage alumni focused events.
Alumni Office Liaison
The Assistant Director will be the point of contact between the College and the Michigan State University Alumni Office. Build relationships to coordinate cross-college collaboration with other directors and assistant directors of alumni relations. Network and enroll in any appropriate professional development opportunities/trainings. Performs various other duties as assigned. This list is not all inclusive and does not restrict the right of the College to change duties or designate other duties at its
Unit Specific Education/Experience/Skills
The job requires: knowledge normally acquired by completing a four- year college degree program in Business, Communication Arts, Marketing or related field; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in higher education alumni relations, fundraising, event coordination, public speaking, public relations; or and equivalent combination of education and experience.
Desired Qualifications
- Knowledge of social media, marketing, and external messaging as pertaining to a University Advancement model.
- Valid vehicle operations license
- Advanced knowledge of the entire Microsoft Office Suite.
- Experience with donor databases or Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
- Excellent organizational and time management skills.
- Must be able to work effectively with tight deadlines, flexibility, and willingness to work evenings and occasional weekends.
- Strong interpersonal skills including good judgement and decision-making abilities.
- Experience in alumni programming and fund raising.
- Proven track record of successful special events planning.
- Ability to implement programming and strategic initiatives.
- Collaborative team-oriented style.
- Understanding the importance of building life-long relationships between the college and its alumni and friends.
- Good decision-making skills, tactful, strong listening skills, willingness to search out answers, ability to recognize when others need to be involved in activities or decisions.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Experience working with computer applications including legal databases.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Application Materials
Please provide a cover letter, resume, and the name and contact information for (3) professional references.
Together-we-will Statement
The university is requiring all MSU students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with limited exceptions. Learn more at:
https://msu.edu/together-we-will/Work Hours
Some nights and weekends will be required outside of a typical 8am to 5pm schedule.
Remote Work Statement
MSU strives to provide a flexible work environment and this position has been designated as remote-friendly. Remote-friendly means some or all of the duties can be performed remotely as mutually agreed upon.
Bidding eligibility ends June 14, 2022 at 11:55 P.M.
