Assistant Vice President, Alumni Engagement - Ypsilanti, United States - Eastern Michigan University Foundation

Description

At Eastern Michigan University, we pride ourselves on being an
Institution of Opportunity. EMU is the most diverse public
university in the state of Michigan. Of our ~14,000 students,
almost 30% are first generation college students. Our community of
170,000 living alumni, predominantly located in the State of
Michigan, share the common bond of receiving a life-changing
education at Eastern.

The Eastern Michigan University Foundation (EMUF) is seeking an
Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement to help advance this
mission of access and opportunity. As a member of the EMU
Foundation leadership team you will be empowered to oversee the
entirety of alumni engagement programming across all five of EMU's
Colleges, Intercollegiate Athletics, and many affinity groups. You
will also oversee exciting efforts to provide strategic direction
and oversight of creative, innovation and bold communication
strategies to engage alumni. EMUF has recently invested in
advancement database support, services, events and communications
platforms. The opportunity to have immediate impact in
advancing our alumni engagement efforts is significant

Reporting directly to the Vice President for Advancement &
Executive Director of the EMU Foundation, you will drive a
significant portfolio of activity in the Advancement Division.
Overseeing a team of five talented professionals, you will have
ample opportunities to shape the future direction of alumni
engagement for EMU. You will establish partnerships, while adding
value and structure to existing campus alumni engagement efforts.
You will collaborate with fundraising and other colleagues in the
Division of Advancement. Your leadership of our strategic
communications efforts will connect alumni back to EMU like never
before, and serve the continued growth and productivity of our
division for years to come.

The EMU Foundation offers flexible, hybrid work
arrangements, and a full benefits package including: comprehensive
health care, retirement plans, paid vacation days and holidays, and
sick and personal time.

Diversity Statement: The EMU Foundation is committed to making
diversity, equity, and inclusion central to our Mission, creating
greater philanthropic impact for donors and greater value for
Eastern Michigan University. We believe that having varied
perspectives helps generate better ideas to solve the complex
problems of a changing—and increasingly diverse—world.

Position Description:

The Assistant Vice President (AVP), Alumni Engagement will
provide vision and leadership for alumni programs (both
university-wide and school/college-specific) and related
initiatives offered under the E-Alumni brand. The AVP will be
responsible for the strategic planning, creation, delivery, and
maintenance of a comprehensive suite of alumni programs, all
advancement communications, and volunteer opportunities meant to
increase alumni connection, engagement, and philanthropic
support.

Reporting to the Vice President of Advancement & Executive
Director of the EMU Foundation (EMUF), the AVP is a member of the
EMUF leadership team and must have excellent collaboration and
communication skills to develop and maintain partnerships with
advancement staff, frontline fundraisers, and other EMU colleagues.
The AVP is also a highly visible leader across the broader
university community. The AVP will work to establish and grow
effective partnerships with college deans, school leaders, and
other key university partners. The AVP will also strengthen a
critical strategic partnership with the EMU Division of
Communications. Additionally, they will work alongside Executive
Officers including the Offices of the President and Provost,
Intercollegiate Athletics, Chief Diversity Officer and Enrollment
Management, to help support all institutional priorities through
effective alumni engagement.

Essential Duties:
Provide vision, direction and
leadership for the Alumni Engagement team.
Manage the strategic planning process
for alumni engagement and measure programmatic progress and alumni
engagement.
Establish organizational plans to
meet engagement and philanthropy goals and oversee a comprehensive
program that focuses on continued growth, innovation, and
engagement.
Responsible for the design, planning,
and implementation of programs, communications, services, and
volunteer opportunities meant to increase alumni loyalty and
engagement with the university.
Apply specific strategies for varying
alumni populations, including affinity & identity groups,
recent alumni, future alumni, and alumni volunteers.
Provide strategic guidance and
support for other alumni volunteer groups, including the
school/college alumni councils, affinity groups, alumni
chapters.
Collaborate with colleagues in the
Advancement division to enhance cultivation and stewardship
strategies through personal alumni outreach and visits.
Oversee the development and
implementation of marketing communication plans to increase alumni
participation by identifying segmented target groups and creating
innovative communication campaigns.
Provide oversight of the design,
planning, direction, and implementation of division communications,
electronic newsletters, mailings, targeted email campaigns, social
media, giving day, and other communications meant to build and
enhance engagement, ensuring consistency in brand, themes, and
messaging with development and university
communications.
Closely collaborate with the EMU
Division of Communications, to enhance efficiencies and broaden
communications impact.
Maintain a partnership with the
E-Alumni Advisory Board President and the members of the
Board.
Supervise a diverse staff,
effectively managing performance to meet individual and team
initiatives; foster a collegial and highly productive work
environment.
Recruit, hire, train, coach,
evaluate, and mentor staff. Establish and communicate performance
expectations in a manner that motivates and empowers staff to
fulfill job duties.
Encourage, support, and ensure
employee participation in training and development
programs.
Develop goals and set operational
standards for the Alumni Engagement and Advancement
Communications team. Conduct periodic review, assess department's
performance, and implement strategic changes/enhancements as
needed.
Execute and evaluate alumni
engagement programs, communications campaigns, and events. Evaluate
the success and effectiveness of annual engagement efforts through
statistical and qualitative analysis.
Manage an annual budget. Develop
revenue and expense projections, approve expenditures at team level
and monitor transactions for compliance with EMU Foundation
policies and procedures.
Establish priorities and determine
operating budgets of affiliated alumni volunteer councils and
affinity groups; oversee related expenditures.
Network with outside professional
groups and organizations to keep abreast of current industry trends
and best practices related to alumni engagement and advancement
communications.
Represent EMUF at industry or
community meetings at the request of division leaders.

Supervision
Received:

Vice President of Advancement and Executive Director, EMU
Foundation

Supervision
Exercised:

Manage a staff of 5 FTEs.

Provide ultimate oversight to a robust Advancement Student
Ambassador Program part-time, highly engaged employees)

This position and all members of the Alumni Engagement team are
employees of Eastern Michigan University Foundation
(EMUF).

Qualifications and Skills:

The ideal candidate will bring many of the following
professional qualities and experiences: