Summer Institute in Advancement Services

Faculty

Message From the Chair

Co-produced by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP), this institute promises to be a don't miss conference. Every member of the faculty has more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Each member is an active member of both AASP and CASE.  We have "been there, done that", with experiences in higher education, nonprofit organizations, nonprofit consulting and nonprofit technology. And, we will offer participants the opportunity to choose between sessions that cover fundamentals as well as big-picture strategic concepts. Networking opportunities abound and the faculty will be available for one-on-one consultations throughout the conference. 

We welcome those who are new to the field, as well as those who have been in and around the profession, to learn and experience the art and the science of advancement services.

Institute Chair

Thomas Chaves
Assistant Vice President of Advancement Services
Lehigh University

Thomas Chaves is the assistant vice president of advancement services at Lehigh University where he is building and leading a dynamic information management environment to support Lehigh's advancement operations. Managing a centralized team in a decentralized environment, Chaves strives to effectively and efficiently use technology, process and people to bring valuable information to Lehigh's advancement team.

Before coming to Lehigh, he spent more than 17 years at SunGard/SCT working with more than 100 Banner clients to implement and effectively use Banner Advancement. He also served as the director of annual giving at Albright College and finished a nine-year tenure on Albright College's Alumni Association board, serving as president the last two years.

Chaves chaired the 2010 CASE Conference for Senior Advancement Services Professionals, is a board member of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals and is a member of the Banner Advancement advisory board.

He holds a bachelor's degree from Albright College and a master's degree from Penn State University.

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Faculty

Caroline S. Chang
Assistant Vice President for Operations and Campaigns
Santa Clara University

As the assistant vice president for operations and campaigns at Santa Clara University, Caroline Chang oversees advancement services (gift processing, records, reporting, research, development communications and stewardship) and campaign planning and reporting. 

Previously, she was the director of operations for Stanford University's office of development, with responsibility for gift processing, biographic records, central files (imaging). She began her career in development as a Stanford phone appeal volunteer, and then became director of student and young alumni development for The Stanford Fund. After five years in The Stanford Fund, which included several changes in responsibilities, she became director of annual giving for the Stanford University Medical Center in February 1995. After two years as annual giving director, she was lured by the call of operations and the challenges of converting to a client server database. She became Stanford's managing director of development operations in April 2003 and director of operations in November 2006. 

Chang holds both a bachelor's and master's degree from Stanford University, and a master's degree in business administration from Santa Clara University. 

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Gail A. Ferris
Director, Technology and Information Services, Office of Development and Alumni Relations
American University

In January of this year, Gail Ferris assumed the duties of director of technology and information services at American University. As the advancement information manager for the university, he oversees biographic records maintenance, gift processing, fundraising reporting, and the implementation of the university's Colleague Advancement information management system.

From 2008 through 2011, Ferris served as director of development services at the Catholic University of America. As director, he supervised the university's alumni records, gift processing, and prospect research and management, as well as the university's Millennium development information management system.

In 2006 and 2007, Ferris was director of development systems at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. There he had responsibility for maintaining the database tracking the museum's 200,000 members and the processing of all gifts to the museum. In February, 2007, he assumed responsibility for budget for the Development division, as well as interaction with the museum's information technology, operations, legal and human resources areas.

Previously, Ferris served as director of development operations at the World Wildlife Fund- U.S., where he was responsible for biographic and gift records, including prospect research and management, budget and human resources. He also served as executive director for advancement records at The George Washington University; as a consultant-in-residence at GW for Systems and Computer Technology Corporation; as director of information management in Georgetown University's office of alumni and university relations; and as director of alumni records at Yale University.

Active in CASE, he has served as faculty member and chair for several CASE conferences and as chair of the Matching Gifts Advisory Council. He is the recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple Award for teaching excellence.

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Karin George
Senior Associate
Washburn & McGoldrick, Inc.

Karin George joined Washburn & McGoldrick, Inc. in 2005, following a 19-year campus-based career that began immediately after graduating from Smith College in 1986. Her leadership, teaching, and strategic skills have made her a sought-after speaker at professional meetings and a respected colleague at the institutions she has served as a campus officer and a consultant.

Karin was appointed vice president for advancement at her alma mater in 1999. With an advancement team of 68 professionals, she led Smith's $425M campaign effort, This is about Smith. At Smith, Karin was a member of the president's senior staff, the committee on administrative technology, a member of the committee on mission and priorities, an ex-officio member of the Alumnae Association board of directors, and main staff contact for the Campaign Steering Committee and Campaign Honorary Committee.

Karin began her career at St. Lawrence University as assistant director of annual giving in 1986 and was promoted to director of annual giving in 1989. In 1991, she moved on to Vassar College as director of the annual fund and special gifts. In February 1995 she was appointed vice president for development at Vassar and brought its campaign to a successful close with a total of $206 million. As vice president she served on the president's senior staff and was an active member of the Priorities and Planning Committee. She also staffed the Nominations Committee of the Board of Trustees and worked as the main contact for the Pyramid Society of former trustees.

Karin serves a diverse range of clients including specialized schools such as Berklee College of Music, as well as liberal arts colleges including Spelman College, Marietta College, and Franklin Pierce. She also works with comprehensive institutions such as Capital University.

Karin served as a CASE trustee from 2003-2005 and as chair of the Committee on the Profession. She was a member of the faculty of CASE's Summer Institute in Educational Fund Raising from 2000-2004 and served on the faculty of CASE's Advancement Management Institute from 2003-2005. She is a recipient of CASE's distinguished Crystal Apple Award for teaching excellence.

Karin earned her BA in art history at Smith College. She illustrated the mural section of Diego Rivera: A Retrospective, (Founders Society Detroit Institute of Art, in association with W.W. Norton and Company, New York 1986) in collaboration with the late art historian Stanton Catlin. She is currently enrolled in the Graduate Liberal Studies program at Wesleyan University.

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Vicky Medlock
Associate Vice President for Advancement
Shenandoah University

Vicky Medlock started in advancement as a phonathon caller in 1981. Since then, she has enjoyed rich and diverse program opportunities at the University of Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of South Florida, the National Rifle Association and Shenandoah University where she is the associate vice president for advancement.

Her experience encompasses nearly every facet of advancement, including gift processing, reporting, records, annual giving, donor relations, events, research, alumni affairs, campaign programming, communications, human resources, finance and operations, training, strategic planning and board relations. She is passionate about the role of advancement services providing leadership to the profession and is an enthusiastic advocate for the inclusiveness of advancement services professionals in the decision-making process.

Medlock has been a strong advocate for advancement services for more than 20 years. She received the CASE Crystal Apple in 2003 and currently serves as the vice president for the Association of Advancement Services Professionals.

 

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Chris Pipkins
Associate Vice President–Advancement Information Services
James Madison University

Chris Pipkins is the associate vice president for advancement information systems for James Madison University, providing strategy and management for gift processing, data entry, quality assurance, training, prospect research and reporting. He started his career in prospect research.

At JMU, he developed a comprehensive prospect information and management system that was integral to the growth of a major gift operation. Professionally active at national and local levels, Pipkins has presented on topics such as campaigns, campaign reporting, prospect management and prospect pool analysis. He has published articles on prospect screenings and benchmarking. He also served on the editorial board for APRA's professional journal, Connections.

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Christina Pulawski
Consultant
Christina Pulawski Consulting

Christina Pulawski is an independent consultant specializing in development research, prospect management and information flow for fundraising. Previously, she was director of development and donor services at Loyola University Chicago, overseeing the areas of research, prospect management, data management, systems and stewardship. Prior to joining Loyola, she was director of development research at Northwestern University from 1994-2003, which earned "top research shop" distinction under her direction.

She completed a six-year term on the board of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA), serving as vice president for education and professional development and secretary-treasurer. She chaired APRA's International Conferences in 1999, 2001 and 2002, developed APRA's Boot Camp and other symposia and received the organization's Distinguished Service Award in 2005. She has also served as president of APRA's Illinois Chapter and was a founding member and vice president of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP). She co-chaired AASP's inaugural Summit, several CASE conferences, regularly earns CASE faculty star distinction, and has frequently published, presented, consulted and guest lectured on the field of prospect research and advancement services for APRA, CASE, Indiana University Center on Philanthropy and AFP, plus other public and private organizations and nonprofit education and management programs.

Pulawski earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Northwestern and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois. She is admitted to practice in Illinois and practiced in the fields of real estate and litigation before taking the opportunity to explore development in 1991.

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Jon Thorsen
Director of Advancement Services
The Nature Conservancy

Jon Thorsen is director of advancement services at The Nature Conservancy, where he oversees the areas of Business Information & Analytics, Fundraising Systems, Prospect Development and Prospect Management. A former university librarian and instructor, he joined the development profession in 1987 and has led research and advancement services operations for Princeton University and the American Red Cross.

A former president of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement, Thorsen received the association's Distinguished Service Award in 1999. He currently serves as a consultant to the board of directors of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals and chair of that organization's Best Practices committee. He received AASP's Volunteer of the Year award in 2010.

Thorsen has given presentations on many facets of the development profession at conferences for AASP, APRA, ADRP, AFP, CASE and other organizations. His articles on the advancement services profession have appeared in numerous publications, and he has contributed to the books Constituent Relationship Management: The New Little Black Book of Politics and People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities.

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CASE Crystal Apple award winner for excellence in teaching.