Strong relationships across campus can help alumni relations leaders be more effective and build internal support for the alumni relations program, according to two University of Rochester alumni officers who spoke at the recent CASE District II conference.

Kevin Wesley, assistant vice president for advancement and alumni relations, and Jennifer Linton, senior director of alumni relations operations and events, spoke about "Making Connections: 20 Campus People Every Alumni Relations Staffer Should Know" at the March 3-5 conference in Pittsburgh.

"Relationships matter," said Wesley. "Just as we're highly dependent on our relationships with alumni and donors, internal relationships can make or break what we do."

Wesley and Linton said it's important to understand the work of colleagues within advancement, including gift officers, members of the advancement services team and others whose work intersects with alumni relations.

Equally important are relationships with those outside of advancement, especially when planning on-campus events such as the University of Rochester's Meliora Weekend, which brings up to 10,000 people to 150 events on three campuses for three days every fall. Among the key offices to engage are:

• Student affairs, to collaborate on student programming
• Career services, to help serve alumni seeking new professional opportunities
• Facilities management, on building management issues, parking and other event-related issues
• Health services, for event-related medical emergencies
• Dining services, for on-campus catering
• Libraries, especially working with librarians in special collections who manage information about the institution's history, to help engage alumni returning to campus
• Information technology, to support the use of technology for events held in classrooms

Building connections before they're needed will help events run smoothly later, the pair said.

"Ask them what they do," Wesley said. "Explain what it is that you do. And ask them what the potential is for working together. You'll be surprised at the good ideas you hear."

Added Linton: "All of this will mean that they have your back when you need them," who added that her most important advice is to say "thank you."

This article is from the March 2013 issue of BriefCASE.
Please share your questions and comments with Pam Russell via e-mail at russell@case.org or by telephone at +1-202-478-5680.