Faculty

Message From Your Chair
The goal of this conference is to energize you professionally, to allow for a continual exchange of ideas and resources, and to inspire you to think proactively about the future challenges facing alumni relations. Come prepared to share ideas, gain insights, struggle with complex issues, offer solutions and ask hard questions of and obtain support from leaders in the field.

Sherri Schmidt, Conference Chair  
Associate Executive Director
North Dakota State University Alumni Association

Sherri Schmidt has over 22 years of advancement experience. She is presently the alumni director at the North Dakota State University Alumni Association. Prior to joining NDSU, Schmidt was executive director of Phi Mu Sorority in Atlanta, Ga.

At North Dakota State University, there is a unique cooperative working relationship between the Development Foundation and Alumni Association (both privately incorporated 501 (c) 3 organizations) which is unique at public institutions. Schmidt brings a strong perspective and insight into the importance of collaborative ventures between “friend raising and fundraising” goals and programs. 

Schmidt has been deeply involved in the alumni relations and advancement profession through CASE, where some of her leadership roles include: member of the CASE Alumni Relations Commission; District VI chair; faculty member or conference chair at the Summer Institute for Alumni Relations for seven years; member of the Case International Organizational Assessment Team; presenter at more than 40 CASE educational sessions at district or national conferences; contributor to CASE CURRENTS; and recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching. She has served as a consultant for other alumni organizations and assisted with board education, staff/volunteer reorganization and/or programming evaluation.  Schmidt has also been active with the Team Makers Executive Committee, the Fargo Economic Development Labor committee, the Fargo Chamber of Commerce and the Governor’s Outreach Committee.

She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from North Dakota State University. 

Barbara Dick
Executive Director, Alumni Affairs
University of Toronto

 Barbara Dick is executive director, alumni affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada’s largest university. With more than 447,000 alumni, the University of Toronto maintains a complex, decentralized structure spanning three campuses, and boasts one of the country’s most successful advancement operations. 

As executive director of alumni affairs Dick provides leadership, vision and direction for alumni engagement. Her areas of expertise include program development, strategic planning, methodologies of impact assessment, and the integration of alumni and development initiatives. She is also an active volunteer, serving in the university's mentorship program, and professional and social service associations including the Council for Alumni Association Executives (CAAE).

Dick is a graduate of the University of Toronto with 20 years experience in the arts and higher education. Her professional experience includes alumni relations, annual giving, campaign planning, governance and talent management.

Peter Rooney
Vice President, Development and Alumni Relations
Oglethorpe University

Peter Rooney has been in the advancement profession for 25 years. In 2004, he was named vice president for development and alumni relations at Oglethorpe University. In 2006, he successfully led a board campaign resulting in the best philanthropic year of the university, and improved awareness in Atlanta. The university has enjoyed its best philanthropic years in history in the last three years.  

Prior to joining Oglethorpe, he served as director of development at his alma mater, the Westminster Schools, an independent K–12 institution. During his 15 year tenure at Westminster, he oversaw the successful completion of a $75 million campaign and the strengthening of the alumni program. Prior to Westminster, Rooney served at Rhodes College as director of planned giving and director of development working closely with alumni across the country.

Rooney brings a strong background in the independent and private school sectors due to his expertise in capital campaigns and building/developing an alumni relations program to complement fundraising efforts. He is a 1984 graduate of Rhodes College. Rooney is active with CASE and has been on the CASE District III board for the past 15 years, and will become chair in 2009. He has also been part of the CASE/NAIS planning committees and has spoken at several CASE district and national conferences. 

Rooney’s civic involvement includes work with the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Salt Lake Winter Games and Centennial Games in Atlanta. He participates in Leadership Georgia; has served on the board of Camp Glisson, Trinity Community Ministries; and is active with the Ron Clark Academy and coaching at Buckhead Baseball and at NYO. Rooney also serves on the boards of directors of the Buckhead Business Association and the operating board of The Commerce Club, and is a member of Northside United Methodist Church. 

Andrew Shaindlin
Executive Director, Caltech Alumni Association
California Institute of Technology

An alumni relations professional since 1989, Andy Shaindlin has worked both at his alma mater, Brown University, and at the University of Michigan. Since 1999, he has been the executive director of the Caltech Alumni Association at the California Institute of Technology.

Involved with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) since 1989, he is currently chair of the Commission on Alumni Relations. Shaindlin has published periodically in CASE CURRENTS magazine and has written chapters for three CASE books, as well as independently publishing a book about online business networking.

Shaindlin has presented at dozens of conferences in five countries and periodically serves as a paid consultant in higher education. He is a member of the Association of Private College and University Alumni Directors (PCUAD) and is the creator and author of a blog for alumni relations professionals, Alumni Futures (http://www.alumnifutures.com).

Shaindlin is pursuing a master’s degree in education part-time at Claremont Graduate University.

Jeffrey S. Todd
Executive Director
Oregon State University

Jeff Todd assumed the duties of executive director of the Oregon State University Alumni Association in June, 2004. He is charged with the responsibility of growing alumni connections to the university and building alumni pride in their alma mater through a broad, comprehensive alumni relations program. 

Todd began his career as director of alumni relations at The College of Wooster in Ohio, a national, private liberal arts college. Eventually he also assumed the additional responsibility of director of The Wooster Fund. After 16 years of service to Wooster, he was appointed executive vice president of the University of Arizona Alumni Association in January 2002, where he was involved in all aspects of developing, staffing and managing Arizona’s alumni programs and services.

Active in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Todd served on the international board of trustees for six years and on the Commission on Alumni Relations for three years. In 2004 he was the program chair for the CASE Assembly in San Diego. He chaired the CASE District V Annual Conference in both 1999 and 1998. He has served on the faculty and as chair of the Summer Institute in Alumni Relations and has been a speaker at other CASE conferences. After arriving in Corvallis, he was invited to join the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE). He co-chaired the 2006 winter institute, and in 2003-2004 was selected for the CAAE Forman Fellowship.

Guest Speaker

Jason Ryan Dorsey
The Gen Y Guy™
Author and Entrepreneur

Jason Ryan Dorsey, The Gen Y Guy™, is a bestselling author and award-winning entrepreneur. He teaches leaders how to bridge the four generations so their organization can gain a competitive advantage. A member of Gen Y himself, Dorsey has been featured as a generational expert on “60 Minutes,” “20/20,” “The View,” “The Today Show” and in Fortune Magazine.

Dorsey’s nontraditional journey started when he wrote his first bestselling book, Graduate to Your Perfect Job, at age 18. Since that time over 100,000 members of Gen Y have used his books and seminars to enter the workforce. He followed the success of his first book with three more including his latest titled, My Reality Check Bounced! In the last 12 years, he has been a keynote speaker at over 1,800 events across the U.S., and as far away as Egypt, Norway, Spain and India, to audiences as large as 13,000. In recognition of his achievements, Dorsey won the Austin Under 40 Entrepreneur of the Year Award at age 25—one of the youngest winners ever. To read more about his keynote speeches, and watch a sample video, please visit www.JasonDorsey.com.

This faculty member has earned a CASE Crystal Apple award in recognition of excellence in teaching at 10 or more conferences, workshops, and institutes.