2:00–2:15 PM Welcome & Setting the Stage All Faculty This session will provide an overview of the institute experience and expectations as well as introduce faculty leaders and fellow participants.
2:15–3:15 Ready, Set, Go! Alumni Relations Fundamentals
Alumni Relations has a rich history and plays a critical role in building meaningful relationships with alumni. This session will provide a brief overview of our profession, how to measure the impact of our work, how to position our offices for success, and will address a few of the best practices in our field. Participants will gain a better understanding of the future of the profession and what is needed to be a successful alumni relations professional in the 21st century. Speakers: Julie Decker and Billy Pierce
3:15–4:00 Introduction to Advisory Groups
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in small group discussion with fellow attendees to maximize their learning throughout the institute. These meetings are facilitated by a faculty leader and are designed to help attendees more deeply explore concepts covered each day. This session will introduce participants to their faculty leader and fellow advisory group members and provide the expectations and guidelines for how to engage during these meetings.
Institute Program
12:00 PM – 9:00 PM Residence Hall Check-in
Noon – 1:45 Institute Registration
2:00 – 3:15 Welcome and Opening Session Speakers: Sue Cunningham, President & CEO, CASE with all Institute Chairs
3:15 – 3:30 Refreshment Break
3:30 – 4:30 Why Integrate DEI&B into Alumni Engagement? Like many organizations, advancement leaders and teams are determining when and how to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) initiatives into program plans. Oftentimes, there is a question "why, do we need to...?" Not only is DEI&B work necessary, it should be integrated into every aspect of the plans, programs, events, and communications you execute. This session will help you to understand and be intentional in your efforts to create purposeful inclusion.
Speakers: Rosetta Clay and Julie Decker
4:30 – 4:45 Transition Break
4:45 – 5:45 Advisory Group Meetings Meet with faculty and a smaller group of attendees to help maximize your learning at the institute.
6:00 – 8:00 Welcome Reception Cap off your first day by joining the institute faculty and fellow attendees for a welcome dinner to enjoy food, drinks and good company.
8:00 Institute Adjourns for the Day
8:15 – 9:15 AM Roundtables
9:30 – 9:45 Morning Announcements
9:45 – 10:45 It’s About More Than Just a Good Time: ROI and Meaningful Events No matter the evolution of your alumni relations program, the size of your institution or the size of your alumni relations team, events are likely an important part of the way you engage alumni. Therefore, it is vitally important for you to be thoughtful about the purpose of your events, the intended outcomes, the data that will be collected and the affinity that will be created as you advance relationships with your attendees. In this session, we will examine the elements of these conversations, while also looking at return on investment and the permanent integration of virtual events within our engagement strategies.
Speakers: Joycelyn Blizzard and Billy Pierce
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00 Elective Sessions (choose one):
This is the Remix: A Fresh Approach to Student and Young Alumni Engagement Ensuring alumni develop a lifelong affinity to your institution requirescultivating relationships from their first interaction — as students. Student programming progresses into volunteer engagement, which commences with graduation into young alumni engagement. Traditionally, alumni programming has not always included students and young alumni, certainly not as a priority. Now is the time to reconsider your institution’s approach to meet students and young alumni where they are, in spaces conducive to their lifestyle. Come to this session to understand “old school” methods while embracing “new school” innovations for a remix that helps to createa highly engaged alum from day one.
Speakers: Rosetta Clay and Terrance Smith
Where in the World are Your Alumni? For many institutions, alumni do not stay local to their alma mater. When considering emerging trends and best practices, there are many ways that institutions can engage with their geographically distant alumni. We will look at opportunities, challenges, and innovations for engaging your alumni who live away from campus, whether across the country and around the world.
Speakers: Joycelyn Blizzard and Katie Young
Affinity Based Programming: If You Build it Will They Come? The questions of why/how/when to incorporate affinity-based alumni programming is one every institution addresses. More importantly in this process are the steps taken to resolve those questions before implementation and execution. In this session, you will be able to address those questions, consider ways to inform your decisions, discuss action plans, and hear examples of lessons learned in the process.
Speakers: Rosetta Clay and Sarah Schutt
Know Your Campus VIPs – Very Important Partnerships Leveraging campus relationships is a best practice for boosting alumni engagement and giving. Campus partners should be viewed as an extension of your strategy. No matter the size of your team, this session will help you understand how to foster collaboration and set mutually beneficial goals as a means to do your best work.
Speakers: Terrance Smith and Katie Young
2:45 – 3:00 Stretch/Transition Break
3:00 – 4:00 You Are Here: Alumni Relations in the Map Advancement On her 5th anniversary as CASE President and CEO in March of 2020, Sue Cunningham wrote, “the integrated advancement model that CASE espouses is essential.” She identified the core disciplines of advancement –fundraising, alumni relations, marketing and communications, and advancement services – and asserted that we will be most successful in our efforts to advance education by if we develop an understanding of and empathy for all the functions and commit to working together. This session will consider how the alumni relations discipline contributes to advancement and will introduce approaches and practices to move toward greater collaboration and integration.
Speakers: Julie Decker and Sarah Schutt
4:00 – 4:30 Refreshment Break
4:30 – 5:30 Advisory Group Meetings
All Faculty
5:30 Institute Adjourns for the day Free evening, dinner on your own
8:15 – 9:15 AM Roundtables
9:30 – 9:45 Morning Announcements
9:45 – 10:45 Metrics and Outcomes: Did Someone Say Data? Data is at the heart of many decisions we need to make in Alumni Relations. Whether qualitative or quantitative, anecdotal or scientific, data should be the driving force behind the analysis of effective alumni engagement. Data-informed strategies and tactics can lead to the outcomes you desire for your campus. During this session, we will discuss the importance of data and how to best leverage the information you have at your disposal to improve alumni engagement.
Speakers: Billy Pierce and Sarah Schutt
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00 Elective Sessions (choose one):
Alumni Volunteers: Love ‘em or Lose ‘em Volunteers play an essential role in reaching goals and engaging the full alumni network. It is our job to match their passion and partner with our volunteers to effectively achieve mutually beneficial results that serve to enhance engagement. Discover tools to equip, activate, and manage alumni volunteers to maximize effectiveness in your day-to-day work, institutional mission, and engagement goals.
Speakers: Terrance Smith and Katie Young
All A-Board! Alumni Board Management 101 Alumni board volunteers partner with alumni staff in executing institutional/departmental goals for the alumni community. Defining specific roles and responsibilities for each volunteer leads to their accountability for how to achieve those goals. Don’t miss this train, as we embark on an overview of strategic alumni board management while making stops to discuss operations, governance, and pipeline development for future board leadership.
Speakers: Joycelyn Blizzard and Rosetta Clay
Measuring Alumni Engagement – Three Years of Insight
CASE’s Alumni Engagement Metrics survey collects counts of alumni engaged across four modes: philanthropy, volunteer, experiential, and communication. In this session, you’ll learn the benefits of capturing activities that measure engagement, explore findings from fiscal 2021, which include two years of measurable trend results, and walk away with suggestions for the next steps in your own program.
Speaker: Ann Kaplan, Senior Director of the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE), CASE
Digital Alumni Engagement Digital engagement strategy is – and should be – unique for every advancement organization. Aligning online efforts with an overall engagement strategy can be challenging with an ever-changing landscape. Learn about specific tools for digital alumni marketing, strategy, and engagement. We will share ideas for producing digital content, planning online events and measuring digital insights.
Speaker: Katie Young
2:45 – 3:00 Stretch/Transition Break
3:00 – 4:00 Get Out the Map: The Self-Directed Journey of Leadership Development Leadership is often a self-directed journey. This session will define core leadership concepts to help participants identify influential experiences, people, and skillsets that have, and will, shape your leadership journey. Attendees will walk away with a plan to build upon past experiences, identify individuals who can serve you on your own personal board of directors, develop capacity to receive and implement feedback, and grow your brand. You are the leader in your leadership journey!
Speakers: Julie Decker and Terrance Smith
4:00 – 4:30 Refreshment Break
4:30 – 5:30 Advisory Group Meetings
All Faculty
5:30 Institute Adjourns for the day Free evening, dinner on your own
8:00 – 9:00 AM Roundtables
9:15 – 10:15 All-Institutes Plenary
Practicing Diversity, Equity, inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in Advancement
Inclusive philanthropy requires deliberate actions that permeate throughout advancement organizations. Advancement services, alumni relations, fundraising, and marketing and communication professionals will learn DEIB advancement strategies and work to develop a skill set that will add value to their organization.
Speaker: Jessica Elmore, Ed.D, Senior Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Training, CASE
10:15 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:30 Elective Sessions (choose one):
When Institutions Serve: Career Services, Mentorship, and Lifelong Learning Now more than ever, alumni are looking at the value their higher education or independent institutions are providing for them today. A major opportunity to stay relevant and remain a resource for alumni is through career services and lifelong learning programs. This presentation will help you build a case and explore programs that meet and support alumni in their professional development journey.
Speakers: Joycelyn Blizzard and Terrance Smith
Show Me the Money! Understanding the Basics of Budgets You will likely have to plan, present, and execute a budget in your new role. Understanding funding as well as the basics of financials, variance sheets, and budget planning will give you a head start to being successful. Attendees will walk away with resources, tools, and vocabulary to make the most of your new financial responsibilities. We know - we had you at “budgets!”
Speakers: Julie Decker and Billy Pierce
Not Your Father’s Buick: Alumni Engagement for All Ages and Stages Your institution engages a wide variety of students and alumni, all linked by one common experience. Identifying critical alumni touch points based on life stage can help us better understand the journey and maximize engagement. We will share themes on the student and alumni experiences from different generations; their preferences for communication and engagement; and innovative ways that you can connect with students and alumni from different eras.
Speakers: Sarah Schutt and Katie Young
Because We've Always Done It This Way...Does that Make it Right? As newcomers to Alumni Engagement, you may have heard or will hear the phrase "because we've always done it this way" in response to your questions about programs, events, and activities at your institution. Expectations for change from leadership may not match the attachment alumni (and some staff) have for these traditional programs. You will be provided with steps and actions for assessing when and how to sunset traditional programs while creating buy-in to launch new programs intended to engage a broader alumni community.
Speakers: Joycelyn Blizzardand Rosetta Clay
2:45 – 3:00 Stretch/Transition Break
3:00 – 4:30 Thoughts from the Field: Alumni Relations Leadership Panel & Institute Wrap-up Participate in this moderated conversation with leaders in Alumni Relations as they share their thoughts on the future of alumni relations, advice for new professionals, and their thoughts on what it means to be a leader during turbulent times. Opportunities for Q&A will be provided so please bring your questions. The faculty leadership will then wrap-up the Institute with some closing observations and remarks and provide a “last call” for any remaining topics or questions you want to address before you depart back into the world.
Panelists: Julie Decker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Florida State University Alumni Association; Cindy Fredrick, Senior Associate Vice President for Engagement and Annual Giving, University of Virginia; Sarah Schutt, Chief Alumni Engagement Officer for the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alumni Association; and Anita B. Walton, Vice Chancellor, University Advancement, Elizabeth City State University
Moderator: Billy Pierce
4:30 – 4:45 Refreshment Break
4:45 – 5:45 Advisory Group Meetings
All Faculty
5:45 Institute Adjourns
6:00 – 9:00 All Institutes Closing Celebration: Reception and Dinner Join conference attendees from all Summer Institutes at the Monona Terrace to celebrate our last evening in Madison with spectacular views and outdoor fun. Food, drinks, and live music will be provided. Shuttle service will begin at 5:30 PM outside of Witte Hall.
