The Search for a W 1. America s Premier College for Mentored Undergraduate Research

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1 America s Premier College for Metored Udergraduate Research The Search for a Director of Alumi Relatios The College of Wooster aouces its search for a Director of Alumi Relatios ad a expectatio to brig strategic ad affirmig leadership to a critically importat costituecy of this highly selective liberal arts college. The ew Director will be asked to lead a program that is poised at a momet of ucommo opportuity. Three of the most sigificat evets i the history of a private college the celebratio of a ladmark sesquiceteial aiversary, the iauguratio of a ew presidet, ad the lauch of the College s largest-ever campaig will occur i the ext year, betwee October 2016 ad April Begiig with this excitig time, the ew Director will be asked to lead a alumi program that is expected to move well beyod the status quo. wooster.edu Wooster, Ohio April 2016 W 1

2 WOOSTER: A Distictive Alma Mater Log kow as a top atioal liberal arts college, The College of Wooster has distiguished itself by makig Idepedet Study (I.S.) the corerstoe ad ispiratio of its udergraduate curriculum for early 70 years. As a sigature work for all studets, I.S. has historically ad cosistetly bee a rigorous, i-depth, year-log experiece of iquiry or creative expressio. By workig i partership with a faculty member to coceive, orgaize, ad complete a topic of the studet s choosig, every Wooster studet develops abilities valued by employers ad graduate schools alike: cofidece, idepedet judgmet, critical thikig, creative problem solvig, ad strog writte ad oral commuicatio skills. This log stadig educatioal traditio has carried Wooster to a ew level of academic distictio. I a survey of 30,000 college graduates, the Gallup orgaizatio recetly foud that havig a metor i college ad workig o a log-term project were two of the most powerful practices liked to log-term satisfactio i work ad life. Brado Busteed, executive director of Gallup Educatio, has hailed Wooster s I.S. Program as exactly what should be happeig i college today. The College of Wooster is ow recogized as America s Premier College for Metored Udergraduate Research. Whe the Associatio of America Colleges ad Uiversities (AAC&U) lauched its Liberal Educatio ad America s Promise (LEAP) iitiative early i 2015, it highlighted six member istitutios for their distictive educatioal programs. Wooster was the sole liberal arts college selected, as a exemplar of the trasformative impact of metored studet research. wooster.edu Wooster, Ohio April 2016 W 2

3 About the Alumi Program Goverace Groups Several formal structures provide importat alumi cousel to Wooster s welfare. The Alumi Board As a 23 member elected advisory group, the Alumi Board actively supports ad evaluates programs o ad off the campus that icrease alumi egagemet i the life of the College, promotes dialogue amog ad betwee alumi ad all other costituecies of the College o issues of importace to Wooster s welfare, fiacially supports the College, ad advaces Wooster s positio as a atioal liberal arts college. The Director of Alumi Relatios serves as liaiso to the Board ad coordiates all of the Board s related activities. With the guidace of the Director, the Alumi Board works i cocert with several structured affiity groups. Support for these groups is spread amog staff ad icludes the W Associatio, Black Alumi Coucil, Goig True, ad the LAW Group. Class Officers Officers serve as liaisos betwee each graduatig class ad the College. They are elected every five years durig Alumi Weeked ad are resposible for tasks such as plaig reuios, keepig i touch with classmates, ad submittig class otes to the Wooster Magazie. Studet Egagemet The alumi office has spear-headed a ie-year pla (four years while studets ad first five years out) to build class uity, awareess aroud Wooster s missio ad educatio, ad solicitatios for The Wooster Fud. Voluteerism The opportuity for alumi egagemet at Wooster has ever bee more robust. Scots I Service Wooster alumi, parets, ad frieds celebrate Scots i Service a 15 year traditio -- by gatherig together to serve their local commuities. Service projects are orgaized by alumi i differet cities across the atio, totalig some 25 cities ad ivolvig hudreds of voluteers, all reflectig the strog service missio at the College. Alumi Admissios Advocates More tha 600 alumi voluteers assist with recruitig efforts throughout the year. Alumi represet Wooster at college fairs, iformatio sessios, off-campus iterviews, ad receptios, ad sed hadwritte otes to ewly admitted studets. APEX Sice 2012, a emergig program of Advisig, Plaig, Experietial Learig (APEX) has preseted a vibrat opportuity for alumi egagemet. By itegratig seve services for studets i a sigle physical locatio discoverapex.wooster.edu, APEX has become a dyamic hub where studets ca meld classroom experieces with experietial learig, scholarship, ad career path plaig. Alumi iterest is growig at a rapid rate. academics/apex/alumi/alumi/ W 3

4 About the Alumi Program Special Evets Black & Gold Weeked Wooster alumi, parets, ad studets celebrate together at the ew Black & Gold Weeked (Homecomig ad Family Weeked as oe) with evets like musical performaces, departmetal ope houses, ad a tailgate luch. I.S. Moday Durig I.S. Moday, a campus evet i March whe seior research projects are due, The Office of Alumi Relatios sposors happy hours i various cities throughout the U.S. I 2016, there were I.S. Moday celebratios i 26 cities. The I.S. requiremet at Wooster provides a distictive thread that ties six decades of Wooster alumi together. Regioal Evets Regioal evets are plaed throughout the year ad across the coutry to brig alumi together ad coect them back to Wooster. While most regioal evets are orchestrated by staff, occasioally we assist alumi voluteers who wish to pla simple evets i their areas. Alumi Weeked Hudreds of alumi retur to Wooster each Jue to celebrate their reuios. Plas are made for classes ragig from the 5thyear reuio to the 70th. Attedace rages from 1,100 to 1,300 alumi ad guests, ad activities iclude social opportuities, meals, happy hours, faculty ad alumi lectures, live music, beer tastigs, tours of the city, alumi awards, the aual meetig of the Alumi Associatio, ad reuio givig recogitio. The Wooster Fud The Director of Alumi Relatios is a key parter withi the aual givig operatio to joitly promote egagemet ad philathropy. The goals of the alumi relatios strategic pla are directly tied to developmet ad istitutioal goals, as well as to those that directly move alumi ivolvemet forward through a cycle of icreasig coectio. This meas that The Wooster Fud goals aroud participatio ad retetio are also Alumi Relatios goals, as we build a foudatio of coectios ad support egagemet by askig for gift ad stewardig voluteerism. W 4

5 The Ageda for the Alumi Director Cosiderig the alumi program s wide rage of activity, the ew Director will have the opportuity to make a sigificat differece i the life of Wooster s alumi family. Several importat iitiatives provide a excitig ageda for the ew Director. Implemetig the Strategic Pla Rooted i a campus culture of data evaluatio ad plaig, Wooster has bee egaged i assessig the effectiveess of its alumi relatios programs through a series of idepedet reviews ad self studies sice The overall strategic pla (Ispirig Abudat Alumi Egagemet), which has grow out of these studies, has idetified several levels of ivolvemet by alumi. It sets forth specific goals to move alumi to a more ivolved profile, thereby broadeig the pyramid of alumi voluteers ad philathropic supporters. The Director of Alumi Relatios should be comfortable with program assessmet based o metrics ad will be asked to brig his/her creativity to the implemetatio of this pla over the ext several years. Itegratig Alumi Egagemet ad Philathropy While maily carryig the direct resposibility for program developmet ad alumi egagemet, the Director must also collaborate with the developmet team i supportig alumi givig. Util 2013, Alumi Relatios ad The Wooster Fud (Aual Fud) were liked i the same office. That year, the Wooster Fud was moved to a direct report to the AVP for Developmet. The ew Director of Alumi Relatios will be successful to the extet that he/she ca maitai collaborative relatioships with the other members of the advacemet team. The partership betwee Alumi Relatios ad aual givig i sharig data, plaig evets i which both givig ad voluteerig are celebrated, ad establishig mutual service/philathropy goals will be a key to this success. I carryig out the strategic pla, the ew alumi director must be kowledgeable about ad egaged i the fud-raisig program at Wooster. Sustaiig ad Erichig the Alumi Program As The College of Wooster gais distictio, so too should its alumi program. The program s status quo will ot sustai mometum for a icreasigly sophisticated program. The ew Director ca sustai ad erich by: Assessig the curret program ad idetifyig areas i which it may ot be meetig the eeds of alumi; Creatively achievig the goals of the strategic pla; Expadig the maer i which techology ad social media are used to egage alumi; Cotiually creatig opportuities for egagemet that will ehace Wooster s philathropic culture; Actively collaboratig with colleagues across campus to broade the base of activities for alumi egagemet. W 5

6 The Ageda for the Alumi Director Reachig All Segmets of the Alumi Family While ofte thought of as a uified costituecy, it is importat to recogize that alumi iterests vary by age groups, special affiities, diverse cultural groupigs, ad collegiate experieces that reflect differet times i Wooster s history. The Director s sesitivity to these differeces while remaiig iclusive i reachig all segmets of the alumi family, will reiforce his/her effectiveess. Providig Leadership As the campus-based face of the Alumi Relatios program, the Director will be expected to sustai a warmly persoable ad effectively eergetic leadership role with all members of the alumi family. These leadership skills will also be importat with other Wooster costituecies. Wooster s board of trustees, through its alumi members ad its overall goverace resposibility, is cotiually iterested i the welfare of the alumi program. Wooster s faculty ad staff should be urtured as amog the most sigificat college coectios that graduates carry with them throughout their lives. Wooster s studets should be remided regularly of their future role i the welfare of their alma mater, by istillig early values of ivolvemet ad philathropy i their post-udergraduate lives. Practicig Maagemet Complemetig the buoyat leadership skills that will support the Director s success will be a fudametal ability to care for detail ad collaborate with colleagues across the campus. A itese schedule of evet plaig makes these efforts particularly importat. The ability to set priorities, commuicate clearly, evaluate, guide, ad empower staff, ad work with fiite fiscal resources are all maistream activities o the Director s daily maagemet ageda. The ew Director has may audieces i which to exted his/her leadership. W 6

7 Desired Attributes It has bee suggested that the attribute list for the ext Director of Alumi Relatios should reflect may of the qualities that Wooster seeks to istill i its graduates. Idepedet thikig, collaborative iquiry, effective commuicatio, respect for diversity, ad social resposibility all help to defie the qualities that will help to esure the success of the ew Director. Wooster ad o-wooster alumi are ecouraged to apply. The cadidate of choice will have a baccalaureate degree as a miimum ad sigificat experiece that reflects a uderstadig of higher educatio, the liberal arts, alumi programmig, ad fud-raisig. Experieces outside of the academy that will support the Director s role could also be valuable. Desired persoal characteristics iclude a affirmig ad outgoig persoality, itegrity, autheticity, warmth, ad a sese of humor. I additio, the followig professioal qualities will be importat: Creative ad eterprisig leadership, with a frequet appetite for iovatio Strog verbal ad writte commuicatio skills Ability to maage collaboratively ad motivate others Strategic thikig i the assessmet of programs ad the implemetatio of plas Prove huma relatios skills Ease i developig a strog o-campus presece Ethusiasm for publicly represetig the College ad the Alumi Program Accomplished computer skills ad techological uderstadig Versatility i dealig with a wide variety of alumi iterests Familiarity with Wooster s distictiveess, traditios, ad history Willigess to travel W 7

8 The Applicatio Process The Director s Search Committee will be acceptig omiatios ad applicatios o a rollig basis throughout the late sprig ad early summer. The cadidate pool will iitially be arrowed i late Jue, although applicatios will be accepted util the Director is appoited. For most favorable cosideratio, applicatios should be submitted by Jue 17, The Director will be ivited to begi work o or about August 1. Dr. Thomas B. Courtice is the search cosultat assistig with this search. Nomiators ad prospective cadidates may cotact him at: Tom.Courtice@gmail.com or 614/ All iquiries, omiatios, ad applicatios will be received i full cofidece. Whe complete, applicatio materials should be submitted to: Ms. Laurie Houck Vice Presidet for Developmet ad Alumi Relatios Chair, Director of Alumi Relatios Search WoosterAlumiRels@gmail.com Applicatio materials should iclude: A letter that respods to the Ageda for the Alumi Director ad the Desired Attributes A curret resume or CV The ames ad cotact iformatio for three refereces, oe of whom will be cotacted without the formal permissio of the cadidate W 8

9 More About The College of Wooster While may istitutios fouded as udergraduate colleges have added graduate ad professioal programs ad evetually trasformed themselves ito uiversities, Wooster very cosciously took a differet path. Fouded by Presbyterias i 1866, it opeed its doors at the Uiversity of Wooster o September 8, 1870, with a faculty of five ad a studet body of thirty me ad four wome. By 1915, the uiversity had several graduate divisios, icludig a medical school. Ultimately, the board of trustees ad a majority of the faculty voted agaist further expasio ad i favor of closig dow the existig graduate programs, i order to focus solely o udergraduate educatio i the liberal arts ad scieces. With that sharpeig of strategic focus came a ew ame, The College of Wooster, ad a educatioal program framed i a residetial settig where studets lear i may veues ad i may ways. I 1969, the Presbyteria Syod of Ohio reliquished its owership of the College, ad Wooster became a idepedet, private liberal arts college. Today, Wooster erolls approximately 2,000 studets, from 45 states ad 44 coutries, who choose from more tha 50 academic programs i the scieces, humaities, social scieces, ad the arts. ad symbolic heart of the campus. It also stregtheed Wooster s fiacial foudatio by addig $56.7 millio to the edowmet, ad geerated excitemet ad pride amog the Scot faithful. Sice the the College has raised $40 millio to build the ew Williams Hall of Life Sciece, scheduled to ope i the Fall of Curretly, the College is earig the aoucemet of a ew comprehesive fud-raisig campaig. Perhaps owhere is the mometum more evidet tha i a fiercely competitive erollmet market-place. Sice 2007, applicatios for admissio to Wooster have jumped 80 percet. Wooster has become more selective, more iteratioal, ad more diverse. The admit rate has improved from 74 percet to 55 percet over the past eight years ad half of this year s icomig first-year studets are i the top 10 percet of their high school class. Domestic multi-ethic ad iteratioal studets will accout for about oe i three members of the first-year class, ad oe i five are eligible for Pell Grats. I 2007, the College cocluded the most successful comprehesive fud-raisig campaig i its history. Idepedet Mids: The Campaig for Wooster exceeded its $122 millio goal by more tha 20 percet, brigig i $147.9 millio to support the College s most importat priorities. The campaig made possible the costructio of ew residece halls ad academic buildigs, a ew admissios ceter ad studet health ceter, ad the reovatio of Kauke Hall, the icoic academic buildig that is the physical W 9

10 Fast Facts Fouded o December 18, 1866 Located i Wooster, Ohio, a commuity of 26,000, approximately 55 miles southwest of Clevelad Campus: 240 acres Academic caledar: Semesters Degrees coferred: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, ad Bachelor of Music Educatio Full-time faculty: 171 Full-time faculty holdig Ph.D. or equivalet termial degree: 96% Studet-faculty ratio: 11 to 1 Total erollmet (2016): 2,058 55% wome, 45% me 19% domestic studets of color 10% iteratioal 35% Ohio, 65% o-ohio 45 states ad 44 coutries represeted Studets livig o-campus: 99% Tuitio, fees, room & board ( ): $55,600 Studets receivig fiacial aid: more tha 75% Average aid package: $35,081 Studets who are Pell Grat recipiets: 19% Edowmet market value (April 30, 2015): $274 millio Athletics: 23 itercollegiate teams (NCAA Divisio III) Nickame: Fightig Scots The College of Wooster is a Equal Opportuity/Affirmative Actio Employer W 10