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From left: UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., College of Pharmacy Alumni Association President John Ridgway, College of Nursing Alumni Association President Rebecca Keating-Lefler, Ph.D., Physical Therapy Alumni Chapter President Nick Reiss, D.PT., and University of Nebraska Foundation President Clarey Castner at a signing ceremony that reorganized UNMC’s advancement structure. |
Integrated advancement is the coordinated effort to strengthen relationships between the university and outside constituents — alumni, friends, donors and members of the community — by the alumni association and foundation to encourage support of UNMC.
This new structure will enhance collaboration among all three entities, creating greater efficiencies in alumni programming, database management and fundraising initiatives. It also is expected to enhance the entities’ efforts in achieving their individual missions while collectively supporting UNMC’s priorities.
“The UNMC Alumni Associations, UNMC and the University of Nebraska Foundation have achieved great success throughout their long histories,” said Bob Bartee, UNMC vice chancellor for external affairs. “The new structure brings these organizations together in a partnership that allows the UNMC Alumni Relations Office and the alumni chapters to focus primarily on alumni programming and the foundation on fundraising. This collaboration ultimately will benefit UNMC, students, faculty and alumni.”
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., Clarey Castner, president of the NU Foundation and representatives from each of the participating college alumni associations signed the agreement last month at a special event in Omaha.
With this agreement a new organizational structure was created for UNMC Alumni Relations in the areas of strategic planning, budgeting and programming. Individuals from each of the three entities and participating college alumni association boards will compose two new oversight committees:
- UNMC Alumni Coordinating Committee will review annual budgets, financial transactions and staffing plans for the UNMC Office of Alumni Relations; and
- UNMC Alumni Engagement Council will oversee the strategic plan for the UNMC Office of Alumni Relations and coordinate all-alumni programming, communications and marketing activities.
“As the new director of UNMC Alumni Relations it is an exciting time to be a part of the grassroots development of this new relationship,” said Roxanna Jokela, who assumed the alumni leadership position in April.
The UNMC Alumni Association and NU Foundation will work from a newly created alumni/donor database shared by all four University of Nebraska campuses and coordinated by the foundation. This structure will create greater efficiencies in management of the database, streamlining the updating process and eliminating duplicate records.
“Historically UNMC Alumni Relations and the University of Nebraska Foundation have always worked closely together,” said Amy Volk, vice president and director of development for UNMC, University of Nebraska Foundation. “This new agreement helps us clarify our missions and further coordinate our efforts to build strong alumni involvement at UNMC.”