Alumni Council Fall 2018 Summary

The Alumni Council met on campus Thursday, Nov. 1 through Saturday, Nov. 3 for its fall meeting.

President John “Fritz” Schwaller ’69 led the meetings, which were attended by 24 members of the Council. The following is a brief summary of the weekend’s work:

  1. Council members participated in a hardhat tour of the new Humanities and Social Studies Center led by project co-chair Keith Brouhle ’96 and Rick Whitney, assistant vice president for facilities management, followed by a welcome dinner at Relish with faculty;
  2. The Council had a thought provoking and dynamic discussion on the need for a new alumni volunteer “code of conduct” to help establish effective guidelines for volunteer behavior with, and toward, students, staff, and fellow alumni. A small group of Council members will work with Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) staff to create draft guidelines in follow up to the meeting;
  3. Paul Chrisman ’99, associate director of operations for data, analysis, and reporting in DAR, offered an overview of the new alumni engagement scoring model and discussed its potential strategic application as the Council and DAR work to advance alumni connectivity and affinity;
  4. Over lunch, President Raynard Kington provided a campus update and took questions from the Council on a broad range of topics;
  5. Council members participated in informal career conversations with students at a Friday evening GRINNELLINK reception co-sponsored by the Center for Careers, Life and Service;
  6. The Council joined local alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends for a Grinnell-in-Grinnell reception and dinner on Friday night;
  7. Jaci Thiede, the new vice president for DAR, along with Jayn Chaney ’05, addressed the Council and provided updates regarding the 2017-18 year’s achievements and the comprehensive campaign;
  8. Under the leadership of President Elect Ryann Haines Cheung ’93, the Council discussed and approved (pending a vote) a revised mission statement. The Council’s core values and a potential tag line were also discussed;
  9. Each of the standing committees of the Alumni Council presented reports on their work since the spring meeting;
  10. Bryce Lew ’19, Waez Sheikh ’19, and Emily Zaffiro ’19 reported on the work of the Student Alumni Council and the Steven Kent ’67 Memorial Senior Class Gift efforts so far this year;
  11. With leadership from interim committee chair Nancy Schmulbach Maly ’61, the Council approved a slate of 15 alumni for receipt of 2019 Alumni Awards to be presented at Reunion 2019;
  12. The Council ended the weekend with a celebratory meal with Regional Coordinators and members of the 2019 Multicultural Alumni Weekend Planning Committee who were also on campus for the weekend.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Our thanks for your continued interest in the work of the Council.

Warm Regards,

John “Fritz” Schwaller ’69, Alumni Council President
Jayn Bailey Chaney ’05, Director of Alumni and Donor Relations