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Search Begins for New Alumnae Association Executive Director

As announced in the spring Alumnae Quarterly magazine, W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83 will step down as executive director of the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College this June.

Mary Graham Davis ’65, Association president, has announced the cochairs of the search committee that will recruit a new executive director. “We are pleased to announce as cochairs Dr. Susie Beers Betzer ’65, recent past president of the association and former trustee, and Joanna MacWilliams Jones ’67, a recent association board member with a strong human-resources background in education and nonprofit work,” she wrote.

The chairs have selected the other committee members, who are Pat Crane Furnivall ’50, Cynthia L. Reed ’80, Karen M. Hendricks ’76, Carrie K. Field ’97, Lisa M. Utzinger ’02, and Sandra A. Mallalieu ’91.  

Applications: You may apply online at this site. Detailed information about the position is below.

Mission Statement
The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is an independent organization that serves a worldwide network of diverse individuals, cultivates and celebrates vibrant connections among all alumnae, fosters lifelong learning in the liberal arts tradition, and facilitates opportunities for alumnae to advance the goals and values of the College.

ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Reporting directly to the Association Board of Directors and responsible to its President, the Executive Director will lead the work of the Association, through the engagement of the volunteer leadership and staff of the Association in concert and collaboration with the College. 

The Executive Director will:

• Carry out the mission of the Alumnae Association to achieve its goals and reach the vision:  the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is a world-class organization that is valuable, visible, relevant, and inclusive
• Work with the volunteer Alumnae Association Board leaders to support, guide, advise and help with the Board’s responsibilities
• Lead the implementation of the 2005-2010 Strategic Plan and prepare for development of the next Strategic Plan based on ongoing measurements
• Utilize recent measurement tools effectively to analyze and guide the Association’s work
• Develop, implement, evaluate, and sustain successful programs to benefit alumnae and students
• Develop, implement and evaluate programs to support the Association’s and the College’s missions focusing on 1) collaboration with admission, development, career services, academic departments/centers, and information technology and on 2) connecting with the intellectual life of students and alumnae across the decades
• Make students and alumnae aware of the benefits and services of the Association and involve them wherever they are globally
• Celebrate the activities and connections of alumnae around the globe, recognizing their “purposeful engagement with the world”
• Champion the collaborative relationship with the College to maximize the expertise and value of the staff of the Association and the staff of the College
• Promote purposeful and effective use of technology
• Manage the operations of the Association:  The Association is comprised of 19.5 FTE staff and an annual operating budget of approximately $2.4mm.  The office manages external and internal relationships with alumnae and the College, reunions, enrichment and travel programs, club activities, communications activities including the Alumnae Quarterly, and the stewardship of its comprehensive database management information system also used by the College

IDEAL QUALITIES AND CAPABILITIES
The Executive Director must have technological sophistication, administrative acumen, strategic planning skills, savvy, and leadership qualities to work effectively with the Association’s Board of Directors and volunteer leadership and with the President of the College, her senior administrative team, and the wider campus community.  S/he will be a person of intellect, vision and stature to serve as the leader, spokesperson, and embodiment of the Association on a day-to-day basis. 

The successful candidate will possess the quality of mind and generosity to create positive momentum in furthering the relationships with alumnae, students, and the College community.  Ability to maintain key relationships with College staff and the MHC Board of Trustees is essential. 

The Executive Director must have substantial management experience, ideally including the not-for-profit sector, in a complex environment with a culture of working with teams to make decisions.  The Executive Director will have financial knowledge including experience with budgets, financial reports and updates, and redeployment of people and money to achieve new initiatives when they are established.  Experience with pressures of fiscal realities and agility within constraints is important.

Experience as a team builder and mentor to staff is essential. The successful candidate will possess at minimum a Bachelor’s degree, with an advanced degree preferred.  Candidates should have at least ten years of work experience with at least five years in positions related to this work with progressive leadership responsibility.  Some experience in not-for-profit is essential (paid or volunteer).  The position requires travel as well as work on evenings and weekends.

Personal qualities must include superb communication skills (both oral and written).  This leader must be a charismatic person of cultural breadth and global perspective, be unflappable, and possess the ability to work with multiple styles.  The Association seeks a person dedicated to the missions of the Association and Mount Holyoke College and their commitment to diversity and community. The Executive Director will have a commitment to excellence in providing service to alumnae and in the continued education of women for leadership roles in a global community.   S/he should have a strong work ethic, know how to find balance in life and encourage others to do so.  Finally, s/he will have a sense of humor and know how to have fun in career and in life.

PROCEDURE FOR CANDIDACY
Screening of candidates will commence on July 1, 2008 and will be completed in the fall.  To apply, include your resume, a cover letter and names of three references.  Nominations may be sent in confidence to the Co-chair of the search, Joanna Jones, at jjones@edc.org.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to fostering multicultural diversity in its staff.  Women and people of color are encouraged to apply. 

Mission Statement
The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is an independent organization that serves a worldwide network of diverse individuals, cultivates and celebrates vibrant connections among all alumnae, fosters lifelong learning in the liberal arts tradition, and facilitates opportunities for alumnae to advance the goals and values of the College.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College has served some 130 years of graduates who by example and contribution to their College and their communities have reflected the mission of the College.  From the earliest alumnae who as teachers and missionaries brought educational opportunity to distant nations, to the most recent graduates, many from those same corners of the earth, the message has been one of inquiry, civility, leadership, service, and perseverance.  At present there are 33,000 active alumnae.

The Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College is a separately incorporated 501(c)3 entity, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and existing in partnership with the College.  The purpose of the Association is to enhance and cultivate the connections among alumnae while facilitating opportunities to advance the interests of the College and cooperating in its work. The goals of the Alumnae Association are outlined in the Strategic Plan for 2005-2010, listed below.

Policies of the Association are set by an elected President and a 12-member Board of Directors, who reflect the broad spectrum of alumnae interests and concerns.  The Executive Director serves as an ex-officio member of the Board and leads the Association and its staff in implementing these policies.

The volunteer activities are led through several standing committees:  Alumnae Quarterly, Alumnae Relations, Awards, Classes, Clubs and other groups, Finance, Nominating, Nomination of Alumnae Trustees and Alumnae Honors Research.  Through its committee structure, the Association provides wide support for its diverse constituencies in this country and abroad.  Current taskforces working on future direction include:  Engagement Taskforce -- new initiatives for significant interest groups, professional development and networks and other findings from the recent Alumnae Survey; the Global Taskforce – working on extending program and outreach across the global population of Alumnae; the Communications Taskforce – working on a communications strategy for the Association and cooperating in reducing redundant communications across the Association and the College which includes use of internet technology.

The Association maintains a sophisticated database, which is also used in development, admission and career advising activities of the College.  The Association and the College cooperate on information management policy.  Other current areas of cooperation with the College include a new strategic initiative for executive education and extensive interactions with the Career Development center for both students and alumnae.

Strategic Plan – 2005-2010
Vision Statement
Relaunch the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College as a world-class organization that is valuable, visible, relevant, and inclusive.

Goals

Goal I.

Alumnae Connections: Serving a Global Network
Develop the Association into an integrated global organization, ensuring that core benefits are accessible to alumnae around the world. 
Develop the technological infrastructure and maintain the information necessary to provide alumnae with active, global, and around-the-clock connections.

Foster opportunities for alumnae to participate in lifelong learning, both on and off campus and online.

Goal II.

The Alumnae Association and the College: Forging a Powerful Partnership
Actively identify and develop initiatives that enhance our working relationship and build new partnership opportunities.

Goal III.

Campus-wide Collaborations: Linking to Students, Faculty, and Administrators
Provide current students, faculty, and administrators with a strong and rewarding relationship with the Association by informing them of the benefits available to them and by creating opportunities for students to experience those benefits while still on campus.

Goal IV.
 
Effective Board Governance: Achieving Strategic Goals
Organize the Association’s structure, staff, and volunteer workers to meet the needs and priorities of the Alumnae Association and its members.
Create annual plans that will enable the Association to achieve this multiyear strategic plan.

The College

Mission Statement
Mount Holyoke College reaffirms its commitment to educating a diverse community of women at the highest level of academic excellence and to fostering the alliance of liberal arts education with purposeful engagement in the world. 

Founded by Mary Lyon in 1837, Mount Holyoke College is the oldest continuing institution of higher education for women in the United States.  Its mission is historically resonant and highly relevant.  For more than 165 years, Mount Holyoke has upheld a tradition of diversity, community of purpose and rigorous intellectual inquiry.  The College is a liberal arts institution, defining these as the arts of thought, perception and judgment, the arts that foster humanity and civility of spirit.  It places these arts at the center of its life.  The College embraces new forms of knowledge, and offers its students an education that responds to the needs and challenges of the twenty-first century.  As one of the most respected liberal arts colleges, the College emphasizes opportunities to make life-long connections, to develop global awareness and an ability to deal with complex social issues, and to become leaders.

The College is governed by a thirty member Board of Trustees that meets three times a year and conducts much of its business through eight standing committees.  The President, Joanne Creighton, serves as leader of educational policy and chief executive officer of the College and works closely with the Trustees.  The Dean of Faculty & Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the College & Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice President for Development, Vice President for Finance & Administration, Vice President for Enrollment & College Relations, Director of Library, Information, and Technology Services and Chief Information Officer and College Librarian on the Katherine Johnson Hatcher Endowment,  Executive Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives,  Associate Director of the Communications Office, and Assistant to the President & Secretary of the College comprise currently the President’s senior administrative team.

Mount Holyoke’s 2100 students, from across the nation and nearly 70 countries, live in nineteen residence halls on an 800-acre campus of rolling lawns, trees, and lakes located in the Massachusetts town of South Hadley, 90 miles west of Boston and 150 miles north of New York City.  Mount Holyoke has taken a leadership role in integrating technology throughout academic and co-curricular life. Mount Holyoke is a member of Five Colleges, Incorporated, a consortium that includes Amherst, Hampshire, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.  Mount Holyoke was a pioneer in developing off-campus internship programs. Each year more than one third of the junior class experiences international life and higher education through study abroad programs.  The Frances Perkins Program is designed for women beyond the traditional undergraduate age who wish to initiate, continue or enrich their undergraduate education. With a faculty student ratio of 1:10, the exceptional Mount Holyoke faculty of over 200 is composed almost equally of women and men.