Relocation of the Alumni Office into Community Formation
by Marilyn Elliott (DMin, 2006; MA, 1998), Vice President of Community Formation, and Tammy Cessna (MA, 2013), Director of Alumni and Church Relations
Customary Placement of Alumni Development in Higher Education
Higher education models have frequently situated Alumni development within the Advancement Department. It is not too much to say that alumni are the cornerstone of Advancement in most higher education institutions. The rational for this is based on the financial ability of alumni donors to become major participants in the institution’s mission through fund raising and major gifts. Many of these institutions produce physicists, pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, computer scientists, engineers, business CEO’s, etc., whose careers become viable sources of philanthropy. The ability of professional alumni to contribute significantly to the budgets of these institutions places alumni into a priority position in the institutional Advancement model.
Uniqueness of Seminary Alumni
Alumni of a seminary bring a different sort of richness to the institution. Seminary graduates are intentionally trained for roles such as pastor, missionary, counselor or social worker, admittedly not high income positions. The majority of careers available to seminary graduates are clearly not as lucrative as careers sought by graduates of other institutions. These considerations must not, however, cause us to undervalue the importance of alumni for the accomplishment of our mission. Seminary graduates are a rare and rich source of spiritual maturity, ministry wisdom, and missional networks. A trove of this different kind of treasure can be harvested for the critical formation of students currently being shaped by seminary education. As allies of the seminary’s institutional mission, alumni are indispensable spokes-persons, advocates, advisers and recruiters, not to mention invaluable friends and co-laborers in a mission greater than the institution.
In the last five years leadership in the Advancement and Alumni Offices have identified the uniqueness of seminary alumni and developed a strategy of alumni development that provides alumni with significantly increased engagement with the seminary on levels of leadership, mentoring and participation in the seminary’s global vision. This strategic direction distinguishes an uncommon approach to seminary alumni development, establishing this work in a context where alumni uniqueness is recognized and engaged, and becomes a strong sign of esteem and welcome for alumni who participate in the Asbury community. The clear message is that we value alumni for who they are and what they bring to the table, rather than just their fund raising potential. The relocation of Alumni and Church Relations is simply the next logical step in reshaping alumni development, enabling ever deepening engagement of alumni with the spiritual life of the school while thoroughly preserving the alumni base as an Advancement constituency.
Engagement of Alumni Resources
The current Alumni Office has wisely understood that the institution must invest first before expecting a return of some kind. Investment in this case is primarily life-to-life connection: phone-a-thon making prayer/ministry priority and Alumni Council meeting across a table and not only via mail of some kind, as examples. The Order of Asbury (the alumni fellowship committed to mentoring students) has provided alumni a significant role in the mission of Asbury Seminary. From these kinds of initiatives alumni gaze has been refocused, no longer wistful for a nostalgic past, but now, more often, fixed on the potential of involvement in a great thing God is doing in His Kingdom.
For alumni, this shift has set alight heart passions and deep-seated desires, resulting in motivation to become engaged. Intentional relationship building has begun to move alumni from a more remote association to inner-circle ownership as contributors and investors in the mission of Asbury and as recipients of life-long learning and spiritual support. Very often it is the quality of character and faithfulness to the Bible and the work of ministry that is the best resource of an Asbury graduate. Those in their networks, churches, and ministries who steward large financial assets then become the source of the larger financial contributions, resulting from a deep respect of a graduate’s life.
Even so, we recognize the value of alumni as a strategic donor base. Thus, the Alumni Office will remain directly engaged in the vision and projects resident in the Advancement department. By re-positioning Alumni in the heart of Community Formation we hope to foster even greater engagement of alumni at all levels. Our goal is that we will expand the alumni base by engaging new graduates early in their post-seminary years, and ultimately raise the response of alumni to financial appeals.
Beneficial Outcomes
Student/Alumni Connections become a continuum from first contact to end of life Asbury’s relationship with alumni will begin when prospective students make their first contact with the seminary. Students are ‘alumni in the making’. Waiting until graduation and then passing the baton, or Bible, is a loss of a great opportunity. The stage for a life-long relationship can be primed from the onset of a student’s affiliation with the institution. Something as simple as the increased visibility of alumni ministry situated in the heart of community formation invites heightened engagement with students and a more natural bond between graduated and current students. When personal rapport brackets online mentoring relationships, for example, associations are more likely to be solidly constructed on the basis of Christian love and fellowship. The interaction of alumni with students thus becomes a living link toward career development possibilities and life-long mentoring. Beyond an increase in very real, practical considerations, the embedding of alumni development in community formation space creates a shift in perception, namely: alumni R us. In an ideal world, students would not choose whether or not to embrace their role as alumni any more than a child of mine chooses whether to belong to our family after they pass through a developmental stage, such as marriage. They are family-they remain family, and now simply shift roles in receiving from and donating to the family enterprise. A student, interacting with alumni in ongoing, life-giving ways, may begin to imagine his/her own progression into a new and exciting role within the seminary, post-graduation, as a normal expression of development and growth.
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