The State University of New York at New Paltz, a highly competitive, four-year comprehensive college of about 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students, invites inquiries, nominations and applications for the position of Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations.
Founded in 1828, SUNY New Paltz is the 99th oldest collegiate institution in the country. A well-regarded public college nationally, New Paltz delivers an extraordinary number of undergraduate majors in business, liberal arts and sciences, engineering, fine and performing arts and education and serves as the foremost graduate school in the region. Its 257-acre campus is located in the heart of a dynamic college town in the stunningly beautiful Hudson River Valley just 90 minutes from metropolitan New York City. Particularly well-known for its programs in fine and performing arts and education, New Paltz embraces its culture as a community where talented and independent minded people from around the world create close personal links with real scholars and artists who love to teach.
The College seeks a talented and experienced advancement executive with a strong track record in fundraising. New Paltz stands poised to increase significantly the resources it commits to its fundraising and alumni relations efforts. The new vice president will have broad authority to shape and build a development program in the annual fund, individual giving, and in corporate and foundation fundraising. He or she will be expected to manage the directors and central development office and work closely with the president, Foundation Board directors, deans and others to expand alumni outreach and enhance the giving within the schools and programs. The vice president will ensure that the development officers are efficiently, effectively, and productively engaging in their fundraising work, assuring that top prospects are effectively being cultivated, solicited and stewarded. The College seeks a vice president who will assess and mentor the team, raise it to a new level of quality and effectiveness, and continue to enhance its strong culture of collaboration and collegiality. The vice president must have a proven track record of solicitation and closing of major gifts and will actively carry a portfolio of leadership and principal gift prospects.
Reporting to the president and serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet, the vice president will oversee alumni relations, development services, special events and the foundation business office, and serve as executive director of the Foundation. The vice president will oversee the development team and be an experienced development professional with a successful history as a major and principal gift fundraiser. He or she will have the particular ability to develop and to execute strategy at both the departmental and prospect level and will be a proven planner and executor of those plans, especially while in a comprehensive campaign. A collaborative approach to leadership and an understanding of the integrated nature of development with alumni relations and public relations/marketing is a serious requirement. Leadership experience in a campaign setting is required, and experience in the design of such an effort is a distinct preference. A bachelor’s degree is required and an advanced degree preferred.
Inquiries, nominations and applications (including a cover letter and resume) are invited. Review of credentials is underway and will continue until the position is filled. Materials should be sent via e-mail to the consultants, Jane Courson and Mercedes C. Vance, at: SUNYNewPaltzVPD@wittkieffer.com [5]. Documents that must be mailed may be sent to Witt/Kieffer, 25 Burlington Mall Rd., Suite 605, Burlington, MA 01803-4154. The consultants can be reached by telephone at 781/564-2626.
The State University of New York at New Paltz is an AA/EOE/ADA employer.