Alumni Council met Sept. 15-16, 2017.
Present: Andie Asimes ’13, Jamion Berry ’97, Jim Carr ’62, Samuel Clougher ’17, James Greenwood ’02, David Hanson ’87, Kamille Harless ’99, Veronica Hauad ’03, Jody Horak Tyrpak ’91, Erin Huntzinger ’86, Jack Killen ’71, Christian Martinez-Canchola ’12, Melzetta Moody ’05, Jen Neubauer ’04, Tamara Parsons Anderson ’93, Brad Remick ’84, Win Sheffield ’77, Cindy Sternberg Thomas ’84
Absent: Manjul Bhusal Sharma ’16, Susie Bloom Hudgins ’89 P’18, Janae Peters ’10
Staff: Alex Compton, Heidi McCrory, Tristan Neviska ’13, Jessica Stricker
Guests: Sean Decatur, President, Holly McCormack, Dean of the Career Development Office, Diane Anci, V.P. for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions, Janet Marsden, AVP of Communications
Friday, September 15
President Cindy Sternberg Thomas called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and welcomed the
group. An icebreaker and introductions followed.
Agenda:
- Discussion with Sean Decatur
- Sean Decatur special announcement
- Combined lunch with KFEC
- Career development discussion with Holly McCormack
- Admissions update with Diane Anci
- Committee Breakout Sessions
- Alumni Trustee nominations
- Planning for February meeting
Jack Killen proposed changes to the spring meeting minutes. Win Sheffield motioned to approve
minutes with changes. Erin Huntzinger seconded. Meeting minutes approved unanimously.
Thomas explained expectations of Council and working norms. Suggestions included:
- Full engagement during meetings
- Respect one another
- Keep comments concise
- Assume good intentions
- State objectives; have a purpose. Progress, not perfection.
- Ask for clarification if needed
- Transparency
Alex Compton gave office updates: Tristan Neviska ’13 has been with the office nearly a year and is working on young alumni regional events and engagement metrics; Campaign Kickoff event is Oct. 13, 2018; Changes starting Reunion 2018: 9 out of 10 reunion classes co-ed, and if alumni are not in a reunion cycle they are unable to stay in dorms or register for class dinners; Regional growth: Columbus is rebooting, Nashville and St. Louis are forming new associations, Hope to get the Bay Area and Los Angeles going again.
Goals for the year: Committee chairs gave updates on past work and future goals:
- Targeted focus: work closely with new CDO dean
- Regional activity: implement 5 common events across all regions
- Communications: work with Janet Marsden to determine focus areas (web site, portal, other communication channels)
President Sean Decatur joined Council to discuss:
- Title IX/Sexual misconduct
● Education happening on campus
● Survey of faculty and staff; Staff bystander intervention workshops
● Peer to peer discussions: athletes, greek organizations
- DACA/Travel Ban/Immigration issues
● College does not share immigration status of students
● Working to be supportive of all students
- Diversity and Inclusion on campus
● Recruitment of students to campus
● General campus climate
● Faculty/staff recruitment and retention
● Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion review
- Alumni Trustee needs
● Non-profit board experience or Kenyon volunteer experience
●Add to range of classes represented
● Non-financial; academic experience needed
● Racial ethnic diversity
● Gender balance
Combined session with KFEC reviewing alumni survey results.
Discussion with Holly McCormack, dean of the Career Development Office:
- National landscape of ROI expectations — significant shift in past 5 years.
● Desirable skills, what skills are lacking in recent grads and how Kenyon manages those
● Importance of internships, consulting with employers on how to make the most of an intern
● Work engaged learning and how that supports the Kenyon 2020 plan
- Priorities
● Cultivate strategic partnerships across campus
● Aim to make Kenyon more accessible
● Growth of endowment
● Foster diverse and inclusive community
● Think of four years as progressive arc for students
- Core programs of CDO outside of advising:
● Build out Internship program, especially paid; tap into parent and alumni resources
● Job shadow program participation growth
● Recruitment and job listing growth
● Leverage mentor program in new ways
● Bed and breakfast program campaign
Admissions update with Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions Diane Anci:
- Recruitment process
● Mailings, open houses, high school visits, Best of Alumni Bulletin (Kenyon
magazine) replacing view book
- Boosted leadership team model in the Admissions office
- Smaller group of guides and fellows
- Quantitative surveys and qualitative work taking place
● What makes Kenyon truly distinctive
● What does the marketplace value
- Overview of the class of 2021
● 460 new students
● 4th largest applicant pool
● 4.04 average GPA
● Average number of AP classes taken was 4.8
● 4.2 units of science
● 20% domestic students of color
● 48% early decision
● 8% international students
● Significant and important move
● 56% of students are receiving financial aid
Meeting adjourned at 4 p.m.
Saturday, September 16
Thomas called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.
Thomas requests that Council honor deadlines of the Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement
when registering for meetings.
Saturday agenda:
- Discussion with Janet Marsden
- Committee breakout sessions
- Alumni Trustee nominations
- Preparations for February meeting
Communications discussion with Janet Marsden, AVP of communications:
- Positioning
● What do we do well and believe in
● What is not offered by competitors
● What our stakeholders value
- Campaign messaging
● Review and discussion of materials
- Stakeholder communications/crisis management
● Define target audiences
● Assess nature of content
● Monitor response
● Equip and activate influencers
- Alumni Council communications agenda
● Within Alumni Council
● With the College
● With alumni
● From alumni
Committee breakout sessions:
- New members assigned:
● Regional: Brad Remick
● Communications: Erin Huntzinger, Janae Peters, Kamille Harless, Tamara Anderson, Sam Clougher
- Communications
● Maintain briefing book
● Build relationships with Kenyon Communications office
● Build awareness of Alumni Council
● Develop a strategy for centralizing dissemination of communications to alumni
- Targeted focus
● Work this year as a structure organizational channel
● Work with Holly McCormack to define needs in CDO
● Tangible outcomes:
- February premier having more structure. Prepare one sheet expectations document to share
- Increasing Kenyon brand on Linkedin; can it talk to KCN?
- Create a template for regional events. Leverage events to serve larger goals
- Make improvements to officiate structures of alumni engagement; inventory
- Regional Activity
● alumni.kenyon.edu email addresses
● Peer to peer relationships within regional associations
● Use regional directors to take over official social media accounts for a day
Alumni Trustee Nominations: After discussion, Council nominated five candidates. Suggestion for student council president or young alumni representative to sit on BOT.
Preparations for February meeting: Premier prep event will happen again. Targeted focus committee will prepare document to go to alumni as they register for the meeting. Awards nominations process: call for nominations; encourage nominations be made using the online portal.
Carr suggests singing of "The Thrill" at the end of each Alumni Council meeting; AC agreed to sing, and it was great!
Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.