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April 11, 2006

Alumni office about more than donations

Molly Glewwe sits behind her dark cherry wood desk with an attentive expression. Her friendly demeanor and soft smile make her easily approachable. Her job? “To keep alums connected to campus,” she said.

As the Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Alumni Annual Fund, Glewwe focuses her work on the Alumni Annual Fund, Alumni Relations and student relations.

The Alumni Annual Fund works to raise money for the university on different levels, often using alumni volunteers. Much of this money is recycled back into the Hamline community.

“Hamline should continue to be a resource well after graduation,” Glewwe said. She works primarily with students who graduated in the years from 1990 to 2005, focusing more with class agents, who are representatives from each class. Glewwe lets students and alumni know about services Hamline has to offer after graduation, such as remaining access to Walker Fieldhouse and Bush Library, and much more. There is also a book club to join, or community service projects to become involved in.

With over 8,500 alumni currently residing in the Twin Cities, there is no shortage of people to contact. The alumni association is constantly evolving, adding new members and events. Glewwe has observed that “what people want changes.” While sometimes alumni prefer social events, such as dances or banquets, other times they benefit more from a seminar setting.

“I enjoy how much my job has changed over the years,” Glewwe said.

Just recently, the association is reverting back to a more social focus in event planning. Homecoming Reunion Weekend is one of the larger Hamline alumni events of the year, falling in the beginning of October. Different classes are grouped together for smaller reunions, and at the end of the weekend, they are pooled to consist of the general alumni population.

There are many challenges facing the newly-graduated Hamline student. This has sometimes been aptly termed the quarter-life crisis, in which young adults are thrown blindly into the real world. Thus, the alumni office holds seminars on dealing with these issues. Some of these topics include, how to work or study abroad after college, how to prioritize and how to buy your first house Glewwe said. While the academic education received at Hamline will surely serve students well, it is important to learn from the experiences of those who have come before.

Glewwe also interacts with current students on a daily basis. “[I try] to do a lot of outreach,” she said. “Students need to know how alumns can help them.” To keep students and alumni connected, the Student Alumni Board (SAB) was formed. Comprised of Hamline’s best and brightest, these students take advantage of the opportunity to see how life will be for them in the future.

Another student program is the Senior Class Gift Campaign. This program selects “a committee of 22 seniors who come together to campaign to encourage others to make a pledge to make a gift.” These students see investment in their future as quite valuable, and the campaign is a means to invest.

In the post-college world, boredom often reigns until you are settled into the career path you originally set out on. While Glewwe can relate to these unfortunate folks, she is not one of them. “I feel so lucky [because] I really like my job.”

Posted by dwright at April 11, 2006 01:16 PM

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