Divisions merge into Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development

The third floor of the Alumnae House is once again full of activity. A floor historically defined by tiny dorm rooms reserved for the gentleman callers of Vassar women is now bustling office space, the home of the former Development Office staff members who moved in this summer.

As President of the College Catharine Bond Hill announced last week in an all-campus e-mail, the Office of Development and the Alumnae and Alumni of Vassar College (AAVC) have combined to create the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development. As part of the broader reorganization of these offices, the Office of College Relations has become the Office of Communications, retaining its offices in Main Building.

By reorganizing these offices, the College is reimagining the roles of three major divisions of the College. The senior officers who led each one have retained senior positions, though their titles have changed to reflect the new nature of their respective work. Vice President for Communications Susan DeKrey was formerly the Vice President for College Relations. Previously the Vice President for Development,

Cathy Baer is now the Vice President for Alumnae/i Affairs and Development, and former Executive Director of AAVC Pat Lichtenberg '90 is now the Associate Vice President for Alumnae/i Affairs and Development while also keeping the title of Executive Director.

The timing of the restructuring was motivated by the recent financial constraints on the College, though Baer, Lichtenberg and DeKrey all noted that they had already identified some inefficiencies and overlaps between their areas.

"We were duplicating efforts on some levels," said Lichtenberg. "That was always a source of frustration for all of us professionally, and over the years we have seen the opportunity to make things more efficient and a better service for the alumni and better experience for the employees. So when we had this challenge with the economy, it was an opportunity to say, ‘Oh right, this is the time, how can we make this work better.'"

Prior to this effort to combine offices, the divisions had already been working on some informal means of collaboration, including regular dialogue between Baer, Lichtenberg and DeKrey as well as bringing together the related staff of the three offices. Still, these meetings did not go far enough, said Baer. "There were points where you forget, and things wouldn't get done. I guess I'd say we'd all get busy and then things wouldn't completely sync with one another."

After reorganizing, the offices are more similar to models at other colleges, though Vassar does not entirely fit a common model. "There are some schools that have the Advancement Model where all three areas are under one director. That really wasn't going to work here because so much of what [DeKrey] does in communications doesn't have anything to do with alumnae interactions," said Baer. "There are many different models out there, and I think it's important not only to look at other schools but to say, ‘What does Vassar need?'"

The Office of Communications remains separate from the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development, but it has taken on the editorial responsibilities previously charged to the Office of Development and to the AAVC, such as the alumnae magazine, in addition to its traditional duties. "We have communicated with alums for years, so it's not a new audience for us," said DeKrey of the shift.

DeKrey, Baer, and Lichtenberg see the reorganization as an opportunity, even as it created a significant reduction in staff between the three offices. Overall, the offices experienced a 10-12 percent reduction in staffing, mostly from retirements or employees voluntarily moving on to other opportunities. There were two involuntary layoffs, though Baer noted that both individuals found employment elsewhere within weeks of leaving their Vassar offices.

The reductions in staffing also meant that in some cases staff members have been asked to take on new or additional responsibilities.

DeKrey acknowledged that the change was stressful and frustrating at times. "When you bring offices together, you bring people together. You have to be respectful of people who have had certain sets of responsibilities in the past, combining those people with other people who have had responsibilities," she said. "I think as with most things in life, the abstract can be rather straightforward and simple, but the reality when you get into people's areas, people's concerns and feelings, those things can be complicated."

While these changes put the former Development Office into even closer contact with Vassar alums than before, the process also clarified the role of AAVC in relation to the College. According to Lichtenberg, AAVC has technically been an organization independent of the College, though it is, in practice, a branch of the College. She says this shift occurred in the 1970s when the responsibility for the Annual Fund moved from AAVC to the College. "Since the mid-70s, we have not been truly independent. All of the staff are Vassar employees, including myself as Executive Director," said Lichtenberg. "So, [President Catharine Bond Hill] charged a task force of alumnae to look at the structure of AAVC laid against the structure of the Development and College Relations offices."

This task force recommended moving ahead with the combination of offices. The independence of the alumnae/i body is now preserved in the Alumnae/i Board which communicates directly with Hill.

"I think the fact that it is called the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development is an important statement that it all starts with good alumnae/i affairs and good relationships," said Baer.

Of all of the changes in the offices, Baer noted, "It's still a work in progress. This year in particular is going to be an important year in the process," said Baer. "We're going to go public with our campaign in January to coincide with the Sesquicentennial of the College, so how do we combine those messages to our alumnae to both celebrate the College, the past and present, and look to the future with the campaign? That's giving us some clear charges with how we are going to interact with our alumnae in the coming year as the new structure begins to settle."