More than 100 alumni attended recently the recent Second Annual Volunteer Summit, hosted by the Office of Alumni Relations in Kyle Hall, to learn about opportunities to become more involved in the success of their alma mater.
Participating alumni represented decades of class years from 1966 to 2017, and several current students attended.
The Volunteer Summit was a part of the weekend’s Winter Celebration that also included the Radford Alumni Association Board Meeting on Jan. 26 and the Radford Men’s Basketball Game and Social on Jan. 27. The summit began with updates from university leadership including President Brian O. Hemphill and interim provost Kenna Colley.
The participants then split into break-out groups for the rest of the morning on topics such as admissions and its alumni initiative in which alumni call and write personal postcards to prospective students. Sessions also centered on regional outreach, university’s new competency based education program IMPACT (Innovative Mobile Personalized Accelerated Competency Training), and planning for the university’s comprehensive fundraising campaign. The Center for Career and Talent Development also discussed its new partnership with Handshake, a modern and social media-friendly platform for career development.
“This is the second year we have hosted this event for our alumni. Today, they are learning something new and how they can help in these important areas. Our alumni can be in their hometowns telling the Radford story and positively representing the university,” said director of alumni relations Sandra Bond ’97, MBA ’00. “We welcome all alumni to become involved and volunteer in the way that is most meaningful to them!” said Bond.
“I had a chance to ask in-depth questions during the sessions and it is such a valuable opportunity to learn about the university’s new innovations and plans,” said Jenny Doud ’75, M.S. ’80 who serves as vice president of external affairs for Feeding America in Southwest Virginia. She said the volunteer summit was a “really wonderful opportunity for alumni to get a quick overview of the university and take that back to their communities to share with friends, alumni and families.”
Counseling education graduate alumnus J. Shannon Hammons, M.S. ’96 attended the campaign planning break-out session and gave valuable feedback to session presenter Wendy Lowery, vice president for university advancement. He said the campaign is a wonderful way to “honor those professors who have passed, those who are still here and those times when they sat down and wrote journal articles with you. You’ll never forget that,” said Hammons, who serves as director of marketing and development for the Agency on Aging. Hammons said Alan Forrest was one of those professors that made a difference in his life. “He pulled me through when I didn’t believe I could. He was always positive and encouraging. I will always remember him coaching me through my first counseling session. I remember that more than 20 years later,” said Hammons.
To learn more about how you can become and alumni volunteer, visit www.radford.edu/alumni or call 540-831-5248.
— Ann Brown
