Assistant Director, Alumni Engagement, Seaver College and George Pepperdine College

The Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement plays a crucial role in fostering enduring relationships with alumni, students, faculty, and staff at Seaver College (SC) and the original George Pepperdine College (GPC). This position is responsible for executing strategic initiatives to enhance alumni engagement, contributing to the development of a vibrant alumni community, and supporting the strategic goals of the Alumni Affairs Strategic Plan, the Advancement Strategic Plan, the Ascend Together University Strategic Plan, the Seaver Dean, and future strategic directives.

The Assistant Director oversees various events, programs, initiatives, and resources in support of alumni engagement primarily for Seaver College and George Pepperdine College (SC/GPC), but at times also in support of program/events benefiting alumni and students across all six schools of Pepperdine University. This position particularly seeks to create meaningful connections through events, programs, and experiences and provides a vision and path for students to move seamlessly from the student community to the alumni community, especially in ways related to Pepperdine affinities and professional industries/fields. Above all, the Assistant Director actively promotes the mission of Seaver College and Pepperdine University to elevate, celebrate, and honor our alumni.

Duties

• AFFINITY GROUP ENGAGEMENT
  • Maximize the engagement of Seaver College and George Pepperdine College alumni through their Pepperdine-related affinity groups, including but not limited to their associated student clubs/organizations, academic divisions, and other special experiences.
  • Plan/host Seaver/GPC affinity-related events/programs designed to amplify alumni participation and/or Pepperdine volunteerism. A key aspect of this responsibility will be the planning and/or support of numerous alumni affinity reunions during (and leading up to) the annual Waves Weekend celebration.
  • Offer guidance and support to student affinity groups (event planning consultation, grants, registration, marketing, and/or other support for affinity-based events/programs designed to intentionally engage alumni).
  • Help student and alumni affinity groups devise roles and systems that foster active, sustainable engagement between the student and alumni members of their respective groups (e.g., alumni liaison/chair roles in the student org, alumni advisory committees to partner with student orgs on event/program development, etc.).
  • Work closely with Pepperdine Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) as key partners in all student-alumni engagement programming.
  • Continually improve/develop tracking and integrity of data pertaining to affinity group affiliation and engagement.
• ACADEMIC/INDUSTRY-BASED ENGAGEMENT
  • Develop and manage a model of partnership with Seaver College faculty and academic divisions overall that supports their engagement of alumni, including: alumni data integrity improvements; marketing/communication/storytelling; events/reunions/programming; and other forms of support.
  • Partner with colleagues in Alumni Affairs, across Seaver College, and at times throughout Pepperdine's six schools, to lead and support alumni events and programs that build professional communities/networks around specific professional industries (e.g. Coastal Capital Summit).
• SEAVER STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
  • Coordinate events, programs, and traditions that specifically target and serve Seaver students to prepare them for lives as active, supportive Pepperdine alumni. The Assistant Director will especially leverage student-alumni affinity groups to help students bridge from students to alumni in a supported manner. This role is responsible for key annual events/initiatives including but not limited to Rock the Brock and Grad Fest.
  • Collaborate with RISE (Student Affairs) on student programming that helps prepare/educate alumni to thrive as independent adults before and beyond graduation.
  • Partner regularly with the Annual Giving team and other Advancement/Development fundraisers/staff toward the following:
    • Help identify new alumni donor prospects and assist in the cultivation of those relationships.
    • Develop and lead/execute strategies for growing a philanthropic culture among the Seaver student body and young alumni (first five years after graduation), resulting in increased giving participation across both groups.
    • Partner with key student leadership organizations (i.e., Student Government Association, Student Alumni Organization, Pepperdine Ambassadors Council, etc.) on an annual Senior Class Gift campaign and additional strategies for ongoing efforts to increase "student and young alumni giving."
  • Serve as staff advisor to the Student Alumni Organization (SAO), including management of overall