Alumni Affairs and Wharton Fund Restructuring

The Wharton School's Associate Dean for External Affairs, Steven Oliveira, recently announced the restructuring of two departments within the School's Division of External Affairs. As of August, Alumni Affairs and the Wharton Fund have been merged to form one new department--Alumni Affairs and Annual Giving. Mr. Oliveira appointed Leslie Arbuthnot, former director of the Wharton Fund, to head the new department. Before joining Wharton, Ms. Arbuthnot served in a number of leadership positions in alumni relations and annual giving at Tulane University.

The restructuring unites approximately 20 employees in the new department. Five additional staff will be added to work closely with alumni. Mr. Oliveira stated, "With a united group, we are better positioned to develop a culture of lifetime engagement and participation for all Wharton alumni. We have one of the largest business school alumni networks in the world. This organizational change is the first step in the process to become the best."

Along with increasing efficiency and consistency in alumni outreach, the goals of the new Alumni Affairs and Annual Giving Department include:

• promoting greater class identification and class-based networks;
• creating a stronger and more effective reunion program;
• improving regional and global outreach through a strengthened alumni club network;
• building alumni participation in the Wharton Fund;
• increasing Web-based alumni outreach and communication;
• developing new virtual and affinity-based alumni networks; and
• building processes to capture and enhance alumni data.

The new structure will enable the staff to better assess methods of improving connectivity to alumni. "Our objectives here are long-term, not short-term," Mr. Oliveira stated. "We are fundamentally changing the way we relate to our alumni while also increasing the number of staff working with alumni in these areas."

For current and matriculating students, the new department will seek to promote a culture in which their relationship with Wharton is lifelong and the transition from student to alumnus is seamless. The new department also will begin to develop a new generation of volunteer leadership for the future of the School.

Almanac, Vol. 48, No. 6, October 2, 2001

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS:

Tuesday,
October 2, 2001
Volume 48 Number 6
www.upenn.edu/almanac/