Responsibilities

• Coordinate alumni engagement events, including reunions, committees, and networking events, and assist with planning and implementing workshops and external events for department stakeholders. Partner with the Undergraduate Advising Office to create and implement graduation events to establish connections with ACE alumni.
• Serve as lead for engagements with special groups, such as Illini Summer Academies, ACES Family Academies, etc. This includes designing the format, coordinating presenters, organizing activities, managing timelines, and securing resources.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for donors and alumni, including ensuring letters of thanks are sent to donors and coordinating social media features of scholarship recipients. Ensure that alumni contact information is current and engagement is tracked in the campus constituent databases (e.g., customer relationship management software).
• Serve as liaison with ACES Corporate Relations, holding regular check-in meetings to align on events, initiatives, and priorities; functioning as the ACE subject matter expert on calls or in meetings; and helping identify opportunities and generating new ideas.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of departmental engagement efforts, events, programs, and other external efforts, informing and providing feedback to ACE administration when appropriate.
• Lead the physical recruiting and outreach efforts, including bulletin board strategy and management of video boards. Collaborate with the Business Office, IT, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, and ACES Marcom.
• Update the ACE website’s text and information and advise faculty on how to update their personal and research center websites. Websites are maintained by ACES IT and initial training on how to update the websites will be provided to employee hired.
• Coordinate with external committees, such as the ACE External Advisory Committee, including establishing goals, creating meeting agendas, and managing events and logistics.
• In collaboration with the College of ACES Alumni Association staff and board members and Advancement staff, help to create and execute an alumni engagement plan for the Department of ACE.
• Occasional travel to conferences to lead efforts in marketing the department and ensuring presence among similar universities and entities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture (e.g., agribusiness management, agricultural economics, animal sciences, crop sciences, environmental sciences), business, economics, marketing, advertising, journalism, communications, or related field.
• One (1) year (12 months) in education, training, and/or work experience in advancement/stewardship, program or brand management, communications, marketing, public relations, or higher education administration.
• Demonstrated experience executing a professional social media engagement plan.

Preferred

• Two years of professional work experience in program management, communications, marketing, public relations, advancement, stewardship, brand management, or a related professional area.
• Experience using MS Office, Canva, Adobe, donor databases, project management software and other computer-based systems.
• Familiarity with fundraising, alumni relations, and stewardship.

Benefits

• This position is intended to be eligible for benefits. This includes Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.