UVSC Alumni

There is so much going on in the UVSC Alumni right now that I could write all day!  Yesterday I voted on the new logos and trademarks for UVU.  We are in the middle of producing the January issue of Sequel while planning the April issue, which is going to be about the transition from UVSC to UVU.  Homecoming is just four weeks away, and we are throwing a huge tailgate/reunion party.  And, on top of all of that, our online community is being updated and will go live tomorrow.

I’m excited about the updates on the website.  The new program has a lot more flexibility and versatility than the old site had.  I’ve added some features, like Wolverine Tales, and have changed a few of the old features. We’ve also linked the alumni websites together to make navigation easier.  The most frustrating thing about the new website is that it has so much potential and I have so little time to work on it!  I’m just hoping that people will keep coming back as it develops because it will get better and better.

I’ve had the greatest conversation today with one of our alumni who contacted me about getting involved somehow.  Jacob Sommer graduated from UVSC in 2003 and went on to law school.  He settled in the Fallon, NV area and opened his own practice.  He asked me what he could do to support the association and I asked him to write class note and read the blog.  He did exactly as I asked and in the process we’ve had a great running conversation about the practice of law and what he’s doing now.  I just love this part of my job. There is nothing better than meeting other UVSC alumni and sharing their experiences.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but UVSC/UVCC/UTC alumni are everywhere!  Last week I had to take my car to Gene Harvey service department in American Fork because it was making a different engine sound.  I dropped off the car after being told that I could call them for a shuttle rider to retrieve the car when it was finished. 

So, six hours later, I called Gene Harvey and requested a shuttle to pick me up from UVSC and take me back to the dealership.  At 5:00 I met the Gene Harvey shuttle and driver in the Admin building parking lot.  We exchanged pleasantries and of course, he wanted to know what I did for UVSC.  Then he mentioned that he attended the Trade Tech long ago.

“You’re an alumni!”  I announced to him. “And one of the alumni we are most wanting to find, one of our UTC alumni.”  I quickly got his name and address and will make sure he is entered into the database.  But, of course, that was only the beginning of our conversation about his experiences at UVSC.

Paul Jasperson enrolled in drafting courses at the Provo Campus after graduation from high school.  Once he started taking classes at UTC, he switched to auto body classes, which he put to good use throughout his career.  However, he had one incident in class that almost made him famous or infamous, depending on one’s view.

He was in a welding class, working busily away at arc welding one piece of metal to another.  Next to his work station was a garbage can and window draperies.  Suddenly he was interrupted from his work by other class members who informed him that the class room was on fire.  He looked up to see that the draperies and the trash in the can were burning, probably started by sparks from his welding.  The class quickly put the fire out, and things returned to normal, but Paul’s created a reputation for himself that was remembered long after.  

We had a great ride back to the dealership and once again, I was reminded that UVSC alumni are everywhere, especially in here in Utah County.  However, I’ve traveled quite a bit since coming here, and I’ve met UVSC alumni almost everywhere I’ve gone.  From now on, I’ll be writing about them, so you can share my experiences too.
 

There are probably few things as frustrating as starting a blog and then not being able to write, unless it’s reading a blog and finding no new entries.  Though I love the idea of blogging, and have found, to my surprise that there are many more things to write about than I thought there would be, my role as UVSC alumni director just doesn’t leave much time to do as much blogging as I would like.  So, to those of you who have been faithfully coming back in hopes of seeing something more interesting, I’m sorry!  Don’t give up, something new will turn up every now and then.

Every week I meet with the Student Alumni Association (SAA) as their advisor.  This another duty that I enjoy very much.  I work with 19 students who serve in leadership positions in the organization.  We organize events and programs designed to connect UVSC alumni with students and to further the mission of the UVSC Alumni Association.  The most recent event we held was Founder’s Day.  We started Founder’s Day about three years ago as a way to celebrate the founding of the school and also to make the Alumni and Student Alumni Associations more visible on campus.  We hold a big birthday party where we serve cake and ice cream and give away some kind of favor to anyone who wanders by.  It’s not hard to convince students to take a piece of cake and ice cream.  We gave away 1000 pieces this year in about an hour.   Another component of this event is the honoring of an Outstanding UVSC Alumni.  So far we’ve honored Wilson Sorensen, as one of the original founder’s of UVSC.   We are now collecting nominations for next year and would love to hear about our outstanding alumni.

SAA is involved in about 5-6 other major events or programs during the year.  Right now we are in the planning stages of Take A Wolverine To Lunch, a program started by another college in the state that has been so successful that all of the major schools have their own version.  What will happen is that UVSC alumni will volunteer to take a student to lunch. The students will then search through the list of alumni for someone that matches their interests. The student will contact the alumni and a lunch date will be set. 

The purpose of the lunch is to allow students and alumni to talk to each other and to allow the student to benefit from the alumni’s expertise and advice.  They might talk about the student’s educational goals and which instructors were most helpful to the alumni. They might conduct an mini job interview where the alumni critiques the student’s answers.  The student could bring along a resume for the alumni to review. Or they might discuss the alumni’s career path and whether reality matches the student’s expectations. The possiblities are endless. But, the outing is not a place for the student to seek a job from the alumni.  It’s a networking opportunity and a way for students and alumni to connect.

We are especially excited about this program because it will fit under the  Communities of Engaged Learners Initiative.  We’ll be seeking a grant to fund the program.   I’m hoping that our alumni will be responsive and take advantage of the chance to share their knowledge with current UVSC students.

This morning I was up and out the door at 6:45 a.m. to prepare for the UVSC Alumni board meeting.  Though I arrived at work at 7:00, Linda Wickham, my faithful and wonderful administrative assistant, was here even earlier.   The board room was ready, the minutes and handouts were in place and the breakfast sandwiches were hot.  My only worry was that no one would show up.  I have this worry every time I put on an event.  It’s a holdover from Tupperware/Mary Kay/whatever home parties where even though I followed all the guidelines for a successful party, few people came.  My worries were needless.  By 7:35, the board table was full with almost all of the board members in attendance.  We had a terrific meeting with all kinds of information shared.

The first important order of business was the election of a new President Elect.  Scott Jenkins is our choice.  He is new to the board, having joined us in July of this year. He’s the executive vice president over manufacturing and planning for Idea Sphere, which owns Twin Lab.  He has had children attend UVSC and has been involved with the college through the years in a number of areas. I’m excited to work with him.  He’ll take over as President officially in April 2008, when Tom Powell will move to the position of Past President.

After Scott’s election, Michelle Lundell made the presentation I mentioned yesterday.  She showed the group some of the marketing materials used in their recruitment efforts.  She told us about the high school recruitment days when all of the colleges and universities in the state visit a high school on the same day. The students sign up for the three schools they want to visit.  It used to be that if UVSC was listed at all, it was the third choice for the students. But, now UVSC is number one or two on their lists.  This just shows what alumni know, that the word about UVSC is getting out and more and more students are choosing to attend UVSC over other possibilities.

After Michelle’s presentation, we heard from a number of the board members who reported on their committee activities or other campus boards on which they serve. This was very interesting and it was great to see how the groups can work together.  Curtis Morley reported on marketing committee activities.  He announced the formation of this blog, which as I wrote earlier, was his brain child. He also announced that we would like to build a marketing campaign around “UR UVU.”   We have alumni from all the different versions of UVSC and part  of my difficulty is connecting all of them to UVSC/UVU.  So, we’ll be working to inform all of our alumni, regardless of when they attended UVSC that they are alumni. 

We are sending postcards to 100,000 alumni in the database with a picture of the old Utah Technical College campus and the new Technologybuilding and the “UR UVU” slogan.   I’m asking them to contact us and to give us their email addresses so we can keep them informed about the college and the changes taking place.  I’m excited about the potential of uniting all the different alumni into one cohesive alumni organization.

Another report came from TJ Fund, who told us about UVUphoria, which is a year of events to celebrate the transition to UVU. We’ll have events on campus every month tied to UVUphoria. The major event will be June 30, 2008, when we’ll hold UVU Eve.  We plan to have concerts,  food, dances, fireworks, and other activities on campus for the entire UVSC community (which is basically Utah county).  The Alumni association will be involved in quite a few of these activities. 

The meeting included quite a few other reports, including one from Roger Woolstenhulme who represents athletics and the Wolverine Club.  He told us that one of the needs for athletics is a track. We have a great track team but no track.  Mary Robinson from the HASS advisory board told us that HASS needs a performing arts center.  We have a world class dance team, and they would like a home of their own.  Brian Wall reported on the School of Business Alumni Chapter and their involvement for Homecoming.  

I love these volunteers!  I appreciate their commitment and their willingness to spend their time at UVSC.   They add a richness and depth to our organization that we wouldn’t have without them.   So, though my day has been very long, and I’m in need of a nap, I’m charged about what’s happening at UVSC and how the alumni association is making a difference.

I just returned from lunch with a potential new UVSC Alumni Board member.  This is one of my most delightful duties.  Tom Powell is our current board president and joined us for lunch too.  We spent a very pleasant hour discussing family, friends and UVSC relationships while inviting our guest to join us on the UVSC Alumni Board.  I’ve had several of these lunches in the past few years and most of them have lead to new UVSC volunteers and new dear friends.

The Board is having their quarterly board meeting tomorrow, so our office is busy today getting ready for the meeting.  Besides the usual business of greeting and approving minutes, the group will hear reports from the various committees on which board members serve.   We’ll also have a presentation by Michelle Lundell about the recruitment efforts being made by her group.  They have worked very hard to promote UVSC to local and distant high schools in an effort to increase our enrollments.  Their effort are paying off, as our enrollments were among the few in the state to increase. 

They’ve produced numerous publications to use in recruitment efforts, including the 2007-2008 Viewbook.  The Future Student pages on the website were redesigned to be more appealing.  The recruitment officers attend numerous events, seeking to educate the public about UVSC.  There was an event last week in Las Vegas at the Cashman Center.  Alumni in Las Vegas were invited to go to the event to meet our recruitment staff.  We are seeking alumni who are interested in helping with the recruitment effort.  It can be fun and rewarding to meet interested students and answer their questions about UVSC while giving them firsthand experiences.  This is a great chance for alumni to get involved regardless of where they live.

Welcome to the UVSC Alumni blog site.  I am the Director of Alumni Relations at UVSC, a position I’ve had for almost four years.  In the past four years, I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of UVSC alumni and often thought that I should start sharing my experiences with other alumni.  I had a meeting this morning with one of our alumni who is also a member of the UVSC alumni board, Curtis Morley.  Curtis has a bit of experience with the web and convinced me that I need to starting blogging, today.  So, here goes!

I am an alumni of UVSC.  I first took classes at UVCC and earned an Associate Degree in Humanities.  A couple of years later, I re-enrolled at UVSC in time to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management with the first class of graduates to earn bachelor degrees.  I then went on to BYU law school where I earned a J.D. in 1998.  After working in a terrific law firm in Provo for several years, I applied for the Director of Alumni Relations position at UVSC and was lucky enough to get it. 

I am often asked why I left my position as a partner in a law firm to take a salaried job at UVSC.  Though I earn less per year at UVSC, I enjoy my work here and believe I’m making a difference.  I love meeting other alumni and hearing their stories.  The things I loved about being a student at UVSC are often the same things they love: the faculty, the small class sizes, and the opportunities to be part of something important.  I’m hoping to hear from many more alumni through this blog site.

The really fun thing about working at UVSC is that it is always changing.  On July 1, 2008 UVSC will officially become Utah Valley University.  The next year will be filled with activities and events as UVSC makes its final transition.   I hope you will enjoy reading about my experiences as the next year unfolds. Please feel free to contact me and tell me your story as I share my experiences with you.

Yours truly,  Jeri L. Allphin