The university seeks in its next vice president for development and alumni relations a richly experienced, highly accomplished and dynamic individual to lead its fundraising and alumni engagement efforts, and help foster the culture of philanthropy that is critical to enhancing the university’s mission of excellence. The vice president will serve as the university’s senior officer for development and alumni relations, and will work closely with the president, provost, deans, executive director of the University at Buffalo Foundation and other university leaders and volunteers to guide the work of philanthropy at UB.

While UB raises more money than any other SUNY institution, it aspires to levels of support comparable to those at its peer AAU institutions. Therefore, the primary charge to the vice president is to increase the university’s overall fundraising, with an emphasis on developing and implementing strategies for securing more and larger major gifts, particularly from individuals, but also from corporations and foundations. The vice president will lead the campaign to help advance UB to the next level of excellence as a 21st-century global research university.

The vice president also is charged to increase participation in all alumni relations programs and to continue effecting an attitudinal shift among alumni to engage them in a culture of philanthropy as a key ingredient of UB’s prominence. The vice president will be responsible for continuing to build a culture of lifelong alumni engagement and aggressively advocating for greater involvement and support among UB’s students, faculty and staff members, alumni and friends. UB also seeks to increase active alumni involvement in the rich life of the campus and reconnect alumni with the university. 

The vice president is responsible for leading and managing multiple units and priorities. As the top executive of this university division, he or she is responsible for a budget of $12.4 million and leading more than 120 staff members in the offices of Alumni Relations, Advancement Services, Annual Programs, Constituent Records, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Development Communications, Donor Relations and Stewardship, Gift Planning, and Prospect Research and Records, as well as major gift activities in each of the university’s 12 academic units, the Division of Athletics and other programs of the university. The vice president also will lead efforts to engage volunteers at the highest level in a variety of ways to reach development and alumni objectives.

The vice president reports to President Satish K. Tripathi, named UB’s 15th president in April 2011, and serves as a member of his senior management team. President Tripathi previously served as UB’s provost and was one of the principal creators of the UB 2020 strategic plan to achieve academic excellence. He has led the university to achieve significant growth in research and scholarly activity, enhanced student quality and diversity, and an expanded international presence. Building on this strong foundation, President Tripathi’s vision for UB focuses on fulfilling its potential to become one of the nation’s leading public research universities, thereby expanding its reach and impact locally, as well as globally.

In this endeavor, President Tripathi is committed to giving top priority to development and alumni relations as key ingredients for realizing the UB 2020 vision. 

The Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations will:

• Lead the Campaign for UB 2020 (UB is in the silent phase of a $500 million capital campaign, expected to conclude by 2017, and is now more than one-third toward that goal in the quiet phase, which was started in July 2009. Current philanthropic giving totals about $30 million per year, with a goal of more than doubling annual totals by the end of the campaign).
• Secure funding for 100 endowed faculty chairs within five years.
• Substantially increase UB’s endowment (current value of approximately $450 million).
• Significantly strengthen the major gift program for UB.
• Build up the nascent international development program.
• Engage UB Foundation board members, deans’ advisory councils and the alumni board in new strategic directions for development and alumni relations.
• Increase the overall number of alumni contributors to the UB Campaign.
• Increase the percentage of UB alumni who are actively engaged in the alumni association.
• Continue to enhance the university’s extensive international alumni network.