From the Editor:

The Other Side of “The Ask”

Although I work out of the fundraising (Advancement) office here at Siena Heights, but I’ve never considered myself a fundraiser. However, I’ve grown to appreciate the role our area plays.

I like the term Advancement. It rings true. It’s not just “fundraising” or “development,” as some other institutions or organizations prefer. Our department literally “advances” the University on many fronts, including raising money to support the institution.

During my time at Siena, I’ve come to appreciate my colleagues who travel the area, the state, the country—and sometimes the world—in search of crucial resources. Although they often share how rewarding the experience is “friendraising,” I know it is not an easy job.

As a graduate of another institution, my tendency is to recoil when I get a letter in the mail or a phone call from my alma mater asking for donations for a cause or campaign. I’m sure as a graduate of Siena Heights that is not the case with you (!), however, after seeing the need on the other end first-hand, let me tell you that their efforts are worthwhile.

Our high-profile events such as the Siena Summer Spectacular for Scholarships do a great job communicating the need for student scholarship dollars. But there’s so many other “below-the-radar” projects and initiatives that often don’t get that much attention. Let me point out a few:

From the Editor:

The Networking Missing “Link”

Six thousand, six hundred and fifty-seven.

That’s the number of connections currently displaying on Siena Heights University’s Linked In university page.

Don’t know what Linked In is yet?

According to Wikipedia (if you don’t know what Wikipedia is, I may have lost you), Linked In is a “business-oriented social networking service. Founded in December 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of June 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 259 million acquired users in more than 200 countries and territories.”

In other words, there are 6,657 people who claim a Siena Heights connection. That’s a pretty impressive network.

In fact, it’s so impressive that I used it to research some of the subjects who appear in this issue of Reflections. Our Linked In university page displays our connections in a career-related fashion. There are main category breakdowns such as people employed in health care, higher education and marketing. There is even a listing by company or organization, if you want to dig that deep.

As someone who relies on information for much of my work, I found it fascinating. Almost addicting.

Read more . . .

From the Editor:

The Quest to Be Better

My old college baseball coach used to say, “You get better or you get worse; you don’t stay the same.” That phrase has stuck with me through my professional career, including my time at Siena Heights University.

After nearly eight years and 15 issues of being the editor of Reflections Magazine, it was time to take a fresh look at what we do with the magazine. It was not an easy decision. The reader feedback we have received on the magazine has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, there has been no clear evidence that we need to do anything different with the magazine.

So, why did we change? We recognize the University has changed quite a bit over the past few years, and we want to be able to change with it. Our readership continues to change (and grow), and today’s readers have different preferences and patterns. For instance, last year we added an on-line version of the magazine to allow our more tech-savvy readers to access content in a more mobile and convenient way.