The Arkansas Alumni Association welcomed five new staff members to the team. Dale Green, associate executive director, Shanna Bassett, associate director of membership and marketing, Alyssa Strodel, marketing coordinator, Julie Simpson, assistant director of facilities and special events and Elton Ford, manager of outreach programs.

Green reports directly to Brandy Cox, associate vice chancellor for alumni and executive director of
the Arkansas Alumni Association. He is responsible for leading the communication strategies and managing the programmatic and outreach areas of the association including membership, chapters and constituent engagement. He most recently worked as a development officer for the College of Liberal and Applied Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Prior roles at that university also included interim executive director of alumni relations and director of marketing and membership.


Bassett
leads the membership program and plays an important role in the branding efforts of the overall association. She will help streamline membership levels, develop and enhance association and membership marketing opportunities and increase membership participation to help escalate the University of Arkansas’ percentage of alumni giving rate.  Bassett comes to us from the office of annual programs where she served as assistant director for two years overseeing all direct mail and email solicitations, helped facilitate the Class Gift program and recently assisted in creating GivingBACKS, the giving society for recent graduates.  She also served as the assistant director for the National Phone Campaign where she over saw all operations of the student call center.  Prior to moving to Arkansas she worked in development at Emporia State University and University of Kansas Endowment.

Strodel manages the project management tool for the association, executes marketing requests for
chapters and societies and creates and executes web and print designs. Previously, Strodel served as the student programs coordinator as she completed her master’s degree. Strodel believes her biggest achievement in that role was increasing student membership from 330 to more than 2,000 students in two years.

Simpson manages all of the operations associated with the Janelle Y
. Hembree Alumni House. She manages and produces the annual Hog Wild Tailgates and assists staff in the development of special events that engage both internal and external constituents. Simpson will also assist in the coordination and implementation of the Alumni Association’s Alumni Awards Celebration and other Alumni Association special events. Prior to joining the Alumni Association, Simpson spent three years with the Office of Donor Relations and Special Events as a program coordinator. She successfully oversaw the events held at Fowler House and assisted with events for both the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor’s Office. Simpson also has years of experience as a catering supervisor with Chartwells.

Ford serves as a primary external relations contact. He is charged with supporting young alumni
engagement efforts, both in Northwest Arkansas and around the region. Additionally, he works as a member of the Arkansas Alumni outreach team to develop and deliver consistent board training, solidify support and involvement of key alumni and community partners in alumni and student outreach programs, and work with the Arkansas Alumni membership team to help introduce membership appreciation events and membership growth campaigns at the chapter level. Previously, he served as campaign initiatives specialist within University Development.