Most Improved Alumni Relations Award

Until 2025, the winner of this year’s most improved award did not even have an alumni engagement team. Alumni engagement was fragmented across multiple roles without dedicated leadership, centralized strategy, or formal infrastructure. In less than twelve months, a newly established External Engagement team transformed this landscape by creating a built-out, measurable structure with dedicated coverage across all graduate programs, integrated employer engagement, and active programming supported by shared technology systems. This rapid evolution—from no dedicated alumni function to a fully operationalized team with formal volunteer infrastructure and strategic accountability—positions the institution for sustained, lifelong alumni relationships that directly strengthen student career outcomes and institutional advancement.