MSU grad new director of alumni group

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When Scott Westerman arrived to Michigan from New Mexico about two weeks ago, the frigid temperatures made him feel at home.

Westerman, who graduated from MSU in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication, left New Mexico and a vice president position with Comcast Corp. to become MSU’s new associate vice president for alumni relations and the executive director of the MSU Alumni Association. He replaced the association’s interim executive director, Stella Cash, this semester.

“This is a homecoming of sorts,” Westerman said.

Local MSU Alumni clubs in Florida, Iowa and New Mexico have all, at one time, counted Westerman as one of their members. He has served on the Communication Arts and Sciences Alumni Board and was the president of the National MSU Alumni Board this past year.

To reach his goal of securing $150 million this year in donations, Westerman said he wants to increase the association’s membership. There are about 440,000 living MSU alumni, but Westerman said fewer than one-tenth currently are MSU Alumni Association members. Although a few thousand new members will join the association each year, the group will lose about the same number of members.

“There are 35,000 members of the MSU Alumni Association,” Westerman said.

“My goal is to double that number. We haven’t done that aggressively enough in the past.”

Cash, who served as the association’s interim executive director for the past two years, said Westerman’s role will be to make a “portal” between MSU alumni and the university.

“One of his major responsibilities will be a tremendous collaborative effort with people on campus and people with friends in the community,” Cash said.

Cash said she expects Westerman to bring numerous technological advancements to MSU.

“Things that are technology based … that’s one of Scott’s real key talents and areas of expertise,” Cash said.

Bob Groves, vice president for University Advancement, was one of several people responsible for the nationwide search to fill the position. Groves said the committee chose Westerman because of his leadership experience working with subscription-based organizations in the cable industry. He also is a leader among his colleagues in social networking sites and dedicated to MSU, Groves said.

Although the Alumni Association is not directly responsible for fundraising, it makes up one half of MSU’s University Advancement with University Development, which is responsible for university private fundraising. Together, the two groups solicit monetary donations from foundations, corporations and alumni.

“The state is funding less and less of the university each year,” Groves said. “We want to raise substantially more than $150 million a year,” Groves said.

Last year, the group raised a total of $139 million, with alumni donating $42 million.

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