Keller connects alumni with students

Travis Keller has certainly put in his time at MVNU.

The former Oakwood Hall resident director and director of Student Life is now MVNU’s director of Alumni Relations.

The essence of his new job, Keller said, is “to keep alumni connected with one another and the university” — and he has plenty of ideas on how to do that.

Keller, a 2002 graduate of MVNU, hopes to enhance the role of alumni in the lives of students by bringing them together in a variety of social, educational and business settings. Ideally, this relationship will lead to increased opportunities for professional networking and development, job shadowing, internships and job placements for students.

Keller is already working with Career Services to establish a new software tool that will allow alumni to recruit MVNU students for internships and jobs.

While Keller misses the close connection and daily work with SGA leaders and other students that defined his former position, he said the new job is a great fit that offers him a “broadened capacity for shaping our school.”

Keller’s to-do list also includes planning Homecoming and creating other on-campus and off-campus alumni events. He spends a lot of time traveling and connecting with alumni throughout the country. Keller is working to build regional alumni chapters and events that keep MVNU graduates connected to the school and each other even if they live far away.

“There is no typical day or typical week,” Keller said. “I really like the diversity and flexibility of my schedule.”

Another one of Keller’s goals is to increase alumni giving through both financial and service contributions.

Financial donations are certainly appreciated, he said, “but it is also critical to identify and communicate all the various ways in which alumni might give back.”

For that reason, Keller encourages alumni to attend art shows, music concerts and athletic events; share experience and expertise with students; and use their knowledge and enthusiasm about their alma mater to recruit potential students.

Keller works out of the Alumni Relations office in the Couchenour House on Glen Road, but he hopes to move his office to a more centralized location on the main campus.

Moving onto campus would promote better collaboration with other departments and “establish a concept of the role of Alumni Relations in the lives of our students,” he said.