Latest / Hart & Hustle Podcast / 5 Secrets to Building Lasting Relationships with University Alumni
Transcript
- Efrain: Welcome back to the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We got Mr. Chris in the building all the way from Chris. Where are you located for people to know that you're nowhere near me? I'm in Orlando and you are in? Chris Natynski: No. June, Alaska. So Southeast Alaska on the panhandle. We are in a beautiful rainforest here. So people may think it's cold. It's raining, especially in the month of October. Efrain: Lord man, what were you born and raised in Alaska or what brings you out Chris Natynski: No, Efrain: there? Chris Natynski: no. th this this role and working with this university that I'm at right now, University of Alaska Southeast. So I'm I'm a Midwest guy, born and bra born and bred in in Wisconsin, spent a little time in Colorado, spent a little time out east, but you know, working with the this great community is w what really attracted me to be up here. Efrain: Do you have any like I could imagine you had your own thoughts of Alaska and what that looked like and what you know, w did it all surprise you going and as you mentioned and visiting and realize it's not just ice everywhere? Chris Natynski: You know, it's interesting you say that because whenever you look at the weather like on your iPhone or any other device, I came up here for my interview in December of twenty twenty three and it said we're supposed to get twelve inches of of snow. Twelve inches of snow. We had record snow this past summer of twenty five, twenty six, but when I was here, Efrain: Holy crap. Chris Natynski: it was just rain. But the iPhone said otherwise and I called up the people setting up the interview. I'm like, is it gonna be snowing the whole time? They're like, No, it's just rain. I don't like they get that too on their iPhone, but You come out here, it's rain, you gotta make sure you have the right gear on and and it's it's beautiful. And man, when we have days when we live in a channel with we have mountains on both sides, when it's when it's gorgeous out, I hope our team gets out and just is able to enjoy it as much as I do. Efrain: I love that man. And and what brought you to to be at this school? You mentioned how you traveled, you know, different places, but what brought you here? Chris Natynski: It was really the the leadership from our chancellor, Aparna Palmer, that really brought me up here and really the things that she wanted to see for this university, where she wanted to see this going for the next five, ten years and really building out a small liberal arts type mentality for a very impactful, small regional university that has a great impact here. But we're starting to see, you know. the fruits of our labor in other places, especially through some of the initiatives that we're doing to bring students up here to Alaska. Efrain: You you've been in the higher edge space for some time, I'm guessing? Chris Natynski: Yes. actually I'm I'm one of those people that they refer to as a recovering lawyer. I practiced law for about five years, but instead of having, you know, arguments with people about their their finances, how about we talk to people about the great things they could be doing with their finances through philanthropy? So it was kind of this this transition and I had a great friend who who got me interested in the in this market and in this industry and I fell in love with it just working with people. building those relationships and helping inspire them to see all the great things that they could be doing with their wealth. Efrain: Wha how many years have you been in higher ed now? Chris Natynski: Man, I gotta say it's been maybe around twelve or so now. So it's it's been Efrain: some time. Chris Natynski: pr pretty exciting, yeah. Efrain: Yeah, no, man, it's that's I would say being in a space of and of course a lot of the conversation to have are with those in higher ed or the nonprofits, but it's really a spaces, man, where it truly is about passion and purpose. You know, you kind of mentioned where you were at at one point in time. It is kind of night and day, I would say, in the way that you see people, right? And the way that you really pour back into folks, allowing them to see what is possible. sometimes in their own backyard. So you talked about Antarctica, right? And what that actually looks like and what people don't not know about some of these places is it's like we have to amplify the missions, amplify the stories. Do you find yourself sometimes in in new places that you never even knew kind of existed being in the higher ed? Chris Natynski: yeah, absolutely. I think that's if not on a every everyday basis, it's at least on a weekly basis, learning new things, learning about you know the the people and places that that our university is placed on, understanding different, you know, cultures that I necess didn't necessarily grow up with, and and you know coming from a mindset of curiosity, I think can be really important. And just being an open book, an open slate of just hearing from people because I mean, I'm from the Midwest. I can share about the Midwest, but you know, when people are able to share about their own experiences, I I wanna listen and hear about it. Efrain: Yeah, and that's so cool. And w w how big is the school, Chris? Chris Natynski: Yeah, we're we we we're we have three campuses. So I'm at the the at the main campus and we're looking at around Juno here itself is our main campus, but then we also have community campuses in Sica and Ketchikan. So we're we're spread out throughout UAS, Southeast Alaska, and we're looking around student body of around thirty five hundred and we saw a small uptick this past year. in our enrollment and but staying pretty steady, especially during this time that a lot of universities are talking about the enrollment cliff. Efrain: Yeah, and I was gonna say that, man, for you guys to see a uptick, that's actually a good thing. It looks like maybe some good marketing going on, some good stories. First, before we even go any farther, I don't think that we talked about your role. What what is your current role with the organization, with the Chris Natynski: Yeah. Efrain: school? Chris Natynski: I I'm the executive director of advancement. So we have in in a traditional role of advancement, you definitely have like your public information officer, marketing communications, underneath this umbrella, but really our f our focus is gonna be development or fundraising and alumni relations. So really building out those efforts for both the or all three of our campuses and really building out that strategy. And it's been great to see those things happen in the past two and a half years. Efrain: Very good. And I would say when I speak to even nonprofits, it's slow hanging fruit is those alumni, right? Those people that have gone on and done some amazing things or can really recall the time they had in some of these university or colleges. And me working even at the high school level, we had a donor come in and he just talked about how this high school really changed his life and how he really enjoyed his time. But sometimes those people don't know where to give. So you're in a real sweet spot, you say, right? Is that the low hanging fruit, Chris? Chris Natynski: Absolutely. Absolutely. That is a place and and you know that that definitely is a term that we hear a lot of like low-hanging fruit. And I see it as a an as an opportunity for people who already have affinity. people who already have that connection to the university. They they don't need to be primed for anything because Ari had an experience with us. And Efrain: Yeah. Chris Natynski: that that friend that I mentioned earlier, he he was someone who got me, you know, really to understand when you have people who have affinity and capacity. And you know, that that that willingness or want the wanting to make an impact, that's kind of your your sweet spot. And we do find a lot of people that we're just trying to bring back into the fold of people, whether they're here in Juneau or throughout Alaska or down south, and that's that's what we say, down south, the lower 48. we we try to just connect with those individuals, really care about their stories. And if they want to be connected through other ways, we show them how that looks like, and if they want to be giving financially. We show them how to do that too. We don't we don't wanna make this a a a high stress thing. It's really about the like I mentioned earlier, it's the the really great things that they can be doing, making the impact through the finances that they have. Efrain: Staying involved, you know, even after those years of you spending time is it is crucial. It is us kind of, you know, I would say passing the baton to the next generation of people. And I can only imagine that communication becomes key. The way that we communicate to them, having to meet them at where they're at, whether it's email, text message, and social media. What are some of the good ways of engagement that you guys have been able to see these alumni come back and engage and want to do more? How d do you have you seen all those different channels and really done the research on that? Chris Natynski: well I can't necessarily give you like numbers and research or anything like that, but we are we've built out something called Harbors, that's our online publication. and that, you know, that's just that's just providing a little bit more value to our alumni base of updates of new programs or long sustaining programs that UAS has had, doing an alumni profile, giving them just a general update. And it's been great to see when we connect with alumni out in the field, they're like, Yeah, I'm I'm reading it. It's great to see these things. We have that. We have our our normal social media, whether it's through Instagram or or Facebook, just sharing information with info with people. We have excuse me, we may have an ask in there every so often, and that's more during our UAS and UA giving day that happens in March. But for the most part, we're sharing value. We're just sharing information that's have happening out there. They'll find ways to be giving otherwise, but we just want to be sharing all the great things happening here in just getting them excited, getting them engaged, like you mentioned, Ephraim, just keeping them involved with the community is key for us. Efrain: With technology changing and ha the way that it has, especially when you talk about twelve years, we're in a space now where automation systems is key, AI is key. Do you guys find yourself evolving with technology as well? Cause I feel when I speak to a lot of places in higher ed, it is always having to stay ahead of the next one, right? Like we're always fighting for capacity at each level of a university or college around us. What do guys see yourselves at with technology and the involvement? Chris Natynski: You know, it's it's interesting because we have colleagues out there that they they want to lean into AI in terms of some of their maybe donor qualification. Efrain: Mm-hmm. Chris Natynski: and and we recognize that. We we we respect that. We understand that maybe th where their capacity is and they're they're kind of at the higher end of their capacity in terms of workflow, that they need to be lear leaning into this. We have individuals that can be making phone calls, building these relationships and really answering these questions and really understanding the nuances of of things that people are looking to get involved with that sometimes may maybe AI can't necessarily grab. At least that's how I I see that question. In terms of how we use AI in our office, it really is, you know, sometimes in terms of our writing to maybe either clean up something or give us a first draft. But it isn't just a, hey, give me something, we send it off. It is we we spend a lot of time making sure that the prompts are correct. We have the voice. We have all the things that are connected to this, that it is really truly a maybe cleaning up proofreading, things like that, but it the voice is from UAS. Efrain: You guys find yourselves as a univers as a college university to implement some of these AI courses and initiatives. I feel like we're at a time where you know when people say AI is gonna replace people, I think that I don't believe that. I just believe that we'll have a lot more job titles that require some AI knowledge, right? Being a good prompt engineer, Chris Natynski: Yeah. Efrain: maybe. Are you guys incorporating AI courses into the school? Chris Natynski: That's a great question. I don't think I can necessarily give a a straightforward answer on that, but I know that the UA Efrain: Okay. Chris Natynski: system right now is a they're they're revisiting our data governance, how we're how we're addressing AI throughout the whole UA system. And UAS is one of three MAUs that are part of the UA system. And I also look at just how AI is going to be impacting the workforce, things like that, and how UAS is unique to that. Because we have a very strong career and career education technology area where we are tr training the workforce of Southeast Alaska when it comes to power diesel, marine tech, all these different areas that you can't necessarily have AI doing these things. Also, we have a very robust environmental sciences and marine biology areas where we have people going out in the field. on a daily basis, gathering this information, seeing whales firsthand and and gathering this information that it's not necessarily a desktop position. People are out in the field doing these things that people probably could make the argument maybe down the road AI could be doing this, but I don't see that at least in in in the foreseeable future. Efrain: I love it. You talked about whales and right behind you it's a beautiful picture. Is that an actual picture taken by someone or is that a painting? Where Chris Natynski: I I I Efrain: did that come from? Chris Natynski: it it it is it it is a photo. I I can't give credit to anyone. it was here when I got here. but Efrain: Got it, okay. Chris Natynski: my predecessor was the one who put it there and and I thank her for the sake of it is a great photo. And we we we have some whales. Our our mascot is the whale. so we have a lot of whale things around here. we have the a whale. this is from UAS Ketchukan, you know, we try to incorporate that that. Efrain: Okay. Yeah. Chris Natynski: the the the whale in a lot of things that we do here. w it you we have orca, we we have humpback whales here. so we have a very strong marine bio marine life here in this in this region. Efrain: That's funny. you Chris, try to get back in focus because it looks like you got when you showed me the cup, but you lost focus. It lost focus on it's lost focus on you. there we go. We got you back in. It took it took focus and gave it to the cup. We gotta get you back in. no man, that that's pretty cool. You you you just almost like this universal become very different when someone signs up for you know, it looks like you guys ha Your your focuses are on completely something different. Do you guys feel as a university your focus is completely different than just your general university or college or someone goes signs up for? Chris Natynski: Well, it don't get me wrong. We have very strong creative writing. We have strong Northwest Coast art departments that are here. I think those are the things that really make a place like this unique. it is really based on the place that we are. And don't get me wrong, I came from a Big Ten school and I and I love my alma mater and I see the things that are happening at places like that. But this is a place that you come for I mean, for lack of a better term, that adventure. They like coming Efrain: Mm. Chris Natynski: up here to be here in Alaska. I hear from so many of our alumni they're like, whether it's back in the eighties or nineties or early two thousands, they got in a car, they drove up, they took the ferry into Juneau. They didn't really know what they were getting themselves into, and they haven't left. Efrain: Wow. I I love it. I I it seems like that's one of the reasons that you were probably leaning towards the school, realizing it wasn't just a school, but really the ability to do something different, ability to not just learn but have an experience. And I feel like that's what college does. It really provides an experience and you guys are providing an experience like no other. what what are some of the things that you guys are working on that continues to move the needle? You talked about that retention clip, but you guys actually seeing the uptick. What is it? What do you think gets you guys that extra umph when people are struggling? Chris Natynski: Yeah. So we we implemented a program called Alaska Unlocked. And what it does is we are no longer charging out of state students out of state tuition. They're paying in-state tuition just like anyone else. And I can't give the the specific numbers in terms of like how many students we needed to kind of break even on that, but we did see quite a bit of of an uptick this past year, and this was the first year that we implemented this. And what we also did was While you just create a program, you definitely need to make sure that you have more resources behind it. So our university invested in more admission counselors, recruiters to be able to go down south and really lean into the markets that we already saw our alumni or our students coming from and just sharing more of the message with those with those markets. And we did see quite a a bigger increase of our out of state students who are here now. And one thing that this really helps. Do is it does address kind of a workforce shortage that we see in the state of Alaska. Because right now, our numbers sh show that for students who graduate from UAS, they have an employment rate within one year of graduating here at UAS of 87% in state, with the idea that they are staying here. And you know, they have an opportunity to be going whether it's back home or other places. But they they've had that experience. They want to be here. They want to be part of our communities here, whether it's southeast Alaska, in the interior, and beyond in in Alaska. Efrain: That was cool, man. what a great model. You know, when I always think about how do we think outside the box to do something different. it may seem crazy, but sometimes you gotta you gotta be a little crazy, Chris, to see change, right? who do you go ahead. Chris Natynski: It's I I like to call I like to call calculated risks. You know, it's it's it's it's you well what we Efrain: Okay, okay, calculator read. Chris Natynski: we we talk about growth, right? And it's like you don't want to go off the deep end, but you're willing to kind of go off into the the semi deep areas where you're like, Efrain: Yeah. Chris Natynski: I feel like I'm a little outside my comfort zone and that's where true growth happens. Efrain: Yeah. I love it. Who d who do you give the credit to to think outside the box in this ever in this space? Was it a collaborative effort? Chris Natynski: my goodness. I mean our Chancellor our our our Chancellor, our Board of Regents, different community and campus leaders just to be able to really lean into this idea and and understand that there is a true opportunity to be bringing more individuals here. And while we were UAS was it was kind of a a pilot program, but but the other two universities have started implementing this as well. So they're gonna start not charging out of state tuition for their out of state students. Efrain: It's it's probably a model that people start to just adapt in general, man. I mean, y you hear it throughout, you know, our country, you know, what it looks like for enrollment and the lack of and we could we could blame it on so many other things, but I think that you do something like that out of state intuition and you got more people wanting to show up to your school and knock on doors like, man, this sounds great. I've always wanted to go here. I just didn't want to pay the extra ten, twenty thousand dollars or whatever that may look like. Chris Natynski: Yeah, I I think even before I got here and we had Alaska unlocked, we had individuals that even at that time, some of their wherever they were residing, their in-state tuition was still more to more than our out of state tuition. So it really goes back to that idea of all right, this is a a little more enticing, even more so to some of the students who are who are looking for that adventure. And it's just like if we can be helping them with their finances, let's do it. And we're gonna get them up here, they're gonna start seeing just a beautiful area. connecting with a a great community. I I I think it speaks for itself once they're up here. Efrain: What is your thoughts on just why experiencing the college life is so important? I think sometimes people do not see the need of it. When you have stuff like social media influencers, when you have trades that people almost put college, university all the way down at the lower level of things to go get done. Why do you think this is Chris Natynski: Yeah. Efrain: important? What are the game changers and that you've seen? You Chris Natynski: Yeah. Efrain: talked about hearing all these stories. Could imagine there's those people that are first gen that not only did it change their life, but it changes their family's life, their current family and the families to follow. But Chris, you've been in this space now twelve years. What's the impact when someone does something like this? Chris Natynski: I think it has to do with personal growth. I think it has to do with and I'm just thinking about my own path and and where I went to for my undergrad and where I was growing up and really just having the opportunity just to see different viewpoints, you know, have different dialogue, be be challenged in different ways. Where I feel like in social media and other areas, it's just like you're you're kind of locked into what you see. It's those algorithms, right? But it's when you have an opportunity to have five, twelve, fifteen, thirty, hundred people in the same room and just hearing that marketplace of ideas can really get you thinking. Get you thinking about okay, what really is my belief in this? And don't get me wrong, th like these other areas have their place and we need them to be either sharing information to be able to come in and fix things. But it is that opportunity really just that growth that you're looking for in yourself that that can help you down the road and and those critical thinking skills and having an opportunity to be like, all right, I've been in some of these experiences before, not necessarily something I read in a book, because that didactic stuff is just as is so important, but it's almost that that opportunity to really lean into the those those scenarios outside the classroom. And you can't necessarily just get that. through social media. Efrain: Yeah. Yeah, no, the the even the relationship building, right? Like that happens in the room. They're in the room with you today as as another student, but one day it could be a business partner. Could really be the CEO of the company you work for. Like I think there's something in that of the bridges that are being built at a school level, of the the getting to meet people from different walks of life that you normally would not have on a social kind of social media platform, right? That you get to Chris Natynski: Yeah Efrain: really live it. Chris Natynski: I I, you know, growing up, I think I was one of those people that I felt like I couldn't ask anyone for help. Efrain: Mm. Chris Natynski: And I learned that it's just like it's okay to ask for help, first of all. But also when you're looking in kind of those areas for your employment and really showing your skill set and you already have a relationship, it kind of goes to that what we started already with that that concept of affinity and people already knowing a university where they already know you just based on. interactions, things like that, that really could go a long way. It goes to the idea of networking. It goes to the idea of just building those relationships can really be key. And we have individuals out there that are like, you know what, I'm gonna I'm gonna apply. I'm gonna get this in there. But man, we we see it that you may have gone to a networking event and because you saw that face to face, you had that opportunity, that hiring person is gonna be like, I remember your name. I'm gonna put that on top now because I had the opportunity to connect with you. Efrain: Yeah. A at the role that you s sit at today, where do you see like I guess if you had this magic wand to fix some of the issues that you maybe you come across on a daily, what would that actually look like for Chris, especially in the role that you play for the school? Chris Natynski: Gosh. Efrain: Put you in the hot seat, man. Chris Natynski: You know, yeah, it it it's I always go back to the student impact. I go to make sure that we have the best financial backing for our student programs, our scholarships, making sure that we have world class buildings at a place. And and and and I'm going to a lot of the things that any other fundraiser is gonna tell you, but it really goes back, and and I'm sure that anyone else would say this, it goes back to that student experience. making sure that they have the right faculty and staff in place, that those that work environment is is working because the students see that. They see that they want to come to a place where they feel welcomed and making sure that they're not leaving a a a university with a lot of debt. We want to make sure that it's affordable. Efrain: Yeah. that's good, man. I I I I love I love what you stand for. I love how you were able to close one chapter, open up a complete new one, and really be in the space of meeting people where they're at and helping them fertilize their own future, right? Not just the future of those that come into the school, but their own future, the family's future. I think it's tremendous that you do this selfless work, man, that you've made the move from w which man mid US all the way down to or or all the way over to Antarctica, I wouldn't say down. But yeah, man, I I really thank you. Where can people find more information about the school, what you guys are doing, some of the unique things that is happening? Chris Natynski: Yeah, gosh. that is the part where I was not ready for that answer. But you can go to you you you can go to UAS dot alaska dot EDU is our website Efrain: No worries, I got it. I mean a at least for the website. Okay, good, good, good, good. Chris Natynski: and I can I can send you a little bit more about our social media, but we're out there. we have stuff that's whether it's on YouTube, or any of the other social media platforms. I don't think we're on TikTok, but we are on Insta. Efrain: Not yet. Chris Natynski: We're on we're on on Facebook. Efrain: Okay, perfect. As long as you're on there, I'm pretty sure people can go ahead and, you know, type in a Alaska University of Alaska and and find that information. but no, man, I I I really appreciate the time. I appreciate what you guys are doing as an organization and for really thinking outside of the box, really providing insight to maybe other leaders that are maybe in the same role that you're in today and trying to ask themselves, how do we get more people in the seats? How do we you Chris Natynski: Mm-hmm. Efrain: know, pass this retention clip? You guys are already head of the game. I've spoken to a lot of leaders in this in this kind of space of higher ed. And I would say no one was excited to tell me that, hey, our retention clip got to see a little bump. A lot of people are seeing the downhill us of it. Chris Natynski: Yeah. Yeah, it's it's been just encouraging. I I think that once we kind of hit our full capacity, we we may see a plateau, but I think we're gonna see, you know, whether we're gonna st stay even or some small gains just because we're still rolling out this program and when more people start seeing it and really seeing a university like this, I think they're gonna be excited. So and and and I'm I'm just gonna s plug this one more time. It's uas.alaska dot edu. That's our main website where people come. can go to and just get a lot more information about the university. Efrain: Love it. Well, Chris, thank you for those that are still watching. Make sure you guys do like, subscribe, and comment. My name is Zifrain, and we'll catch you guys the next one. Latus.