Plymouth State alumni were well-represented on the search committee appointed by President Sara Jayne Steen to recommend candidates for the new vice president for University Advancement, who is responsible for alumni relations, fundraising, alumni and donor records and data, and alumni and donor communications.

I was honored to serve on the search committee with fellow alumni Gene Martin ’09, chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors; faculty members Linda Levy ’04CAGS and Roxana Wright ’01G; Director of Alumni Relations Rodney Ekstrom ’09G; and chair of the search Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Jim Hundrieser ’90G. Other search committee members were Marcia Schmidt Blaine, Patrick May, and Jonathan Santore of the faculty, Dean Cynthia Vascak, and Assistant Vice President of University Advancement Laure Morris. Together we were able to define what qualities were most important to the next vice president and then work with a leading Boston search firm specializing in advancement leadership that brought forward a healthy pool of extremely qualified candidates.

Of those, Paula Lee Hobson emerged as our top candidate and ultimately the new vice president. Like other members of the search committee, I was impressed by her academic credentials, her knowledge of alumni relations and fundraising, and her experience in building successful programs at a larger public institution in Nevada. From my own perspective in the private sector, her marketing career in private industry before higher education is a great benefit, too.

Beyond these professional qualities, Paula Lee is a presence—personally warm and engaging, she brings an excitement and optimism to every room she enters. I remember thinking she is the kind of leader who would truly take Plymouth State’s alumni outreach and fundraising to the next level.

As Gene Martin said, “She ‘gets’ us.” The student and alumni constituency at Truckee Meadow Community College in Nevada, where she built the advancement operation over 15 years, also skews heavily toward those who are the first generation in their families to attend college. “She was first-gen herself, at the University of Oregon, so she really understands public higher education and our kind of alumni,” Gene commented.

With this as a strong foundation, I believe Paula Lee can help move Plymouth State quickly into deeper contact with and more meaningful involvement of our alumni and more robust fundraising for our future.

At the beginning of her tenure at Truckee Meadow, they raised about the same level of annual private support as Plymouth State does now—between $1 and $3 million in gifts and pledges. She planned and led a campaign that resulted in more than $25 million in major gifts from a wide variety of stakeholders, including alumni, faculty, staff, businesses and regional partners, even seasonal residents. I look forward to collaborating with her and the advancement team to do the same at Plymouth State.

President Steen also recognized Paula Lee’s marketing, public relations, and advertising expertise and education—her master’s degree thesis topic was integrated marketing communications in higher education. She soon tapped Paula Lee to integrate the former Office of Public Relations and Marketing staff into University Advancement. The newly formed team of 30 professionals will positively impact all facets of advancement, especially alumni.

In late summer after relocating her family from Reno to Center Harbor, Paula Lee told me, “My husband Paul and I are putting down roots in a small town and a tight-knit university community for our ten-year-old twins. This position at Plymouth State is the realization of both a professional and a personal goal for us.”

I hope you will have a chance to meet and personally welcome Paula Lee to PSU on your next visit to campus or at an upcoming alumni event.
—Larry Haynes ’86, President’s Council Chair

Tags:  Gene Martin Larry Haynes Paula Lee Hobson vice president for university advancement