Plan Aims to Energize Engagement, Grow Membership

Posted on Jan. 5, 2024

Carolina Alumni is nearing the completion of a strategic plan that aims to increase engagement with UNC graduates worldwide and strengthen their lifelong connections to the University.

Carolina Alumni President Veronica Flaspoehler ’08 is leading the effort, with guidance from Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor Paul Friga ’96 (MBA, ’03 PhD). The purpose of a strategic plan is to help an organization establish its identity and direction for success, Friga said. Good strategic plans clarify mission and vision statements, while examining an organization’s values and priorities to align goals and actions, he said. “When done correctly, a good strategic plan not only gives guidance on daily decision-making for resource allocation and time spent, but it can also motivate employees as it gives a rewarding purpose to their work.”

Flaspoehler and Friga have been leading a diverse group of alumni, administrators and friends of the University to develop a plan for Carolina Alumni, which is self-governed and not overseen by the University. (It is one of nearly two dozen self-governed alumni associations nationwide.) The plan, which was initiated by Flaspoehler and Carolina Alumni Board of Directors Chair Lowry Caudill ’79, will lay out a framework to develop events and programming designed to attract more graduates to join Carolina Alumni’s more than 63,000 dues-paying members, while continuing to serve and inform the more than 360,000 living graduates. The Carolina Alumni Board of Directors is expected to consider the plan’s recommendations sometime during the spring semester.

Friga, a clinical associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler since 2008, researches strategic problem-solving and project management in consulting, personalized knowledge transfer, intuition and entrepreneurship and also teaches courses in management consulting and strategy. He’s consulted with other institutions of higher learning as well as midsize and large corporations including The Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp.

Friga said he welcomed the chance to collaborate on the strategic plan with Flaspoehler, the senior leadership team and members of the Carolina Alumni Board of Directors. Caudill, who had previously worked with Friga on plans for Carolina Athletics, the applied physical sciences department and the College of Arts and Sciences, recommended Friga for the job.

Flaspoehler, Friga said, wanted to hear “big, hairy, audacious goals” — BHAGs in the strategic planning process vernacular — that have the potential to increase association membership, the number of alumni attending events and becoming mentors to students and reconnecting with their former classmates and professors. Flaspoehler assumed her role as president in July, succeeding Doug Dibbert ’70, who served as GAA president for almost 41 years. “We engaged the Carolina Alumni staff, board, current students and our strategic advising committee, and their level of support and engagement really impacted our mission, vision, values and goals,” Flaspoehler said. “Their feedback to the task force has been invaluable in shaping where we are today.”

Friga and Flaspoehler began meeting in July. In August, a task force made up of Carolina Alumni senior leadership started meeting weekly with Friga and his team, who then met with Carolina Alumni staff to discuss the strategic plan and asked them what the organization’s top priorities should be. Friga’s team members included Helen Rolf ’14, (’23 MBA, MSPH), Carissa Marrocco ’23 and Nicole Van Liew ’23.

Flaspoehler said she’s pleased with how the efforts have progressed. “Working with Paul and his team has also helped us to make this an efficient process where we are maximizing the planning process, making the most of everyone’s time and tapping into unique resources,” she said. “As we continue crafting our strategic plan, I am thrilled about what lies ahead.”

Friga, an advocate for crowdsourcing and experiential education, assigned students in his consulting, skills and frameworks class an exercise to develop strategic ideas for Carolina Alumni. In mid-November, they presented recommendations Carolina Alumni should consider.

“This is perhaps my most significant strategic planning work to date because of the potential impact it could have on multiple generations of members of the Carolina family,” Friga said. “I’m extremely optimistic about the future of Carolina Alumni given the strength of Veronica and her entire team to move forward strategically.”

— Laurie D. Willis ’86