Two alumni with experience in higher education administration have been hired to direct the reorganized programs in alumni and parent relations at Hope College.
Mary Remenschneider has been appointed director of alumni relations, and Stephanie Greenwood has been appointed director of parent relations. Both started at Hope during the first week of classes in August.
"The basis of success for any comprehensive higher education program is the successful engagement of alumni, parents and friends. Mary and Stephanie come to Hope with enthusiasm and energy - to foster even stronger involvement in the life of the college by building on our excellent established educational and social programs," said Scott Wolterink, who is associate vice president for college advancement and oversees the two programs.
Wolterink added that he feels that both Remenschneider and Greenwood offer a strong combination of qualifications based on their own active involvement at Hope as students and their professional development in the years since.
"Mary and Stephanie return to Hope College with exceptional co-curricular leadership and involvement from their years at Hope. They have each pursued careers and advanced degrees in higher education," he said. "Hope College can look to each individual and look forward to a continuation of the Hope tradition of first-class programs and coordination. Their commitment to higher education, volunteer leadership and Hope College is evident."
Wolterink, a 1988 Hope graduate, joined the college's staff in 1996 as a regional advancement director and assumed additional responsibilities as director of the annual Hope Fund in 2001. He was promoted to associate vice president with additional supervisory responsibility for the college's alumni and parent relations programs, which were shifted to the college's Advancement Office this summer.
A 1996 Hope graduate, Remenschneider worked for the past three years at Auburn University in Alabama for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, where her responsibilities included a variety of national programs for health professionals. As health editor of CYFERnet, she was part of a collaborative group that received a 2003 USDA Secretary of Agriculture Honor Award.
Prior to joining Auburn, she had spent three years as a consultant in program evaluation and grant writing. She had previously been an evaluation and grant manager with the Columbus Children, Youth and Family Coalition.
Remenschneider was active in a variety of activities as a Hope student.She was a member of the Sibylline Sorority; and participated in the Pull tug-of-war all four years, the last two as a coach, and the Nykerk Cup competition as a freshman and sophomore. She was active with C.A.A.R.E. (Campus Assault Awareness Response and Education), was in the Chapel Choir, volunteered as a tutor with the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program, and studied in Vienna, Austria, in the summer of 1995. She was elected Homecoming Queen in the fall of 1995, and in the spring of 1996 received the college-wide Peter Bol Award presented to the student who made the most outstanding contribution in counseling.
She majored in psychology at Hope, where she was a member of the Psi Chi National Psychology Honors Fraternity. She completed a master's degree in social work, with a specialty in policy and program planning, at Western Michigan University in 1998.
Greenwood, who is a 1995 Hope graduate, was previously at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, where she had been academic coordinator for the university's online program since July of 2002, and had joined the online staff in 2000 as an enrollment services specialist. She held a variety of positions with Davenport in Holland from 1996 to 2000, including admissions counselor.
During the summer and fall of 2000, she was a graduate intern in the Office of Public and Alumni Relations at Hope. She helped plan and implement Hope activities including Alumni Weekend, the annual golf outing, the Community Day celebration and Homecoming reunion events.
Prior to joining the Davenport staff, she had been a counselor with Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids, with which she had held an internship while attending Hope.
Greenwood was a member of the Dorian sorority as a Hope student, and was co-chair of the college's Student Social Work Organization. She was a member of Mortar Board, was named to the college's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and participated in dance productions.
She majored in social work at the college. She completed her master's degree in education, with a concentration in college student affairs leadership, at Grand Valley State University in 2001.