Karen M. Fitzgerald has been named executive director of alumni programs and services. She has been serving as executive director of development since June 2005.

Fitzgerald has many years of advancement and administrative experience with institutions such as Cabrini College, Susquehanna University, Trinity College and Washington and Jefferson College in both alumni relations and development capacities.

At Susquehanna she worked closely with the alumni office to establish and enhance reunion programming. As director of development at Trinity College she worked side-by-side the alumni director and at Cabrini College, her alma mater, she served on the Alumni Association Board.

Fitzgerald earned a bachelor of arts degree in English/communications from Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa.

Frank Falso, vice president for advancement, said, “I’m confident that Karen’s skills, talents and experience will be tremendous assets to the College and to our alumni.

And, she will be assisted by two new assistant directors in alumni relations, both of whom are Albright graduates. We were fortunate to be able to add an additional position to the Alumni Relations Office.”

“This is such an exciting time in the history of Albright College,” Fitzgerald said. “I hope to convey this sense of excitement to all alumni whose lives have been touched in so many ways by this unique College.”

Among her many goals for alumni programs and services Fitzgerald plans to expand and enhance Albright’s reunion program, establish a new “Online Community” that will enable alumni to be involved with the College and stay connected to one another, create new regional chapters and establish a young alumni group.

Last spring, Albright’s Service Excellence team began conducting customer service training for all administrators, support staff and faculty.

To date, nearly 100 percent of all full-time administrators and half of the faculty have gone through the Advanced Connections program by Noel-Levitz, which is designed specifically to address issues and situations in higher education.

The next phase of the Service Excellence initiative will focus on institutional projects and system changes that resulted from feedback provided by administrators and faculty who went through the Service Excellence training.

Teams have been put in place to address key campus issues such as improved personnel services, better communication and improvements to residence halls.

President McMillan said, “I am committed to service excellence. It is critical to both our present and our future.” He added that he is pleased with the progress made so far. “We have created a common vocabulary of service. We have identified key areas where service must be improved and the roadblocks that stand in our way. We have improved signage, created new maps and had a wonderfully successful opening day for our new and returning students in the fall.”

Albright’s volunteer Service Excellence facilitators will continue training for faculty, part-time staff and new employees.