Specialist - Alumni Engagement

Covista; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 28,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k match

Paid vacation days

Job summary

Covista, America's largest healthcare educator, is seeking an Alumni Engagement Specialist to deepen engagement and mobilize alumni as volunteers and advocates. The role sits in Corporate Affairs and coordinates programs that strengthen affinity and drive enrollment growth.

You will recruit, train, and steward volunteers, craft communications, support student success initiatives, and track ROI across programs, in a hybrid work setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; coursework in business management, marketing, or communications preferred.

Responsibilities

• Recruit, train, and steward alumni volunteers, ensuring a rewarding and impactful experience that sustains long‑term involvement.

Skills

Volunteer management

Alumni engagement

Event planning

Content writing

CRM experience

Relationship building

Evenings/weekends availability

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

HubSpot

Raiser's Edge

Job description

• Compensation: USD 20.51 - USD 36.09 - hourly

Company Description

Covista is America's largest healthcare educator, serving more than 97,000 students and supported by a community of 385,000 alumni across five accredited institutions. Through personalized, tech-enabled education powered by 10,000 faculty and colleagues, Covista expands access to healthcare careers and addresses the U.S. healthcare workforce shortage at scale. Covista is the parent company of American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Chamberlain University, Ross University School of Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and Walden University.
Our colleagues come from a wide range of backgrounds, business, academia, healthcare, government and nonprofits, and are part of a culture where doing exceptional work and making a meaningful difference for students and society aren't separate goals—they're one and the same. This means creating an environment where colleagues can develop new skills, build careers that match their ambitions and see the tangible impact of their work on healthcare education and workforce development. Colleagues who deliver results and embrace new tools to work smarter are valued for their contributions. But what makes working at Covista distinctive is our impact. Our faculty and colleagues don't just support healthcare education—they shape it. This isn't abstract purpose work. It's solving real problems for real people in real communities while advancing careers.
We operate on a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week (Monday–Thursday). This approach enhances creativity, innovation, communication, and relationship-building, fostering a dynamic and collaborative work environment.

Job Description

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Alumni Engagement, the Specialist, Alumni Engagement helps bring Covista's alumni strategy to life. The role centers on two connected priorities: deepening alumni engagement — the sense of belonging and lifelong connection every graduate holds with their alma mater — and growing Champion Engagement — mobilizing alumni as volunteers, ambassadors, and advocates who support student success, brand reputation, and enrollment growth. Positioned within the Corporate Affairs department, the Specialist coordinates programs and activities that move alumni along this continuum, ensuring every touchpoint strengthens affinity and unlocks alumni as champions for the institutions and Covista.

• Recruit, train, and steward alumni volunteers, ensuring a rewarding and impactful experience that sustains long‑term involvement.
• Conduct volunteer intake calls with alumni who submit interest, assessing fit and directing them to the right activation point (mentorship, storytelling, events, student success initiatives, etc.).
• Develop and distribute volunteer communications — briefing materials, talking points, and program updates — that set alumni volunteers up for success and reinforce their role as institutional advocates.
• Facilitate alumni engagement in the student experience, including recruiting and supporting alumni mentors, managing mentorship platforms, growing involvement, and reporting on program impact.
• Support alumni storytelling, spotlights, and subject‑matter‑expert sourcing that showcase champions' experiences and amplify institutional brand and reputation.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders and institutional partners to identify, develop, and execute volunteer opportunities that grow the alumni volunteer pipeline and connect champion efforts to student success, enrollment initiatives, and reputation management.
• Track alumni engagement and ROI across volunteer programs in the alumni CRM; compile metrics and prepare progress reports.

Member Engagement

• Plan, organize, and help execute in‑person and virtual alumni events — receptions, reunions, campus visits, conferences, and commencements — that build community.
• Manage the alumni inbox with a customer‑service mindset, serving as a responsive, personal point of contact for all alumni.
• Support efforts to maintain an accurate, up‑to‑date alumni database that underpins personalized outreach.
• Represent team at virtual and in‑person events, ensuring alumni feel connected to their alma mater and see a clear path to engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; coursework in business management, marketing, or communications preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in higher education, volunteer management and/or alumni engagement.
• Demonstrated experience writing, editing, and designing content for multiple mediums and audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, direct and coordinate multiple programs and initiatives simultaneously.
• Strong, natural ability to engage with people — building relationships with both alumni members and alumni champions, virtually and in person.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends.
• CRM experience preferred (e.g., HubSpot, Raiser's Edge).

Additional Information

In support of the pay transparency laws enacted across the country, the expected salary range for this position is between $20.51 and $36.09. Actual pay will be adjusted based on job‑related factors permitted by law, such as experience and training; geographic location; licensure and certifications; market factors; departmental budgets; and responsibility. Our Talent Acquisition Team will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements. The position qualifies for the below benefits.Covista offers a robust suite of benefits including:

• Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance
• 401k Retirement Program + 6% employer match
• 15 Days of Paid Vacation Days each Calendar Year

Equal Opportunity – Minority / Female / Disability / V / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation