In 2012, the Michigan State University Department reached out to a group of alumni to create an advisory board that would directly impact the department. Today, the advisory board members give their time, resources and energy, and the department has seen the impact of having engaged alumni on students and the department. The alumni help the department understand what students need to be able to graduate and successfully enter into the job market, they operate as mentors to current students and they also provide financial resources for department programs.
“It is great to interact with our board and alumni,” said Professor Steven Haider, chair of the department. “They are truly dedicated to improving the experiences of our undergraduate and graduate students. It’s humbling how much they care and how generous they are with their time, expertise and money.”
Beginning the Board
In 2010, former Dean of the College of Social Science, Dr. Marietta Baba, and former development director Nick McLaren approached Professor Carl Davidson, who was chair of the department, with the idea of forming an alumni advisory board. At first, Professor Davidson was skeptical about whether he could ask highly successful alumni who already incredibly busy to invest their time and resources into MSU. Would they be interested in helping with program design and student success?
For a year and a half, Professor Davidson traveled to meet with alumni and heard a resounding, “Yes,” among many of those that he approached.
“There are people like Peg Koenigs, Tom Sleeter and Joe Hollis, who had had almost no contact with MSU since they left, and they were delighted that we reached out to them and thrilled at the idea of getting involved,” Professor Davidson reflected. “They were enthusiastic about the board and eager to join. We were fortunate that Joe Hollis was local and was willing to take on a leadership role. He was our first board chair, and he was really instrumental in getting us off to a good start.”
At the same time, the department launched the Econ Scholars Program, a program for high-achieving economics students that would receive support from the alumni board.
“We began this early on and it continues to this day: We would start each annual meeting on homecoming weekend with a lunch where the Econ scholars would be introduced to the advisory board,” Professor Davidson said. “This was a tremendous draw for the students, an opportunity to network with people who are incredibly successful in all sectors of the economy. The board members could serve as mentors and could also get to know high-achieving students who might fill the internship positions they might create.”
During MSU’s Homecoming 2024, Econ Alumni Advisory Board members have lunch with the Econ Scholars.
When Professor Tim Vogelsang became the next chair in fall 2015, he continued to build on the connection between the department and the advisory board members. During his tenure as chair, Professor Vogelsang also hoped to strengthen the connection between alumni members and each other.
“One of the things I realized as the new chair is that, while board members all looked forward to coming back to campus for homecoming and enjoyed interacting with the students, they weren't having many opportunities to interact with each other outside of formal events,” he said. "I felt that one of the benefits of being on a board like this is that members get to know other alums. To give the board the opportunity to interact with each other in an informal social setting, I started an annual tradition that continues to this day of a wine dinner the Friday night of Homecoming. The wine dinner has been popular and is always well attended.”
In 2020, Professor Haider became the chair and continued to engage the alumni board in helping to shape student educational experiences at MSU.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to prepare our students to succeed in a wide variety of professions,” Professor Haider said. “Our alumni board members have been incredibly successful in many such professions. They serve as role models for our current students, as well as provide the department important advice about how to best prepare students to be successful in today’s world. I just can’t say enough about how important they are.”
The ‘Why’ Behind Giving Back
Don Spence is the current board chair and an alum who received his B.A. degree in economics from MSU, and has a M.A. in economics from Central Michigan University. He was drawn to the study of economics because of the discipline’s ability to quantitatively understand and engage with the world. He says that the tools he learned during his study at MSU served him for his 40-year career in the medical device sector.
“I used the principles of economic thought and reasoning throughout my career, and my overall experiences and education while at MSU had a huge impact on my life. That is why I felt compelled to pass that on by serving on the econ alumni advisory board,” he said.
Spence was drawn to the board especially because of the chance to engage with all department stakeholders.
“We're there to help advise faculty, but also to build something that provides that connection between faculty, alumni and students,” he said.
What Spence values the most about being on the board is the chance to connect with students. They are able to reach out to board members with questions, for mentoring, or even to explore internship opportunities. Although Spence is retired, he also sees the opportunity for alumni members to be able to connect with the top econ graduates as excellent recruitment candidates.
Michelle Orlando joined the MSU Economics Alumni Board because she credits her career as a statistical reports supervisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to her experiences and opportunities as an economics major at Michigan State University.
“The reason I'm so invested in being part of the Board is to help inspire undergraduate students, especially those who are female, to pursue a major and eventual career in economics. I think back to when I was in the shoes of a junior/senior who was navigating the process of internships and joining the job market, and it was daunting. I was wondering: What will my next move be? What will my career look like? Being a member of the MSU Economics community helped me get to where I wanted to be. Now as a member of the Board, I think that if I can give back and help just one person in a similar situation, it's meaningful to me.”
“When I first visited the Chicago Fed in 2014 as part of an MSU economics student trip, Peg Koenigs, a current Alumni Advisory board member, hosted us,” Orlando remembered. “I have always thought about how kind it was for her to invest her time to meet current students and inspire them with her career story as well as share insight into potential economics job opportunities. My career at the Chicago Fed is due to that very visit and that is why I have kept the tradition going of hosting students each year. Ten years later and I am now sitting alongside Peg on the Alumni Advisory Board. It’s really neat to be able to have this full circle moment and represent women in economics together.
Orlando believes a strength of the current board is the wide range of econ professions that are represented.
“Although we were all economics majors, we all did something different with our careers, so I think that diversity of thought and experience really makes for an enriching community of people that can help to inform policies that the department is thinking through,” she said. "We all want to make Michigan State Economics the best it can be, and we all have different perspectives that help to inform that common goal.”
However, just as the Department of Economics is working to attract more diverse students to the field of economics, they are also hoping to encourage diverse voices to join the board.
“I don't take it lightly that the voice I have on the Board represents other women in economics, especially because this is a time where gender diversity and economics is an important issue to be talking about,” Orlando said.
Recruiting Alumni to Join the Board
The MSU Department of Economics and the Economics Alumni Advisory Board are currently hoping to add new alumni members to the board.
“You get to know these very high-end students, and plus, frankly, it's a community,” Spence said. “We as board members enjoy each other's company, and we want to invite alumni with diverse voices and experiences to join us.”
The time commitment for the board is a meeting twice a year with additional opportunities to connect with students, faculty and the other alumni during Homecoming weekend.
“Joining the advisory board is a great way to get more personally involved and give back to MSU,” Spence said. “It is always great spending time with students, but it’s also been a tremendous experience to meet with the faculty and other board members. I believe you should never stop learning and considering new ideas. My time spent with Carl, Tim and Steven along with those on the board has been deeply rewarding. I now consider them friends and we all feel comfortable reaching out to each other. For those alumni who have a passion for giving back to the next generations and who can contribute their talents, resources and time, this is a golden opportunity to do so.”
To learn more about the current members of the Econ Alumni Advisory Board, visit https://econ.msu.edu/alumni/advisory-board.
If you’re interested in becoming more involved in Economics Alumni opportunities, reach out to Steven Haider.
***