Bidding farewell to Director of Alumni Relations Shana Circe ’02 ’08g
The following message was sent to all faculty and staff on March 19.
Please join the Office of Development & Alumni Relations in bidding farewell to Director of Alumni Relations Shana Circe ’02 (Art Education) ’08g (Visual Arts Education) ahead of her upcoming departure after nearly 20 years of dedicated service to the College.
Shana’s virtual farewell reception will be held on Wednesday, March 31, at 9 a.m. via WebEx.
Shana will step down after five years in her position and nearly two decades working at SUNY New Paltz. She plans to return to a career in visual arts and education.
As director, Shana was charged with strategically engaging more than 65,000 alumni, securing commitments from alumni to provide professional expertise and volunteer service to the campus and its students.
Shana will be remembered for transforming the Alumni Relations Department, where she hired and recently promoted Assistant Director Elizabeth Diuguid ’07 to expand programming, worked closely with Special Assistant for Projects Alan Dunefsky ’69 ’91g to more deeply engage retired faculty and staff, and launched the College’s Orange & Blue Network.
From developing and reimagining large-scale programs like Alumni Reunion, 100 Days to commencement and 40 Under Forty, to smaller regional events around the country, Shana created a robust calendar of events and opportunities for alumni to find their own way to connect. This included a pivot to virtual engagement and event planning under times of duress and anxiety due to COVID-19.
Shana expertly collaborated with the Office of Communication & Marketing on the monthly alumni newsletter Connect and New Paltz Magazine, created a blueprint for her department’s work in becoming an anti-racist institution, and established the Generations program to engage parents and other family members of current students.
Prior to this role, Circe served the College in the Office of Undergraduate Admission for 12 years as director of on-campus recruitment and director of the Welcome Center. In these roles, she implemented several new programs and managed a campus visit volume of more than 20,000 visitors each year while cultivating a staff of 22 highly trained student ambassadors and 10 Welcome Center staff members as top campus leaders.
In 2013, she was invited to serve on the Alumni Task Force, focused on creating a strategic plan for the Office of Alumni Relations, which ultimately resulted in the founding of the official SUNY New Paltz Alumni Association and the Alumni Council. She was then appointed to serve as a member of the Council from its inception to the present.
Shana currently resides in Kingston, New York, with her husband Michael Circe ’05 (Childhood Education; History) ’09g (Childhood Education) and looks forward to having more time with their two young sons.
She will be missed but should be justifiably proud of her many achievements. We expect she will continue to engage with the campus community as a proud alumna, volunteer and supporter of SUNY New Paltz.
Please feel free to join us anytime during the celebration to wish Shana well and to thank her for her service.
Sincerely,
Erica Marks
Vice President for Development & Alumni Relations