Karen Cooley, currently with the U of I Office of Student Affairs, will succeed Marilyn Upah-Bant as Uni's head of fundraising and alumni relations

By Gargoyle news staff

Posted Friday, April 6, 2007, The OG, news

Karen Cooley takes questions during her visit to Uni

in mid-March. She will begin work as director of

advancement on April 23. (Gargoyle photo by Devika

Bagchi) (click to enlarge)

FOR ALMOST 13 YEARS, Uni High fundraising and alumni relations were synonymous with one person: Marilyn Upah-Bant.

But since late January, when Upah-Bant left the school to become coordinator of communications for the University of Illinois' new Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, Uni has been looking for a successor.

Today Director/Principal Kassie Patton announced the search is over.

Karen Cooley has accepted Uni's offer to become the school's director of advancement, which is the new title for the position formerly held by Upah-Bant.

Cooley is associate director of stewardship and donor relations for the U of I Office of Student Affairs. She will begin her new job on April 23.

“Ms. Cooley has a long tenure at UIUC and in development work,” Patton said in a schoolwide e-mail. “I'm sure she will be an excellent addition to our community and that you will enjoy working with her. She brings an enthusiasm for Uni, energy, and many ideas to the position.”

Cooley earned a bachelor's degree in program management from the U of I in January 1993.

Her association with the University goes back to June 1983, when she worked for the Office of Women's Resources and Services, maintaining budget records and informing potential students of scholarship opportunities.

From August 1985 to June 1993, she worked part time in the Office of Student Affairs while she completed her degree.

Since then, she has worked full time for Student Affairs in the fields of development and donor relations.

From June 1993 to August 2000, Cooley was an assistant in the Student Affairs Development Office, where among other things she chaired the James Newton Matthews Scholars Program, a campuswide merit-based scholarship program.

Cooley then became assistant director of development, a position she held from August 2000 to June 2006.

While taking on greater fundraising responsibilities in that job, she continued to administer the Matthews Scholars Program. Since 1996, the program has grown from 15 students receiving $1,500 per-year renewable scholarships to 150 students receiving $2,000 per-year renewable scholarships.

Cooley has been associate director of stewardship and donor relations since June 2006. Besides maintaining many of her previous responsibilities, she developed a comprehensive plan for scholarship donors and worked with development staff to identify key donors for solicitation.

In mid-March, shortly before spring break, Cooley visited Uni to meet faculty and students and discuss her approach to development. She said her biggest challenge at Uni would be to persuade alumni to give back to their school.

“We need to find out what their passion is,” Cooley said during her visit. “Why did they like Uni? We have to bring back their Uni High experience to them, because most people think of giving back to their college, not their high school.”

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