FRASER VALLEY – Whitney Fordham has been appointed Manager, Alumni Relations at the University of the Fraser Valley, and Staff Liaison to the UFV Alumni Association. She was previously serving in this role on an interim appointment, and was the successful candidate for the permanent position.

“I am very pleased to welcome Whitney to the University Relations team in this permanent role to continue building upon the great momentum the UFV Alumni Association has demonstrated this past year,” says Leslie Courchesne, Executive Director of University Relations. “She is a UFV alumna herself and brings excellent insight, knowledge and passion to the work.”

Fordham is the first UFV alum to hold the position of Alumni Relations Manager.  She graduated with a BBA in 2009, with a concentration in marketing and minor in economics. She is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Victoria, expecting to complete in 2016.

She is very excited about continuing in this position.

“I am so lucky to be able to wake up in the morning and go to a job that I absolutely love,” she notes. “I am proud to be a UFV alumna. UFV has given me so much in terms of learning and development over the years, and I have had the opportunity to give back through my career at UFV. Now I have the ability to engage with other alumni to encourage and enable them to give back in their own ways.”

She notes that she takes on her role at an exciting time for alumni at UFV. “The Alumni Association has been working very hard to develop new ways to engage its membership, and I am delighted and honoured to be a part of implementing and supporting these new initiatives.”

As manager, Fordham serves as UFV’s staff liaison to the UFV Alumni Association, which serves 34,000 alumni locally and internationally, offering ways to stay connected to UFV through events, networking and mentorship opportunities, awards, affinity programs, and more.

Fordham has been at UFV for more than 10 years, first as a student and then as a staff member. As a student, she was a new student orientation leader with UFV Student Life, a UFV student ambassador with the Marketing & Communications department, and marketing chair for the Business Administration Student Association.

Since joining UFV as staff in 2008, she has held several roles, including acting manager and housing operations coordinator with Residence Services, Student Life programmer, and instructor of UNIV 101 (Intro to University and Liberal Arts).

She was elected as staff representative to the UFV Board of Governors in 2013 and continues to serve in that capacity. She has also served on the new student orientation committee since 2011.

She is married and lives with her husband, who is also a UFV alumnus (BBA ’04) and their two dogs in Chilliwack, where she grew up. In her spare time, she plays fast-pitch and soccer, is an avid organic gardener, and enjoys the outdoors, although she notes that most activities outside of her work are currently on hold while she completes her master’s degree.