Dear Colleagues:
SUNY New Paltz is excited to announce the appointment of Janet B. Rossbach as the new director of alumni relations, effective Sept. 3, 2024, after a competitive national search.
As director of alumni relations, Rossbach will strategically engage the University’s network of more than 72,000 alumni spanning the United States and abroad. Her role will include oversight of the Alumni Council, planning of class reunions and special events recognizing outstanding alumni, coordination of alumni providing professional expertise and volunteer service to the campus and its students, and orchestration of national events aimed at building and maintaining relationships with New Paltz alumni near and far.
Rossbach qualifications for this role include more than 25 years of experience in various development and higher education alumni relations positions. She most recently served as Director of Advancement for Camp Rising Sun, a full scholarship, international teen leadership camp in Rhinebeck, New York, where she led data-driven fundraising activities and developed new affinity group programs like an LGBTQIA+ alumni network, among other contributions.
She previously served for nearly a decade as Director of Alumni Relations and Volunteer Engagement at Baruch College, a member of the City University of New York system. Her extensive contributions to programming aimed at connecting and engaging that institution’s 165,000 alumni were recognized with “Top 20 Public College Alumni Networks” rankings by The Princeton Review in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Rossbach’s past experience in education settings also includes alumni relations roles at Columbia Business School and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and teaching positions at Baruch and New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education. She is a current Trustee and Grants Administrator for the Awesome Newburgh Foundation in Newburgh, New York. Rossbach is also a NACE-certified career coach, a New York Community Trust Leadership Fellows Mentor, and a non-profit management consultant through the Gerson Lehrman Group.
Janet Rossbach earned her master’s degree in nonprofit management from New School University and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts (art history) from Georgetown University. She invites new colleagues to get in touch at rossbacj@newpaltz.edu. Please join us in welcoming her to the SUNY New Paltz community.
