Many of you have received emails from me about various huddle rooms that you have booked on the third floor of ESC in the coming weeks. I wanted to send a more comprehensive update about these rooms as well as what options exist for small meetings and calls over the next few weeks. The following rooms will be impacted by various furniture swaps just after the dates shown below:

• Leahy (offline after February 28th)

• Cavanaugh (offline after February 28th)

• Badin (offline after February 28th)

• 3777 (offline after March 8th)

• 3778 (offline after March 8th)

• First-come first-served huddle rooms next to George West’s current office and Anne Overly’s former office (not available after February 28th)

At the upcoming Blueprint, we will be going through an updated floor plan and instructions for booking newly created huddle rooms where the vacated Annual Giving and Prospect Management offices existed. Until then, we ask that you use the following rooms on a first-come, first–served basis for small meetings and calls:

• Office #3121, Katie Kerby’s vacated office, will remain available throughout construction

• All other offices lining the Annual Giving area have furniture swaps taking place February 29th and March 1st but are available for drop-in meetings/calls starting the week of March 4th

• The two huddle rooms near the Family Room in the “Blue Room” area will remain available throughout construction

• Cavanaugh Room has furniture swaps taking place February 29th and March 1st but is available for drop-in meetings/calls starting the week of March 4th

• Badin Room has furniture swaps taking place February 29th and March 1st but is available for drop-in meetings/calls starting the week of March 4th

• The Family Room, when not in use, can be a great place to have an impromptu meeting with a colleague

And then there are still a couple of currently bookable rooms available that are ideal for smaller meetings as well, both of which will remain available throughout construction:

• Rockne Room

• Hammes Room

• Holy Cross Room

During this transition period, we understand that finding a space for a small meeting may be more difficult but we appreciate your patience as we work through this. Please reach out with any questions or concerns!

Patty Kokesh

I want to alert you of a texting data issue that impacted several assigned benefactors yesterday. We intended to send a text alerting unassigned, undergraduate alumni of their dropped/missing 2024 football ticket lottery status and the text mistakenly went to certain individuals who do qualify for the 2024 Football Ticket Lottery, some of whom are assigned. I am very disappointed by this because our team should never reach out to assigned benefactors for things of this nature. Our communication with assigned benefactors is primarily restricted to stewardship and engagement based on their level of giving (Giving Society stewardship, etc.).

Everyone who received the text incorrectly also received an apology text 20 minutes later. Our team has been responsive to all inquiries and people have been very understanding, but I wanted to share a list of assigned benefactors who were impacted in case you also wanted to reach out to them.

Here is the list of people who are impacted >

I am really sorry about this issue. Please know how committed I am to ensuring this does not happen again.

-Katie Kerby

Please help us to welcome our newest Development Coordinator, Rebecca “Bec” Grose to Regional Development.

Bec is proud to be an Adam’s High School alumna, a graduate of Ivy Tech Community College and Ross Medical Education Center. For more than ten years, Bec worked as a certified Medical Assistant providing insurance and record keeping support for SBO, South Bend Clinic and Granger Community Medicine before testing her entrepreneurial skills as the owner/operator of Above Only Childcare.

Bec is a native of South Bend. She and her husband, Danny have three adult children and love being grandparents to four grandchildren (soon to be 5!) . Her passions include serving as the leader of the women’s worship group at her church, spending time with family, reading, music/dancing/singing and enjoying the outdoors.

Bec’s first day is Monday, February 26th.

Welcome, Bec!

Deena Chamberlin

Cellular signal strength has been an issue at Eddy Street from day one because the building is a large metal box that blocks signals. Plus, the interior rooms and offices have floor-to-ceiling metal walls which further block the signal.

To improve your cellular calling experience, it is strongly recommended to enable WiFi Calling on your mobile phone. This will allow your phone to utilize the eduroam wireless (and even your home wifi if you have bad cell coverage there) and should help with all calls from your phone. Please use these instructions from the OIT on how to turn on WiFi calling for both iPhone and Android phones.

WiFi Calling Instructions

If you received an email from Development devhelp to upgrade to Windows 11, your action is required!  The upgrade can take up to 2 hours so please install the Windows upgrade on your computer at your convenience and a time that will not interfere with your work schedule prior to Friday, March 1, 2024.  

If you do not perform this upgrade by Friday, March 1, 2024 the Windows 11 upgrade will automatically be installed when you login to your computer on or after Monday, March, 4, 2024, preventing you from working until it is complete.

If performing the upgrade from home, please be sure you are connected to the VPN!

Dear UR Team,

I wanted to let you know that Sean Sharpe informed Lou, Sara, and the Executive Directors that he will step away from leading the Northwest Team and become a fundraiser in regional development.

In his own words, Sean said, “This decision comes not only with mixed emotions, but with gratitude and excitement; I have truly enjoyed being a part of and leading the Northwest region, and am thankful for the opportunity. I am eternally grateful for the dedication, hard work, and collaboration among our team and the broader UR family. Our ERD/SRD team is the best in higher education, and I am grateful to be a part of it. I am also excited to contribute in a different capacity, as I feel at this time in my journey it is the best use of my skills and experience, and the most effective way for me to serve Our Lady and drive philanthropy for Notre Dame.”

I want to acknowledge Sean for giving everything he had to lead the Northwest Team. I am inspired by his commitment to serve Notre Dame and by the courage it takes to make this call. I have great admiration for both. Sean will remain the leader of the Northwest Team until the next Senior Regional Director is selected.

Though he will be in a new role, we will count on Sean to continue to be a leader in our department. With his energy, excitement and dedication to Notre Dame, I know success will follow for him in this next role.

For the Northwest team, we will begin discussions for that next leader shortly. More details to follow.

In Notre Dame,

Jerry

Please join us in welcoming Amy Dame to Regional Development as a Development Coordinator (DC).

A graduate of Illinois State University, Amy obtained her Master’s degree from Loyola University Chicago. She has spent the past four years at Mendoza working with Graduate Students in the MBA program. Amy lives in Granger with her husband and three boys and enjoys being her childrens’ “Uber” driver and watching their various activities, from soccer to hockey to lacrosse and Vex robotics.

Fun fact: Amy lived and worked in Las Vegas for 7 years.

Amy’s first day will be Monday, February 26th.

Angie Dennig and Lori Tinkey

Colleagues,

Please be aware of a recent change to the Storytelling team. As of today, Amber Cerveny is no longer with the University. If you were working with Amber on any projects, please get in touch with me for a project transition plan.

Thank you,
Brandon Tabor

Please note that the Women Owned Business Market mentioned in today’s souNDoff is being held on Monday, March 4th, not the 14th. The corrected blurb will run again next week and read:

Women Owned Business Market
In celebration of Women’s History Month, join South Bend vendors to shop and learn more about local women-owned businesses. The event will take place Monday, March 4, from 3-7PM in the Dahnke Ballroom. 

We apologize for any confusion.

Beginning in March 2024, all content from more than 34,000 inactive Google & Box accounts will be deleted. This may affect files shared with you from those accounts.

Google Drive: Find at-risk files now

Everyone will now be able to EASILY search their Google Drive for files at risk of being deleted.

In addition, a red label will be added to all native Google Apps files owned by an account pending deletion per the Account Lifecycle Process.

You can use the new Label field in Advance Search to automatically display a list of all files shared with you that are owned by accounts pending deletion.

I am excited to announce today the promotions of Katie O’Friel and Meghan Walsh to Senior Prospect Management Consultant, joining Senior Consultant Cindy Karpovs in assuming additional responsibilities for some of our global prospect management processes, as well assisting with hiring gaps and new Consultant onboarding.

Meghan has been with the University since 2009, taking on a wide range of responsibilities, most recently in her work developing the Southern region, and serving a critical role as team liaison to the AsceND project.

Katie has been with the team since 2021, and in addition to building a strong pipeline for both the Northwest and Southwest regions, helped advance our Incoming Parents review process and took a significant leadership role in onboarding our newest Consultants.

Katie will continue to lead our Incoming Parent assignment process, while Meghan assumes UR Exec and ERD portfolio management responsibilities, all while continuing their work with the Northwest and Southern regions, respectively. Cindy, as part of this redefined role, will take on greater responsibility for training and documentation across all Consultant processes.

Please join me in congratulating Katie and Meghan, and thanking all three of our Senior Consultants for their leadership!

Sincerely,
Jonathan Retartha

UR Family,

Please join me in welcoming Carol de Lucca to the Storytelling and Engagement team as our Creative Project Manager. In this role, Carol will use a blend of her creative and tactical skills to drive and inform our projects in collaboration with partners across the University.

Before Notre Dame, Carol was the Senior Graphic Designer at Zimmer Design—an award-winning design studio—where she developed premium design and art direction and managed projects with the firm’s clients.

Carol is a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a graduate of the University of Louisville. Carol’s husband, Joao, is an assistant swim coach at Notre Dame and a former Olympic swimmer for Brazil. Carol and Joao are the proud parents of two children and a dog: Kira (4), Nina (8 months), and Lua (doggy).

Carol’s first day will be Friday, March 1st.

-Brandon Tabor

Hearty congratulations to Josh and Mary Flynt, who welcomed new baby Paul Francis Flynt on Sunday, February 11th. Mama and baby are doing great. Josh and big sister Norah are thrilled as well!

Thanks!

Joe Dietz

Congratulations to Rachel and Greg Schaefer and big sister, Caroline, on their new arrival! They welcomed Audrey Kathryn Schaefer into the world on Friday afternoon (2.16.24). From Rachel — they are overjoyed and a little under-slept!

-Patty Kokesh

The IT&S team will be out of the office on Friday, Feb 16 and Monday, Feb 19. In the event of any urgent issue, please contact Carleen Quinlan.

Dear Colleagues,

The first spring renewal mailing (renew #1) dropped in mailboxes Friday, February 9, to all our unrestricted and giving society benefactors. As a reminder, this mailing is sent to all assigned and unassigned benefactors whose annual giving is less than $25,000, asking them to renew their previous calendar year gift by their respective fund owner. This mailing is being sent to over 11,000 households and will be followed by email reminders in the weeks to come. If you have any questions regarding our renewal strategy, please reach out to the appropriate fund (Sorin, Rockne, Law, etc.) owner on the annual giving team and they can assist.

Thanks!
Annual Giving Team

Colleagues,

Please join the Leadership Events and Internal Engagment teams in offering your prayers and condolences to our friend and colleague Blake Rodman. Blake’s father passed away unexpectedly this week. Services are still pending.

Geni Holmes and Lana Taylor

UR Family,

Please join me in welcoming Justin Zimmerman to the Storytelling and Engagement team as our Director of Visual Storytelling. In this new role, Justin will provide leadership, creative direction, and strategy for all aspects of the design and video work we do in the Department of Development.

Prior to this role, Justin served for 10 years as Senior Graphic Designer for ND Creative, formerly MarComm, where he provided creative direction for University-level projects, such as onmessage.nd.edu, the HERE campaign, Notre Dame Football ticket packages, and more.

Justin is a graduate of Central Michigan University and the proud father of three children: Ryann (8), Tatum (5), and Kobe (3).

Justin’s first day will be Monday, February 12th.

-Brandon Tabor

Review these newly released professional development opportunities, including direct links that make registration easy. Courses include core programs (those the University/UR wants all colleagues to complete) like Better Conversations Every Day and Living Notre Dame Values, specialized offerings for people-leaders like ND Essentials for Managing People, and new programs like Inclusive Leadership and Managing Up.

-Learning and Leadership Development Team

Please join the Stewardship & Donor Relations team in offering your prayers and condolences to our friend and colleague Rosie McDowell, Financial Aid Stewardship Program Director. Rosie’s much-beloved father, Terry Riordan, Sr., passed away unexpectedly last week. Visitation and services will take place in South Bend on Friday, Feb. 9th and Saturday, Feb. 10th.

Obituary for Terry Riordan, Sr.

Cristi Ganyard

Dear colleagues,

I write to share the news that Katie Eckrich has made the decision to leave Notre Dame. Her last day with the University was February 1.

Katie has been a valued member of the Northwest team during her 4+ years of service to Notre Dame, engaging benefactors throughout Northern CA and Reno and bringing those constituents closer to the University. We are grateful for her service in advancing the mission of Notre Dame.

Gratefully,
Sean

Today, I have the bittersweet task of sharing the retirement of our good friend and colleague, Chris DeTrempe, who has been an integral part of Notre Dame for the past 18 years.

Chris has been a dedicated member of the Gift Planning team for 15 of those years, contributing significantly to advancing the University’s mission and building lasting relationships with those we serve. Beyond his professional achievements, Chris is known for his kindness, generosity, and willingness to share his expertise with others. He is a beloved member of our team.

As Chris embarks on this next chapter in his life with Corrine, he will be taking on a new role as the Vice President of Development for the March for Life organization, with plans to move to Florida in the coming year. His last day in office will be February 16th.

Please join me in thanking Chris for his faithful dedication to our team and benefactors.

Dear Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating Patty Herrity on her promotion to the Sr. Director of Gift and Data Management effective February 1.

Patty has been a longstanding member of the Gift Management team, serving in a variety of capacities including leading the first ever data integrity team, and, most recently, overseeing the gift operations team. She has been an integral part of our gift management operations, always pushing the team to try new things, improving our processes, and bringing levity to our team meetings. Patty, who is a 1997 graduate of Notre Dame, has been at the University for 19 years and a member of the development team for 13 years.

Reporting directly to Patty in her new role will be Meg Buysse (focusing on asceND, pledge communications, and ongoing process improvement projects), Jessica Witous (leader of gift processing and biographical updates), Alyssa Strbjak (leader of gift management communications) and the Audit and Compliance Program Director (formerly held by Colleen Bailey-Knapke prior to her transition to the Gift Planning team). The posting for the Audit and Compliance Program Director will be posted in the coming days. If you have anyone you know of who may be interested in this leadership role, please contact Beth Graybill or Patty Herrity.

In Notre Dame,
Amy Schell

Happy birthday to all our UR employees celebrating their special days in February! We hope this new year brings you lots of love!

2/2—Kim Biagini
2/3—Shelby Carroll
2/3—Katie Sphor
2/3—Alyssa Strbjak
2/4—Becky Kincaid
2/8—Davida Kozlowski
2/9—Steven Asiala
2/9—Shinnell Lee
2/10—Cat Edmonds
2/10—Jessica Reasons
2/10—Chris Russell
2/12—Aaron Wall
2/13—Christa LeeVan
2/16—Matt Abernathy
2/17—Allie Griffith
2/20—Riley Koval
2/21—Ashley Bennett
2/21—Ashley Moeller
2/21—Kara Primmer
2/23—Heather Moriconi
2/23—Anu Osinubi
2/24—Shannon Longo
2/24—Hannah Thompson
2/25—Stephanie Mead
2/27—Hilary Ott
2/27—Amy Schell
2/29—Bill Kempf