UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls

Chancellor’s Academic Staff and Limited Appointee Excellence Awards

2011 - Dan McGinty

McGinty_Dan 

Dan McGinty has been selected for the Regents Academic Staff Excellence Award. Dan has been an employee at UW-River Falls for the past 28 years. He received both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in education from UW-River Falls.

In his career, Dan has worked as an admission's counselor and assistant men's basketball coach, as a counselor in the Financial Assistance office, as the coordinator of scholarships, and accepted a position in the University Advancement office in 1988, and still continues in this capacity today. Dan transitioned out of the coaching field in 1992 to work full-time in the Advancement Office.

Dan has had the opportunity to participate and witness significant growth to the Advancement Office and UW-River Falls Foundation during his career. Dan has been a part of the team that has see the growth of University Advancement from total assets of $1,000,000 in 1988 to excess of $16,000,000 today.

Besides his duties as serving as the director of Alumni Relations and Development, Dan has also served as the interim executive director of the University Advancement office and president of the UW-River Falls Foundation. This position has had its challenges as one would expect, but was also a very rewarding and worthwhile experience, according to Dan. The university was very fortunate to have two of our highest fundraising years on record while Dan served in this capacity. 

In Dan's current position in Alumni Relations, it is his responsibility to connect and engage the university's 40,000+ alumni in the life of our institution. Each year, UWRF average between 40-50 alumni events locally, regionally, and nationally, provides opportunities for alumni to serve on advisory boards, guest speakers, career mentors, produce a wide variety of external communications including two print copies of our alumni magazine, bi-monthly alumni electronic newsletters, electronic alumni invitations and special news announcements, and provide opportunities to acclimate and engage our current students about alumni relations and the importance of philanthropy.  

Dan has been a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) since 1988. He has presented at four CASE District V Conferences on topics related to alumni relations and have served as either a moderator or volunteer at numerous CASE conferences. Most recently, Dan has been invited to be a guest speaker at the Mid-America Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel 37th Annual Trio Conference. Dan has been an active participant in the UW System Alumni Director's Council and have participated in a wide variety of community service projects including Relay for Life, River Falls Day's celebrations, United Cerebral Palsy campaigns, River Falls Youth Basketball Association programs, and River Falls Chamber of Commerce activities.