Pratt Community College has found a new Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations from within the PCC family. Kurt McAfee, currently the PCC Athletic Director, was selected and accepted the new position within the Administrative team and will begin his transition into the new role in the coming weeks. The Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations, formerly known as the Foundation Director, is responsible for planning and executing fundraising events and opportunities as well as managing new and existing PCC alumni relations to better serve the college’s needs and overall student success. This position reports directly to the president of the college, Dr. Michael Calvert and serves as a professional advisor to the Pratt Community College Foundation Board of Directors.
“This position was previously a director level position,” said Calvert. “It is now a cabinet level position which will serve as a better way to communicate between the administration and the Foundation board.
McAfee is excited to transition into the new role and enthusiastic about getting to reconnect with PCC alumni. One of McAfee’s initial goals will be to rebuild the PCC alumni database, engage with them, and help to reconnect them to the experiences they had while at Pratt.
“I went to PCC and am thankful for the foundation that was paved for me while I was here and I want to remind our alumni where they got started and how PCC began their path to success,” said McAfee. “We have a lot of disconnected alumni throughout the state, especially in Wichita, that I want to connect with and build a relationship with.”
Plans to establish an Alumni newsletter, enhance the annual fundraising auction by bringing in more alumni support, and raise money for more scholarship opportunities for students are also high on the list of priorities for McAfee and Calvert.
“I just have to believe that there are people out there that are willing to help and be a part of PCC again and my goal is to create an avenue for them to be able to give back,” said McAfee. Calvert is enthusiastic about having McAfee enter into this role and believes that he is the best person for the job.
“Who better than Kurt to tell the PCC story,” said Calvert. “Being a Pratt native, he went to PCC and played baseball here, he went off and ventured into the world and came back to Pratt. He has reestablished his roots and connections. He’s the living embodiment of the PCC student.”
McAfee began his collegiate career at Pratt Community College and went on to Wichita State University to receive his bachelor’s degree. He began working at the Wichita Sports Commission until 2004 when he began working as the Director of Marketing Projects at Wichita State University. McAfee came back to Pratt to work at PCC in June of 2006 as Athletic Director. Since that time as AD he has successfully raised $385,000 in developing new sports programs and upgrading athletic facilities, re-establishing the Beaver Backer Club (an athletic fundraising organization), chaired academic enhancements and initiatives to grow student athlete grade point averages, as well as overseeing all athletic operations and coaching staff.
The search for a new a new Athletic Director is currently underway. The job was posted to the PCC web-site on Nov. 10. Internal and external candidates are encouraged to apply for the position and inter-views will be conducted as potential applicants are submitted to an internal search committee. Interested persons can review the job responsibilities for Athletic Director at on the PCC employment page and can submit their application and required documents from there.
