Whitney Fordham has joined the University Relations team at UFV in the role of Manager, Alumni Relations. This is a term appointment until January of 2016. Fordham replaces Nancy Armitage, who left UFV to take the position of Director of Alumni Relations at BCIT.
“I am very pleased to welcome Whitney to the University Relations team 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 energy to the role.”
Fordham has worked at UFV since 2008. She has held several roles over this time, 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.
Fordham is also a UFV alumna, which will serve her very well in her new role. 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 UVic, expecting to complete in 2016.
She is very excited about her new 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.”
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.
She is married and lives with her husband Peter Skrzyniarz, who is also a UFV alumnus (BBA ’04) and their two dogs in Chilliwack, where she grew up. Active in her community, Fordham has fundraised for the Canadian Cancer Society, is past president of the Chilliwack 4-H Dog Club, and has volunteered for the Abbotsford Food Bank and the SPCA. 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.