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Alum returns to SCSU as Vice President of University Advancement
 Media Credit: Jessica Tonsfeldt Jill Rudnitski returns to SCSU after 15 years as the new vice president for university advancement.
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Jill Rudnitski is celebrating her first month as vice president for university advancement today, after officially taking over the position May 20.
Rudnitski, who received her undergraduate degree from SCSU in 1982, and her master's degree in 1987, is delighted to be back at her alma mater after wrapping up a successful fundraising campaign at University of Minnesota.
"I've always remained close to SCSU," said Rudnitski. "I just kept my eyes open because I was always looking to come back here. It's just a great opportunity too come back to where you graduated from."
Originally from Annapolis, Md., Rudnitski came to St Cloud after four years in the Navy where she was a radio operator.
"Radio operators then were nothing like they are now," Rudnitski said. "They were ticker tape."
While in the Navy, Rudnitski met her husband who introduced her to Minnesota.
"He is from central Minnesota, St. Cloud area and when we got out of the Navy we visited his family and he has a very big family. I liked having so much family around so we decided to stay," Rudnitski said.
When Rudnitski started school she was interested in geography and environmental studies and was involved in the Geographic Honor Society, Gamma Theta Upsilon.
"I was a nontraditional student," Rudnitski said. "I was studying definitions while I was bouncing a baby on my knee."
Keith Ewing who works in Learning Resources and Technical Services, found his graduate assistant Rudnitski to be an aggressive and challenging student.
"I taught a class which doesn't exist now, called Business Reference or Info resources and she was in my class," Ewing said. "She was a damned hard worker and she was willing to pursue her ambitions and do the work that came with that pursuit."
Rudnitski remembers Ewing and another professor talking her out of a position as a librarian.
"When I first started graduate school I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I think they told me I lacked the temperament to be a map librarian," Rudnitski said. "They talked me into considering a different path because, really I make too much noise to be a librarian, and they were right."
Instead of working at the library, Rudnitski applied for a job at the college of St. Ben's/St. John's University.
"I did research for the development office, and that cross trained me for research and development," Rudnitski said.
After graduating Rudnitski's career took her away from St. Cloud to a variety of schools and places, including Portland, Ore.
"It is funny because we both lived in Portland for the same time and didn't even realize it," said Ewing, who kept in contact with Rudnitski after she graduated.
Ewing was one of several familiar faces Rudnitski saw when being interviewed for the vice president of university advancement position.
"I was so nervous," Rudnitski said. "I have given presentations before in front of lots of people, but these were my old professors, so it was really different. They knew me from so many years ago."
Ewing was very impressed with the interview.
"She handled herself well, very professionally. It made me feel very proud," Ewing said. "It is what every professor hopes for, to see their students and think, I had a little something to do with this, even if it is just a very little bit."
As the new vice president for university advancement, Rudnitski has a lot of new responsibilities. She works with three areas: development that entails fundraising, the alumni association, that keeps people connected after graduation and marketing and communications.
"I play a key role in the leadership team," Rudnitski said. "We basically get together and decide where the university is going and how to get there. We decide what needs to be communicated about St. Cloud, and ask, what are the school's priorities."
According to Rudnitski, the list of priorities is worth about $90 million and has to be narrowed down to about $20 million after meeting with each Dean. The list then has to be taken to the Foundation board that then puts together a fundraising campaign.
"It usually takes about a year to develop the campaign," Rudnitski said.
Rudnitski hopes to bring "a lot of money" to SCSU during her time as the vice president of university advancement.
"The campaign will be a good first step, but we also need to remind people what is good about St. Cloud, and to get the community behind us because the way to growth is through private support," Rudnitski said.
After completing a successful five-year, $1.3 billion campaign at the University of Minnesota, Rudnitski said she wanted to come back and do that for her own school and she won't leave before she reaches her goals.
"I have high expectations for her, but not as high as the ones she has for herself," Ewing said. "If success is meeting the expectations of the university, I know she will be successful."
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