It is with great excitement I announce that I have accepted the position of Associate Vice President for Marketing Communications at Ithaca College. I am joining a staff of extremely talented, creative, passionate individuals and will lead the Marketing Communications office to help set priorities for our efforts that align with the College’s strategic direction. We’re about to kick off a brand identity initiative, which many of you know I’ve been integral with in my current position at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Leaving New Paltz will be bittersweet. I started as an undergraduate transfer student at New Paltz in August 1996, and have been there ever since. I began as an intern in the marketing office in the Campus Auxiliary Services company at New Paltz, did a bit of freelancing to develop many department’s very first Web sites, and then was hired as the College’s first full-time Web professional right after graduation in May 1998. A couple years later I was promoted to Web Coordinator, and then five years later to Director of Web Communication & Strategic Projects. I’ve grown the College’s site from approximately 10 pages to more than 25,000, and have hired two full-time Web Developers to assist with the College’s Web services.

In February 2006 I opened the College’s first Welcome Center, and have continued daily oversight and management of the staff and the Center. I’ve implemented the OmniUpdate Content Management System, two different mass notification systems for emergency alerts, led the College’s social media activity, and have served as an active member of the President’s Brand Marketing Taskforce, and the Emergency Rseponse Team. Last summer I was named Team Lead for the Creative Services Team, which includes the 10 staff members from the Office of Communication & Marketing (media relations, Web services, design services, print services, video services) and Arts Services. In December, I earned my MBA in marketing and management from New Paltz.

My last day at New Paltz will be Friday, June 25 and will begin my new position at Ithaca College on Monday, July 12.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” (Closing Time, Semisonic.)

I started graduate school with the hope that I could bring greater value to my current position, and someday advance my career in the field of marketing and communication in higher ed. After three and a half years, I earned my MBA in marketing and management in December.

In November 2008, I met some amazing people at the Stamats SIM Tech Conference, and those connections have been instrumental in much of what I’ve been able to accomplish since. I joined the .eduGuru blogging staff in December 2008, which gave me the opportunity to start blogging for the first time, make some wonderful connections, and became one of the primary forces thrusting me into a whirlwind of conference presentations in 2009.

As is customary for a big life event, such as earning an MBA, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what comes next. While I have lots of ideas, the first decision I’ve made is to focus on starting my own consulting business on the side, including my outpost here at RachelReuben.com. While I’ve greatly enjoyed and appreciated the outlet of doteduguru.com, I don’t believe in doing anything less than my best at anything (you can ask my friends on Twitter who read about my many travails with my final class last semester). The .eduGuru team are a great group of colleagues and friends who I have a great deal of respect for, and wish nothing but the best to.

I hope you’re not thinking, “oh gosh, not another blog to follow.” I don’t think you should expect much volume from me. I plan to spend the majority of my nights and weekends on my clients and our projects. I want to sharpen my saw and make sure my posts deliver value to the community, and it is important to me that each of them continue to build your trust and confidence.

I welcome your input and feedback and hope you’ll continue to stick around to see what unfolds. This is not goodbye, it’s see you around. The Web makes the world a smaller place, so I’ll still be in contact with so many fascinating minds and ideas … but can do so in a way that fits better with my new direction in life.