Staff Spotlight
It is not shocking that Wabash College, a Fulbright top-producing institution and the best liberal arts school in Indiana according to the U.S. & World News Report, is run by a cohort of outstanding staff. A major component of Wabash’s success is the opportunity for students to tap into the alumni network, and at an institution with the fifth best alumni network in the country according to The Princeton Review, keeping Wabash alumni plugged into the college is essential. Ron Dostal ’92 heads this mission. Dostal graduated from Wabash College degree in English and received his Masters of Business Administration from the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. After Wabash, Dostal worked at Deloitte as a consultant, where he participated in a range of roles before his retirement in 2021. He did not settle down for long.
“I was at a point after I retired from my consulting career where I wanted to be of help,” said Dostal. “Wabash has always been a guiding force in my life. When the opportunity came up, I thought it would be a great way for me to help, to dedicate myself to the college for a little while.”
The opportunity to return to Wabash as Director of Alumni and Affinity Group Engagement was largely thanks to Dean for College Advancement Michelle Janssen. After Dostal repeatedly popped in and out of the college, he seemed like the ideal alumnus to oversee the alumni engagement team.
“Ron did not know that he wanted to work with us,” said Janssen. “He retired from a long, distinguished career as a consultant. As a part of his retirement plan he wanted to reconnect at Wabash College in a significant way. He was here a lot, and then I started bumping into him all the time. I thought, ‘He would be a great leader of our alumni, parents and friends group. He just doesn’t know it yet.’ He’s very careful, thoughtful and strategic, which is why he is so great at what he does.”
Since Dostal started, he has implemented changes to the Alumni and Affinity Group Engagement team.
“In my previous career, we would say that you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Dostal. “It was important for me, when I got on the ground here, to start measuring. We put a model in place so we could measure the percentage of our alumni who are engaged, and that has been very helpful.”
Dostal has curiously considered areas that may need further development when it comes to alumni engagement. His love for the college and his professional experience have helped him implement change.
“His ability to take data and tell stories with it in ways that people can understand is a huge gift to us,” said Dean Janssen.
Assistant Director of Engagement Deanna Duncan agrees with Janssen that Dostal has run the team well, and credits him for operating with an authentic care for the college and its students.
“His work here is a labor of love in an effort to make the institution that helped make him who he is continue to be a place that changes lives,” said Duncan. “His office is an amazing display of a Wabash alumnus who genuinely loves this place.”
Clearly an influential leader, Dostal does not take what Wabash has for granted. Wabash is already a high-ranking institution as far as alumni engagement goes; however, he does not want to settle for less.
“Even though we have 40% alumni participation, which places us at top five in the country, we can still do better,” said Janssen. “Dostal can see where that drop off happens. That is what Ron has been able to articulate for our staff.”
As a part of his role, Dostal also has an engagement with students from the Center for Innovation, Business and Entrepreneurship (CIBE). Brady Redelman ’28, a CIBE Lead Consultant who works with Dostal, appreciates learning from him.
“Working with Ron has been a great experience because he gives us the freedom to develop innovative approaches,” said Redelman. “He genuinely listens to our ideas. He encourages trial and error and consistently frames work around learning and improvement rather than perfection.”
Dostal carries a proven track record of prudence and productivity. He works to ensure the college maintains solid relations with its alumni, and that comes from a personal place of respect for those who came before him.
“I was really fortunate in the time that I was here,” said Dostal. “I was president of the Delta Tau Delta house for two semesters, and during that time I worked with members of the house corporation and some other alumni. I saw that model of giving back. I think that really shaped me in terms of giving me an idea of what an involved alumnus dedicated to the college looks like.”
Looking ahead, Dostal aims to increase engagement from young alumni.
“We are trying a few intentional strategies,” said Dostal. “One of the things we have learned from all the analysis is that almost six out of ten graduates are involved in some fashion with the college. But we reach a level where it takes 10–15 years after graduation for a student to become an involved alumnus, and that suggests in those first 10–15 years there are more opportunities to keep new alumni better involved.”
Dostal plans to tailor events towards a younger alumni crowd while continuously maturing relationships with alumni of every kind. His forward-thinking yet personal approach has characterized his return to Wabash, and all signs point to that continuing.