Office of Institutional Advancement Staff

 
  

 

Vice President for Institutional Advancement
618-537-6826

   
       

 

Scott Billhartz
Director of Advancement Services
618-537-6869
 
Scott is a 1985 graduate of McKendree College with a B.A. in mathematics and computer science. Following graduation, Scott worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone in St. Louis, Missouri for 13 years in corporate books and financial accounting.. While working at Southwestern Bell, he received an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville in 1988. In 1998, Scott moved on to Illinois-American Water Company in Belleville, Illinois where he was the Director of Information Technology for three years. 
 
In April of 2001, Scott returned to McKendree in his current position as Director of Advancement Services. His primary responsibilities include database administration of the Institutional Advancement computer system (Raiser’s Edge), endowed scholarship stewardship, prospect research, estate gift management and planned giving.
 
Scott is a member of McKendree’s Technology Advisory Committee and was inducted into McKendree’s Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi in April of 2007. He and his wife, Meg, reside in New Baden with their two daughters.
 
 

 

       
 
Administrative Assistant to the V.P. of Institutional Advancement
618-537-6443
 
Beth joined the Office of Institutional Advancement in January 2004. Her responsibilities include clerical support to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement along with managing daily responsibilities of the office. Before arriving at McKendree, Beth worked as an administrative assistant for an engineering and manufacturing company.
 
Beth and her husband, Jeff, reside in Smithton and have two children, Jeremy and Kari.
   
       
 
Director of Alumni Relations
618-537-6813
 
Jeff Campbell, Class of 1987, joined the staff in July, 2005.  His primary responsibilities include the development of the alumni program and publications, alumni board, homecoming activities and advisor of the yearbook.  He is also an Associate Faculty member, teaching Business courses in the AiM program at McKendree.  He has volunteer recruitment and management experience having served 11 years as the Director of Volunteers for the St. Louis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from McKendree and a Master of Public Administration degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.  He is also the Choir Director at the Trenton, Illinois First United Methodist Church.
 
To view the Alumni page click here.
   
       
 
Director of Development 
618-537-6456
 
 
Sarah graduated from Boston University in 1992 with a BA in Art History and in 1996 received an AAS in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University.  While cooking in fine dining restaurants in San Francisco, Sarah began volunteering for non-profit organizations and decided to leave the culinary world for a career in fundraising.  She worked in the development department of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Art Institute, was the founding development director for Alice Water's Chez Panisse Foundation and the director of the San Francisco office for Human Rights Watch.
 
Sarah was hired as the Director of Development for McKendree University in July 2008.  Her primary responsibilities include implementing and updating the development plan for the university and cultivation and solicitation of major donors and prospects.
 
Sarah's husband, Peter, is the director of The Hettenhausen Center for the Arts.  They live in Lebanon and have two children, Charles and Tessa.
 
 
To view the Major Gifts page click here.
     

 
 
   
       
 
Chaplain / Director of Church Relations
618-537-6962
 
 
 
Tim graduated from Bethany College in May of 1984. After four years teaching special education in the public schools, he entered Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Tim then graduated in May of 1990 with a Masters of Divinity. Following seminary, Tim spent a year studying in Germany. He served various United Methodist Churches as pastor-in-charge and as an associate during the years 1991-1992 and 1995-1998. In between, Tim served at Reinhardt College, a United Methodist institution, as an associate minister and campus minister from 1992-1995. In May of 2007, Tim graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. with a Doctorate of Ministry degree in the Campus Ministry tract.
 
In 1998, Tim came to McKendree to serve as Chaplain and Director of Church Relations. He is responsible for religious life programming on campus and continued development of relations with churches and religious bodies in the region. 
 
Tim is married to Danielle and resides in Lebanon. He has three children, Elana, Lukas, and Alexander. To view the McKendree Campus Ministries page click here.
   
       
 
Sean Taylor
Coordinator of Gift Entry  
618-537-6820
 
 

Sean graduated from Blackburn College in December 2007 with a B.A. in Business Management and Marketing.  During his years at Blackburn, Sean worked in the Alumni Development Office.  Some of his duties included: recording of gifts and maintenance of the college gift database; generation of gift receipts and follow-up correspondence; supervised stewardship process of thank you notes from students to endowment donors; and, the research and compilation of a comprehensive list of all college scholarships. 

 
Sean joined the Office of Institutional Advancement on January 2, 2008.  His primary responsibilities include receipting all gifts to McKendree University, managing the alumni database and extracting data for mailing lists and various in-house reports.
 
 
   
       
 
Annual Fund Coordinator
618-537-6500
 
Lauren is a 2008 graduate of McKendree University.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and Organizational Communication with a Marketing and Sales Emphasis.  After McKendree, Lauren was accepted into the Graduate Public Service Intern program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.  She served as an intern in the Resource Center at the Illinois Division of Child Support Enforcement.  She will complete her Master of Public Administration with a Certificate of Nonprofit Management in May of 2010.

Lauren returned to McKendree in November of 2009 as the Annual Fund Coordinator.  Her primary responsibilities include raising and sustaining the institution's annual fund through programs such as the William McKendree Society, the Cornerstone Circle, phone-a-thons and the Senior Class Gift Drive.  She also oversees the Student Advancement Organization.  
For more information about the McKendree University Annual Fund, please click here.

   
 

 

Development Officer  
618-537-6823
 
 

Upon completing her degree at the University of Illinois in 1998, Jeanine worked in the parks and recreation and newspaper industries before joining Kumon Math and Reading Centers in 2000 as its Midwest Marketing and PR Coordinator.  In 2003 she began her career in development in Colorado with a hospice organization, then served as the development coordinator for the College of Engineering at Colorado State University.   

 
With a great desire to come back to the midwest, she turned to McKendree and acquired the position of Development Officer in September 2008.  Her primary responsibilities are to build relationships with alumni and friends of the University and educate individuals on the University's philanthropic needs.
Jeanine resides outside Lebanon and looks forward to becoming more acquainted with southern Illinois and St. Louis, especially as a volunteer.
   
 

McKendree University
Office of Institutional Advancement
701 College Road
Lebanon, Illinois 62254
618-537-6826