By Emily Yaghmour

Three months ago, Chris Clark-Talley and her husband packed their belongings, left their home in sunny California, and set out for Virginia with their two small children. Today, Clark-Talley is the new associate director of Alumni Affairs at George Mason.

Clark-Talley, who received her bachelor's degree from James Madison University and her master's degree from the University of South Carolina at Columbia, says California never did feel quite like home. For six years, she and her husband (who is a native of North Carolina) looked for an opportunity to move back east. Then a few months ago, her husband accepted a job with Motorola, and they got their chance.

For the past seven years, Clark-Talley worked as assistant director of the career center at San Jose State, a university very similar to George Mason in that many of its students work full time and commute to campus. Because of her experience in a similar environment, she says George Mason was a natural target in her job search. She had visited Mason a couple of years ago and was impressed with what she saw.

"So I just started looking at any opportunities that I thought were in my realm of experience," says Clark-Talley. "I was here doing an information interview with Pat Carretta [director of Career Services] on the day of the deadline for this position." When Carretta told her about the opening, she rushed home and faxed a cover letter and resume to Alumni Affairs. "A perfect example of being in the right place at the right time," she says, smiling.

One of her responsibilities as associate director is to continue to develop Mason alumni chapters across the United States and to maintain relationships with those that already exist. She is also responsible for organizing special events for Alumni Affairs. Right now, she is planning for the awards and scholarships banquet in April and the Gold Cup event later this spring, at which Alumni Affairs sponsors a hospitality tent.

A new initiative in Alumni Affairs is to cultivate a sense of belonging among students from the same class, says Clark-Talley. To help create this sense of belonging among students, she will organize an annual event for each of the four classes--freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. She believes that an annual event for each class will help students develop a connection with the university that endures after they graduate. Part of the purpose for Alumni Affairs is to forge a lifelong relationship between students and the university, notes Clark-Talley. Often, students graduate with the idea that they have no reason to stay connected with their alma mater. It can be a real challenge to combat this, she says.

George Mason can continue to be a valuable resource to students long after they leave--the university can assist alumni in networking for jobs, and the alumni can continue to be involved in university life by allowing Mason students to interview them about their jobs.

Alumni also can assist in other ways, such as volunteering to interview admissions applicants, she says.

One of Clark-Talley's outside interests is bluegrass music, and, for the past two years, she has been learning to play the man dolin. "It sounds nutty--coming from California," she admits, but she says there's actually a strong bluegrass community in Northern California. She also enjoys skiing and camping. "We love to just pack up the car, put the tent in the back, and go to a state or national park, just to be outdoors."

Clark-Talley says she's delighted to be at Mason. "I felt very comfortable here instantly . . . . This is the right environment at the right time, and I feel really fortunate that we have made this massive move, and things have just fallen into place so beautifully," she says. "I feel like I need to go and do something really nice for someone else."