Lydia Aleman serves the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) as the Executive Director of University Advancement.

Prior to this role, Ms. Aleman served as director of Development and Endowment Services, is responsible for endowment compliance and gift administration and works closely with the UTPA Foundation. She joined the staff of the Office of Institutional Advancement, now known as the Division of External Affairs, in May 1994. She came to UTPA from CoSTEP and banking, where she held positions in accounting, loan servicing and customer relations.

She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in accounting in 1987 and later returned to earn her Master of Business Administration degree.

Ms. Aleman has over 13 years experience with UTPA's development office and over 18 years experience in non-profit accounting, donor advancement and development.

Prior Positions Held:                   

Director of Development, Division of External Affairs , UTPA

Provide leadership, management, support, and direction to the University Development Office and its various components such as Career Placement Services, Alumni Relations, Planned Giving, Endowment Services and the UTPA Foundation.

In the Development Office, I work closely with the vice president and the entire team to cultivate and steward current and prospective private donors; define the goal and objectives of the development office to ensure the University’s mission is met and to advance support for the university; served as manager of the development, alumni relations and career placement services budgets to ensure proper financial administration.    

For the UTPA Foundation, I provide support to the UTPA Foundation Board of Trustees and manage the overall daily operations of the Foundation. Responsible for, but not limited too, management of foundation assets, endowments, board relations, and financial audits.  Serve as a first point of contact for several of the Foundation standing committees such as Executive, Budget, Investment and the Fundraising Committee. 

Provide ongoing support to the Vice President for External Affairs in the areas of UTPA Foundation Board Development, assisted with communication with UT System Offices and UTPA’s Executive Team on numerous matters relating to development efforts, the foundation, and fundraising efforts.

Director of Development and Endowment Services, Division of External Affairs, UTPA

Provide leadership, management, support, and direction to the University Development Office and its various units, Gift Services, Planned Giving, Alumni Relations and Annual Giving; cultivated and stewarded endowment gifts, responsible for donor relations, garnered support for the advancement of UTPA.   Also responsible for the administration and management of gift services. In this role, I raised large amounts of funding for endowment support primarily for student scholarships and I Created established automated systems in gift processing, reporting, database management of donor records, financial statement preparation, etc.  

Responsible for the leadership of the Endowment Compliance Program which requires the coordination and implementation of the University’s Endowment Compliance Plan. The Endowment Compliance Plan is comprised of four (4) basic components:  annual risk assessment of endowments; training of faculty and staff regarding endowment compliance; ongoing endowment compliance and monitoring; reporting.

Provided ongoing support to the Vice President for External Affairs in the areas of UTPA Foundation Board Development, provided assistance in communicating information to executive management at UTPA and with marketing materials relating to development efforts. 

Accountant II, Division of Institutional Advancement, UTPA                    

Responsible for management of The University of Texas-Pan American Foundation accounting records and the presentation of the same to the Foundation Board. Prepared and maintain financial records, ledgers, statements and reports to the board of trustees, university administration and stakeholders of the foundation. Reviewed expenditures, monitored and accounted for investments, reconciled various accounts to ensure for accuracy and appropriateness, and managed the general ledger and endowment assets. Responsible for the preparation and responses of reviews and financial audits of the foundation by independent auditors.  

Director of Finance, City of Alamo

Responsible for the management and directing the maintenance of a central accounting and financial management system for the City; maintain the accounting of various governmental funds, account groups with state, local and federal grants; responsible for the preparation and presentation of Balance sheets and Financial Statements to the Board of Commissioners and other parties, responsible for the reconciliation of the bank accounts; responsible for ensuring the general ledger and the bank accounts were balanced; responsible for the city audit and prepared schedules for the auditors, served as liaison for the City and the independent auditors; responsible for ensuring strict compliance with restricted funds rules and regulations; responsible for creating the adequate checks and balances of accounting controls were in place; responsible for the automation of the city service billing process so that it would interface with the general ledgers, responsible for the supervision and training of a accounting and finance staff; responsible for payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivables, prepared and monitored city budget along with the Mayor.

Manager of Accounting, The Council for South Texas Economic Progress

Responsible for fund accounting of seven general ledgers and accounting records; responsible for the supervision and training of an accounting staff of fifteen,  responsible for the accounting of numerous loan portfolios and over 65 funds and bank accounts, responsible for the daily and monthly reconciliations of bank  statements, responsible for the compilation of monthly consolidated financial statements, responsible for the preparation and submission of maintenance and operating fund request; responsible for the submission of quarterly billings to the federal government; responsible for the preparation of auditor’s schedules and supporting documents; responsible for preparation and posting to the general ledger; responsible for maintaining.

Education

·        Master of Business Administration, UT – Pan American                                 1999

·        BBA Accounting,  UT - Pan American                                                             1987  

Institutional Committees 

·        Budget Committee – The University of Texas-Pan American Foundation,  Committee Member                                                                         2001-present

·        UTPA Endowment Compliance Committee – The University of Texas-Pan American, Chair of the Committee                                                 2000-present

·        UTPA Strategic Planning Committee – The University of Texas-Pan American,  Vice Chair  and  Committee Member                                    2001-2004