Back to development for Bookout

A long-time Troy staff member and administrator will step into a new role starting this semester.

Alicia Bookout, who most recently acted as the associate vice chancellor for financial aid, is taking on a new role as the interim vice chancellor of development and alumni affairs. The change comes at Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr’s direct request – one that Bookout was proud to receive.

“It means a great deal to be trusted with [serving in this position],” Bookout said. “Being asked to step into this role by someone I respect so much made the decision an easy one – I'm grateful for the confidence he's placed in me.”

That confidence comes as a result of Bookout’s 22-year-long career at Troy University so far. Beginning in June 2004, she started her career with a two-year stint as director of annual giving and special projects, followed by three years in development and annual giving for the department of athletics and another three years after that as the assistant athletics director for external relations.

Then, in 2012, Bookout left development and turned her career focus to enrollment. For nine years, she acted as the director of the Florida/Texas district, working specifically with military and non-traditional students.

“That’s work that's close to my heart given Troy's deep ties to military communities,” Bookout said.

In 2021, she stepped up into the position of senior director of enrollment services over out-of-state operations and military/veterans affairs, and then into associate vice chancellor for financial aid the following year. She held that position for four years, until recently becoming interim vice chancellor of development and alumni affairs, making her return to the development side of Troy’s administration.

“The biggest change is scope,” Bookout said. “In financial aid, my focus has been on serving current students and their families; now I'm turning back toward our alumni and donor family — the people who've already walked across the stage and who care enough about Troy to want to stay connected and give back.”

She saidthat her heart has always been in the world of development, but she wouldn’t trade anything for the experience she gained in enrollment.

“I understand how the pieces of this university fit together now in a way I simply didn't as a young development officer, and I'm looking forward to putting that to use,” Bookout said.

Now that the position is hers, Bookout already has her eyes on what she hopes to achieve for the future of Troy’s alumni and fundraising operations.

“At the heart of it, I want to strengthen the connection between our alumni and the university they graduated from – growing alumni engagement in real, meaningful ways, not just around Homecoming, but year-round,” Bookout said. “On the fundraising side, I want to build on the momentum already in place and help expand support for scholarships, programs and the things that make a Troy education possible for the next generation of students, much the way generous alumni made it possible for those who came before them.”

Even after 22 years working for the university, Bookout’s passion for the Troy community – past, present and future – hasn't wavered. She says it’s the students, faculty and staff that have prevented her from wanting to go anywhere else.

“In more than two decades here, across five very different roles, the one constant has been how much the people at Troy genuinely care about the students, about each other and about this University's mission,” Bookout said. “That's not something you find everywhere, and it's not something I take for granted.

“I've stayed because Troy feels less like an employer and more like family.”

As Troy University begins a new semester and a new freshman class is starting a brand-new stage of life, Bookout is starting a new stage of her professional career – one which is not coming to an end anytime soon