Wanda Dean named assistant vice president for enrollment and degree management
Wanda Hankins Dean, university registrar and chief transfer officer, has been named assistant vice president for enrollment and degree management at Virginia Tech, effective July 1, 2011.
“I cannot think of a more qualified individual than Wanda Dean who brings a broad spectrum of Virginia Tech experience, which spans more than 30 years in the Office of the University Registrar, to lead the Enrollment and Degree Management unit,” said Daniel Wubah, vice president and dean for undergraduate education at Virginia Tech. “She has gained and earned the respect of all her colleagues, and her commitment to the integrity of enrollment management is unmatched.”
Dean will oversee the newly created Enrollment and Degree Management unit, while retaining her role as the University Registrar and Chief Transfer Officer. The departments reporting to Dean include: Office of University Registrar, Undergraduate Admissions, University Scholarships and Financial Aid, Office of University Summer Sessions, and Office of Degree Management, formerly known as the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools (SACS) Accreditation Office.
The organizational changes in the Division of Undergraduate Education result from an external evaluation of the university’s enrollment management operations, policies, and practices conducted by Louis Hunt, vice provost for enrollment management and registrar at North Carolina State University, during the past academic year. Hunt’s evaluation comprised meetings with key stakeholders, including staff members in the departments that handle enrollment management, associate deans of the colleges, associate dean of the Graduate School, student affairs representatives, and the provost.
Dean, who earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech, says “opening the dialogue” will play a key role in fostering synergy amongst the five units. “My most important first step will be bringing all the constituents together to listen to one another, to learn, and to understand our decision making.”
Some of the early initiatives emerging from the Enrollment and Degree Management unit include the formation of an enrollment management planning committee and a scholarships and financial aid advisory group. “In each case, enhanced communication will aid in making our efforts transparent as well as providing an avenue for expert assistance and alliance with our partners in the colleges and departments,” noted Dean. “It is critical we determine our current capacity to respond to specific demand majors, to the challenge of response to new and to current students, to capacity constraints, and to the reality of resource allocation in our current budget climate.
Dean said she also looks forward to implementing a strategic enrollment management approach through the framework of the student “life cycle,” which begins with recruitment and continues through the various stages of a student’s journey, including admission, scholarships and financial aid, enrollment, retention, graduation, and conclusion with joining the ranks of alumni.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
