Virginia Tech Innovation Campus names new director of admissions
Patricia “Patty” Cardenas has joined the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus as the as the new director of admissions.
With over 10 years of experience in higher education administration she brings strategic enrollment and recruitment skills to the Innovation Campus team based in Alexandria. Cardenas was previously the associate director of doctoral recruitment for Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
“We are fortunate to have Patty leading our recruitment and admissions efforts to identify strong applicants, streamline the admissions process, and yield talented and diverse classes of graduate students at the Innovation Campus,” said Lance Collins, vice president and executive director. “Enrollment will continue to be a top priority for the Innovation Campus as we look toward the opening of our first academic building in fall 2024.”
Cardenas joins an enrollment management and marketing team whose goals include recruitment and increasing enrollment of graduate students in computer science and computer engineering in Northern Virginia through the Master of Engineering program. There were more than 250 Innovation Campus graduate students enrolled in Northern Virginia this spring. That number is expected to climb for fall and would give the Innovation Campus the largest student population outside of the Blacksburg campus.
"Patty brings with her an expertise in graduate enrollment that is needed for the unique population of students we serve in Northern Virginia," said Robin Jones, assistant vice president for Innovation Campus student services. “I am excited to partner with her as we enhance the talent pipeline of graduates in computer science and computer engineering in the D.C. area.”
Throughout her career, Cardenas has instituted proactive higher education administration practices and policies that enhance recruitment, academic advising, and career counseling services for a diverse population of graduate students. She has worked to increase recruitment through engaging marketing strategy while leveraging data to enhance access to higher education. As the inaugural director of admissions for the Innovation Campus, Cardenas will lead the recruitment and admissions process for thousands of students every year.
Prior to her work at Stevens, Cardenas served as the associate director of admissions at Ross University School of Medicine in Miramar, Florida, where she was the Hispanic-serving institution liaison. In this roll, she worked to identify barriers and implement intervention strategies to increase retention and graduation rates. Cardenas also developed partnerships with top Hispanic-serving institutions and historically Black colleges and universities to enhance recruitment of underrepresented students.
Cardenas holds a Lean Six Sigma certification, an industry standard for program management that focuses on increasing quality and efficiency, which she utilizes in her work to develop an admissions staff with a shared vision and motivation. She has a master's degree in program management from Devry University's Keller Graduate School of Management and a bachelor's degree in psychology and Latin American civilization studies from Rutgers University.
Written by Elizabeth Quill ’20, MPA ’22, communications intern with Virginia Tech D.C. Area Communications and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus
