As part of Cornell's ongoing effort to improve the admissions process and financial aid programs, Provost Don Randel has announced several administrative changes.
Under the restructuring, aimed at enhancing the university's coordinated effort in recruitment and enrollment management, the responsibility for admissions and for financial aid will be separated and placed under two deans. Donald A. Saleh, currently dean of admissions and financial aid, will become dean of financial aid. A nationwide search will be mounted to fill the new position of dean of admissions and enrollment.
Saleh and Susan H. Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, will work closely with Randel throughout the search. Randel said he hopes to fill the position by next fall.
Randel said that over the past years, efforts have been made to make the admissions process more streamlined and coordinated across the seven undergraduate schools and colleges. Changes include:
But, he said, more remains to be done to focus and coordinate admissions efforts.
At the same time, Randel said, "the university's trustees have affirmed a continuing and strengthened commitment to a financial aid policy that guarantees access to a Cornell education for a diverse student body."
And in October President Hunter Rawlings announced a $200 million scholarship endowment campaign to provide the financial resources necessary to support the financial aid policy into the future.
With the restructuring, Saleh will be able to devote more focused attention on financial aid.
"We are fortunate to have in Don Saleh, one of the nation's leading experts on financial aid," Randel said. "Because the success of our financial aid program is now of such critical importance, I have asked him to devote the major part of his energies to this. In this role he will ensure that we make the best possible use of our resources, help to secure the gifts that will make the campaign successful, guide the Cornell Commitment scholarship programs and lead Cornell in the development of financial-aid policies and practices that are designed to ensure our continuing leadership in this area."
Saleh also will take the lead in the design and implementation of a new student service center. This will be a model for delivering student services across several functions such as financial aid, the bursar, the registrar and other offices with which students must regularly conduct business.
"Students deserve the most efficient and most effective attention we can give them," Saleh said. "The goal of this new student information system is to allow students to focus more fully on their primary mission at Cornell, the undergraduate experience and the pursuit of academic achievement."
The new dean of admissions and enrollment "will lead the coordinated effort in recruitment and enrollment management embracing all of the undergraduate schools and colleges," Randel said. "This effort must support the academic objectives of the schools and colleges and preserve for each its unique profile and responsibilities. But it also must strengthen the university as a whole in forcefully presenting Cornell to the public as an institution at which talented young people can receive an undergraduate education second to none, regardless of which college or school they choose to enter here."
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