New Interim VP for Enrollment Announced

Kathleen Davis, Interim Director of Admissions

Kathleen Davis, Interim Director of Admissions

In an email sent to the SLU community earlier this month, President Fred Pestello introduced Kathleen Davis as the Interim Vice President for Enrollment and Retention Management (ERM). Davis was hired in the place of Jay W. Goff, who began as VP of the department in August 2011. There have been no announcements from SLU regarding the reason for replacing Goff yet.

Pestello stated that there was no time to select someone permanently as the VP for the ERM as it takes many months to begin the process, with steps that include forming a search committee, creating a job description, advertising the position, building the candidate pool, going through the vetting process and ultimately, selecting a person for such a position.

Previously Davis worked at Canisius College, located in Buffalo, N.Y., which is also a Jesuit school, as the VP for Enrollment Management for four years. There she worked to implement policies that would guarantee the delivery of good financial aid for the college’s students as well as attract
students that would uphold the college’s ideals. She was also involved in hiring and training individuals and worked to create an efficient and effective team.

According to Pestello’s announcement to the SLU community, Davis “believes that transparent information sharing and a collective approach” is important to achieving the best results when it comes to attracting students to recruit. At Canisius College she met regularly with deans, faculty, staff, students and others in order to achieve this, according to Pestello.

Before she began work at Canisius College, Davis held several positions relating to admissions at colleges, including St. Joseph’s College, St John’s University and Clarkson University. Davis is also currently working as a North American Enrollment Advisor for the Global Student Recruitment Advisors, located in New Jersey, which works with universities to help provide solutions to assist in recruiting international students. She is also a member of several organizations relating to college admissions and has received a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University.

Pestello has said that, as the University is in the process of recruiting students for Fall 2019, “It is imperative to appoint an enrollment professional who will provide a fresh perspective, has experience leading an enrollment division and whose strengths suit the needs of our campus and the culture of our ERM team”. In addition, Pestello has stated that they found “an experienced, creative and collaborative interim VP” in Davis.

SLU’s Division of Enrollment and Retention Management is tasked with working together with the various departments in the University to attract and retain students who are dedicated to changing the world and exemplifying SLU’s mission.The ERM also supports the Strategic Enrollment Management plan, which works to integrate University ideals and its mission into recruitment – including diversity and academic success in the freshman class.