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Rollins welcomes new VP

Rollins College has recently named Dr. Faye Tydlaska as its next Vice President of Enrollment Management. This position leads undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and institution-wide marketing and communications initiatives. The VP of Enrollment Management also works closely with the president to facilitate community-wide efforts. There are many qualities that someone who leads a college’s enrollment will need, including understanding what Rollins seeks to do with its education.

“A broad understanding of the impact and value of a liberal arts education and a comprehensive knowledge of national trends will build upon the college’s reputation and culture of retention. Faye possesses these qualities along with effective communication skills and the ability to balance the ‘high-tech and high-touch’ attributes needed,” said Steve Booker, who served as the Interim Dean of Enrollment Management during the search period. “In addition, extensive experience in enrollment leadership with the proven ability to complete the enrollment lifecycle.”

Tydlaska will come to Rollins at the end of this semester from Tulane University, where she served as Director of Undergraduate Admission and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management.

“I’ve been a passionate student of enrollment management for the past ten years and have followed closely and participated in the national conversations about how technology and the economy and demographic shifts are challenging higher education in dramatic ways,” said Tydlaska. “I believe I can bring a unique set of experiences that will prove valuable in recruiting, selecting, and graduating future Rollins students and alumni and in helping to tell the Rollins story on a national and international stage.”

Tydlaska is also a strong proponent of the liberal arts education. She got her Bachelor’s Degree in English from Loyola University in 2000, before going on to get her Doctoral Degree from Tulane University in American Literature in 2006.

“I am a product of a strong liberal arts education, and I strongly believe that a well-rounded education across a number of disciplines truly prepares students for not only their careers but for living real lives of purpose,” said Tydlaska.

Tulane’s undergraduate program is much larger than Rollins. According to their website, they welcomed over 1,600 students for this year’s freshman class. This contrasts with Rollins, who had 496 students arrive on campus at the beginning of this semester.

“We offered admission to just under 3,000 students bringing our acceptance rate to 60 percent,” said Booker.

Last year saw the second largest entering class in the institution’s history, and the Admissions Department forecasted a smaller freshman class for this year. In previous years, the class sizes have varied from 480 students to 510. Within the next year, President Grant Cornwell will be having meetings to determine what class size the college should aim for in future years and what their enrollment and admissions goals should be.

Cornwell is pleased with the number of students that we have right now. He commented that, “I don’t think that bigger is better. . . . I think that in terms of the overall student population, we’re right about where we want to be.”

He continued saying that Rollins does need to diversify more, something he hopes will happen under Tydalska’s leadership.

“We need to have a market presence in places where we don’t right now. I also think that we need to become more diverse in ways that we’re not right now. I hope that we can become more global and international; I hope we can have more students that represent U.S. diversity,” said President Cornwell.

“So we really are looking for a leader who can help work with me, really, to develop a strategy for how to move our admissions into new directions, and we found that person.”

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