Chancellor Kent Syverud Appoints Search Committee for Senior Vice President of Enrollment and the Student Experience

Chancellor Kent Syverud today announced the members of the search committee for the next senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience. The senior vice president oversees the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience, which works collaboratively across the University community to deliver an individualized experience that develops the whole student.

The selected candidate will succeed M. Dolan Evanovich, who retired in June. The University has engaged the firm of Witt Keiffer for the search, which is expected to be completed in May and the position filled in summer 2021.

In the interim, the division is led by Robert D. Hradsky, Ed.D., vice president for the student experience; Ryan Williams, vice president of enrollment services; and Brittany Zaehringer, senior associate vice president of operations and strategic initiatives.

“This search committee, composed of key stakeholders in our university community, will conduct this national search to find the next leader of the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience,” says Chancellor Syverud. “This leader will partner with other campus leaders to ensure we continue our important work to improve and enhance the student experience.”

The search committee will be chaired by Candace Campbell Jackson, senior vice president and chief of staff to Chancellor Syverud, and J. Cole Smith, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The search committee includes the following members:

• George Athanas, director of residence life. A longtime member of the University’s residence life staff, Athanas previously worked in Student Centers and Programming Services and was the interim director of the Center for International Services.
• Steve Bennett, senior vice president for international programs and academic operations and chief of staff, Academic Affairs. Bennett oversees academic operations for administrative units that report to the Office of the Provost, including Information Technology, Syracuse Abroad and satellite facilities around the U.S. and the globe. He also works closely with the provost and their leadership team on planning and budgetary matters.
• Shelly L. Fisher ’80, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, serving on the Board’s Enrollment and Student Experience Committee. She is CEO and founder of the Pay It Forward Group LLC, the parent company for Girls Nite In Online, I Help Educate andcom, all supporting students and initiatives that make positive contributions to communities. She is a member of the Newhouse School Advisory Board.
• Ryan Golden ’21, a religion major in the College of Arts and Sciences and a policy studies and political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences in the Maxwell School. Golden is vice president of the Student Association.
• Maurice Harris, dean of admissions. In that role, Harris provides leadership for a comprehensive admissions strategy that is innovative, forward looking and consistent with the goals, mission and vision of Syracuse University.
• Huey Hsiao, associate director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Kessler Presidential Scholars Program. He provides leadership and direction on programming that enriches the University’s diverse campus culture and results in students’ academic, social and personal success.
• Cydney Johnson ’77, G’96, vice president for community engagement and government relations. Johnson supports and advances the University’s state, local, government and community efforts and strategies.
• Kimberly Keenan-Kirkpatrick, deputy athletics administrator and senior women administrator for Syracuse Athletics. Keenan-Kirkpatrick is the sport supervisor for women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer and cross country/track and field; oversees the student-athlete development staff and serves as liaison with the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services.
• Estheralice (Esther) Lopez ’22, a photojournalism major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Lopez is a Posse Scholar, internal development chair for OrangeSeeds and is an InclusiveU residential mentor.
• Jeffrey Mangram ’88, G’89, Ph.D. ’06, associate professor of teaching and leadership in the School of Education. A Provost’s Faculty Fellow, Mangram redesigned the curriculum of SEM 100 for the Spring and Fall 2020 semesters. The six-week course for first-year and transfer students intends to create thought-provoking discourse around topics of race, identity, inclusion and social equity.
• Reinaldo (Rey) Pascual ’85, member of the University’s Board of Trustees, is chair of the Board’s Enrollment and Student Experience Committee and serves on the Board’s Executive, Advancement and External Affairs and Finance committees. He is founder of Pascual LLC, a specialty corporate law firm providing high-level strategic advice and general counsel services to a select group of entrepreneurial clients, and is general counsel and member of the operating committee of ExWorks Capital, LLC, a senior-secured lender to small businesses.
• Paula Possenti-Perez, director of Center for Disability Resources. Possenti-Perez oversees the work of the center, which mitigates competitive disadvantages and environmental barriers that impact learning, by supporting faculty in the classroom and colleagues across the University to strive for universal design and full inclusion. The center provides individual academic adjustments when environmental barriers cannot be eliminated and assistive technology.
• Dara Royer, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Royer is responsible for oversight of the University’s internal and external marketing efforts, including strategic marketing campaigns, digital and content marketing and brand stewardship.
• Cory Wallack, executive director of health and wellness, Barnes Center at The Arch. A licensed psychologist, Wallack previously served as director of the Counseling Center.