October 7, 2004

Observer Q & A: Rebecca Dixon

Associate Provost will retire at the end of the academic year. She discusses changes in admissions during her career and challenges of the future.

Can you share some memories of your early days in admission?

I started in this business in 1962 as a young roadrunner at the University of Akron. I drove my little Ford Falcon across Ohio and into New York. I had to hustle because I was recruiting kids who hadn’t necessarily heard of Akron. But it was an exciting time because colleges were building residence halls and classrooms and gearing up for the arrival of the baby boomers.

From there, I headed to the University of Miami for eight years. I managed foreign and graduate student admission. I loved the international aspect of that job. At that time, the Cuban intelligentsia were flocking to Florida. Of course, they needed to have their credentials analyzed, but many people didn’t have credentials because they’d fled. So we had to try and reconstruct their backgrounds. Again it was exciting to be on the crest of something new and different.

photo by Stephen Anzaldi

What has changed in this business during your career?

Over the years the relationship between the college admission office and prospective students has changed from an amiable relationship to more of a business exchange, or a competitive game.

For example, one thing to come from all the national rankings hype is an increase in “elite” schools. There are some very good schools people overlook or don’t discover because they’re focused on the name brands. Insofar as we develop more name brands, I think that's good for students because these are good schools. But I wish students and families could cut through the hype and see more clearly the characteristics of various schools to find the right fit. That’s hard to do because it has become such a competitive game. And it creates confusion as to what college is really for and leads to disheartening situations for the kids who don’t get in the schools of their choice.

What's the most fun part of this work?

I enjoy the planning and prediction of building an incoming class. How is it all going to turn out? It’s an enormous enterprise. You want to wind up with the right number of freshmen, your aid budget in balance, diverse and high-quality students distributed correctly among the schools. And you want to choose students who’ll stay here.

What is important about the registrar?

It was at one point characterized like electricity. You don’t notice it until it goes off. That is, you might not notice some of the crucial activities the registrar does, such as grade collection, transcript production and diploma issuance until suddenly they weren’t there. It’s a repository of all of the rules and regulations governing class creation, student evaluation, graduation requirements and so forth. And now that we’re so heavily automated, the appetite for reports and analyses is insatiable. For example, I’d like to know more about the way students flow through here. Do they come, stay four years and then go? No, not always. Some graduate early, some later. We have five-year degree holders and co-op engineering students. Some go to summer school. The registrar’s office can help us better understand these academic patterns. So it’s not just a matter of printing diplomas for each graduation.

What are the challenges ahead for admission and financial aid?

We have to find the best way to deliver information. The power of the Web has changed the business because people can now get information about Northwestern without ever talking to us. So we don’t always get to recruit them. It's a positive advancement, but it means we’re speaking to people very differently. And the students are seeing things in different ways. Some tell us we have the best web site out there. Others say it’s not navigable. Some say we don’t send enough literature over the summer. Others thank us for not filling their mailboxes.

On another point, to maintain diversity, both ethnically and economically, will become increasingly difficult. Some people say, “Don't try so hard to build a diverse community. It’s all very high-minded of you, but people will go to college where they can.” But you don’t want your most selective institutions to be homogeneous. I think our elite schools are the country’s leaders. They are in the news. They have caché and power. And you want a cross-section of society to have the advantage of that power.

— Stephen Anzaldi