Dear Colleague:

I am pleased to inform you that Michael E. Mills has accepted President Bienen's and my invitation to join Northwestern as Associate Provost for University Enrollment, beginning this summer.   Mills will be succeeding Rebecca Dixon, who created this position and has filled it with distinction for 17 years.  

Since 2000, Mills has served as Director of Admission at Miami University of Ohio.   Prior to assuming the position at Miami, Mills served for two years as Executive Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management at the University of Alaska and for four years as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Alaska Pacific University.  He has also served for six years as Academic Advisor at both the Columbus and Mansfield campuses of Ohio State University.

A graduate of Ohio State, where he received both bachelor's and master's degrees, Mills has contributed articles on enrollment-related issues in such journals as The Journal of College Admission (National Association for College Admission Counseling) and Strategic Enrollment Management Monthly (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers).   He has also been a frequent presenter of papers at national conferences on enrollment management.

At Miami, Mills has led a University Enrollment Management Team, comprised of the directors of the offices of student financial assistance, learning assistance and academic advising, summer programs, the registrar, and the bursar.   He serves on the Strategic Planning Core Team, which makes recommendations on restructuring Miami's Information Technology Services unit, and on the University Senate Fiscal Priorities Committee, which advises the president in establishing the annual operating budget.  He also played a central role in the implementation of the Miami Plan, a radically new tuition structure for the University.   He is recognized at Miami for his close and collaborative relationships with school deans and faculty; and he created an active 20-member High School Advisory Board, representing seven states, to solicit counselor input into Miami's admissions policies and procedures.   He teamed with Academic Affairs and the Honors Program to create the Oxford Scholars Program, a secondary honors program for incoming first-year students.

During Mills' tenure as Director of Admission at Miami, the University has seen a significant increase in applications (including a 50% increase during 2002-04 in applications from students defined by a faculty committee as "high ability") and a significant increase in applications from non-Ohio residents.   During that same two-year period, applications from students of color increased over 50%; the University has seen historic highs in the enrollment of such students, as well as of first generation students.  During each successive year of his tenure, the University has enrolled the strongest academic class in its history.

Henry and I are very pleased that Mills will be joining us.   We are grateful to the members of a student-faculty-staff screening committee, chaired by Professor Stephen Carr of McCormick, for their help in identifying Mills.  Finally -- but hardly least -- we are grateful to Rebecca Dixon for her long and effective service in this important position, and we look forward to paying tribute to her on the 3rd of June.

Sincerely,

Lawrence B. Dumas
Provost