News Release
New Associate Provost for Enrollment Announced
(May 12, 2008) -
University of the Pacific Provost Phil Gilbertson announced today the appointment of Robert J. Alexander as associate provost for enrollment. He will begin his new position at Pacific on June 9, 2008.
Alexander is currently assistant vice president for enrollment management at Tulane University, where he has worked in admissions since 1999. He was part of the management team that led Tulane's recovery after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Alexander set up a new admissions office in Richmond, Va. and headed the university's post-Katrina student recruitment and admissions operations. Tulane has thrived since then, with dramatic increases in the size and quality of its pool of applications for admission. Newsweek recently named Tulane one of the "hottest schools" in America.
"Rob Alexander was part of the team that not only enabled Tulane to return after Hurricane Katrina but to thrive and become more popular with students than ever," said Gilbertson. "He will be especially helpful in strengthening recruitment of students nationally."
At Pacific, Alexander will oversee the offices of admission and financial aid. As the University's chief enrollment officer, the associate provost provides the leadership, strategic direction, and coordination for a comprehensive enrollment strategy that is consistent with the goals, mission and resources of the University.
"I am thrilled to join University of the Pacific, said Alexander. "The commitment to an innovative and individualized education was evident in everyone I met on campus-from the President to the students themselves. I look forward to leading an outstanding team of enrollment professionals and working collaboratively with the entire Pacific community to achieve continued success in the future."
In the days after Hurricane Katrina, Alexander was assigned the task of setting up a new off-campus admissions office. Within seven days, he had set up a 15-member admissions office in Richmond, Va., where he went to work researching public perceptions of the university and creating marketing messages and a new admissions campaign.
Alexander holds an undergraduate degree in psychology and an MBA from Tulane, where he now serves as an adjunct professor of business in the A.B. Freeman School of Business.
Under Alexander's leadership, Tulane has seen marked increases in the size and quality of its pool of applicants. Applications went from 17,000 in 2005 to 34,000 in 2008. Its incoming freshman class size has gone from 882 to 1601-the largest and most academically qualified group of admitted students in Tulane's history.
