The search for a new director of admission has come to an end, as Miami University prepares to welcome Laurie Koehler to the position March 19.
Miami has been looking for a new director since July of 2005, when Mike Mills left the position to take a job at Northwestern University. Since that time, Ann Larson has served as the interim director.
"We wanted someone with significant experience in admissions, especially in terms of some leadership position," said Vice Provost John Skillings. "We wanted someone with an understanding of Miami's mission, and how admissions fit in."
He found those qualities in Koehler, currently the senior associate director of admissions and recruitment at Cornell University. As head of recruitment she had experience
encouraging multicultural, freshman, transfer and other students to apply to Cornell. As director of admission she will be taking on some new roles, including operations, processing applications and the selection process.
"My hope is that I'll be able to bring a strong and collaborative leadership style, a commitment to excellence and strategic vision and planning skills," Koehler said, via e-mail.
After being hired during the summer to search for potential candidates, the private firm Isaacson Miller selected Koehler. Following a round of interviews in the fall, a university search committee that was chaired by Skillings then chose Koehler.
Koehler was first attracted to Miami for its academic reputation. She said she has found Miami to be a special place with motivated and intelligent students and a staff that genuinely cares about the students.
"I was truly impressed by President (David) Hodge's passion for the institution, as well as his educational philosophy and values," Koehler said. "With regard to the position, there is a fantastic admissions team in place, and a real openness on the part of the staff and the senior leadership at the university to implement some new strategies that might better position Miami in the admissions arena."
Skillings said Koehler has had success with programs that increase the yield number, which is the number of admitted students that actually attend a university.
"She's had some special programs aimed at increasing the yield in general, but specifically with multicultural students," Skillings said. "She has had very good success with diversity, which is certainly of interest to us."
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
With the department's standing diversity recruitment processes, Miami had 70 more applications from multicultural students than the same day last year as of Jan. 10.
Multicultural students are traditionally thought of as students with racial and ethnic diversity. However, Koehler says she will be using a broader definition of diversity that includes students with socioeconomic and geographic diversity, as well as different experiences before coming to Miami. She will be looking at transfer and international students, first-generation college students and individuals with different sexual orientations, among other characteristics.
Skillings said he is pleased with the applications received so far. He said the department has worked very hard and effectively, and while Miami does admission well now, they can always do better.
"The overall priority is to continue to build an outstanding class of incoming students," Koehler said. "In particular, our admissions team will be looking at a few important issues, including increasing the diversity (racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic, etc.) of the student body, further personalizing our recruitment efforts, examining our transfer admission practices and working to increase our yield of admitted students."
Koehler will be part of discussions with members of the admission department about the programs Miami currently uses to attract multicultural students and the programs used to increase the yield. They will be evaluating the current programs to see which work, which need to be modified and which should be replaced.
"We are very excited about Laurie Koehler joining our university community," Skillings said. "We think she'll be a great addition."
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.