Cristina Foglietta
Staff Writer
Dr. Reginald Gale Ross joined LIU Post on June 11th as Associate Provost/Dean of Admissions. Ross says he replaced Ms. Joanne Graziano as Assistant Provost for Admissions. Graziano is now Associate Provost for Student Financial Services. Ross says he is currently wearing three hats, Dean and temporarily in charge of freshmen and International Students until he finds a replacement. David Follick, who was the Director of Freshmen Admissions, left for a job at St. John’s University. Ross is currently looking for one person to be the director of both freshmen and International Students. “My role is to make sure the processes are working the way they should be, if they’re not, I fix it,” Dr. Ross said. The Dean of Admissions have to come up with ways to get students interested in their university, analyze many statistics on students attending their university and those who leave and make sure the entire admissions department is running smoothly. He says he oversees a staff of about fifty workers in admissions. Ross has set goals and plans to improve enrollment.
Dr. Ross explained his plan of specific steps get students interested in attending LIU Post. “The idea is to continue to shape the enrollment by admitting students who are likely to succeed here,” he said. Dr. Ross hopes that this plan will be active by mid-October. “The first role is evaluating and improving the business plan,” Ross said. He says he think this plan will make a huge difference and will be less work for advisers. “Make sure we connect with students here who intend to get their degree here,” he said.
The steps to the plan to get freshmen interested in Post are as followed. Dr. Ross says they sell Post’s wonderful campus life by using different channels such as the LIU website, print materials, walk-ins, open house, transfer events, admissions fairs and high school visits. The next step, which is all done online, is the inquiry acknowledgement letter which includes the student’s personal counselor’s information, a view book and an invitation to apply, said Ross. “The idea is to respond back as quickly as we can, not answer but acknowledgement to personalize the relationship,” he said. The financial aid information and fact sheet is next, Ross said.
The students now have to respond either yes or no to the invitation to apply. If they respond yes and complete the common application, they get an online confirmation right away, said Ross. After one day, they receive an acknowledgment letter and after two days they receive an email from their personal counselor, he said. The counselors will see if the student completed the check list to apply and see if they qualify for any scholarships. A postcard, stating that if the student ever wants to apply in the future to contact LIU Admissions, is sent to the students who reply no to the application invitation, Ross says.
He says there is a ton of analysis and statistics involved in his work since each area of students’ application process are different. Freshmen, transfer, international and graduate students, all experience a different application process with specific requirements.
Dr. Ross also has plans for years into the future. He said he is creating a strategic enrollment management plan this year which is a three year plan. Ross says Post currently does not have one and that this plan is critical. “The entire campus has to be involved, Admissions, Recreation and ISS, to make solid predictions what the campus will look like in the future,” said Ross. Hopefully, the predictions are close to the target, he says. This plan evolves the development of new academic programs and students will be recruited for the strategic enrollment management plan, Ross said.
Dr. Ross was born in Charleston, South Carolina and moved every year until his second year of high school when he settled into New Orleans for high school and at Xavier University in New Orleans. He said he while in college he commuted but he then moved to New Jersey to live on campus while as a graduate student. Ross said he attended Stevens Institute of Technology where he completed his Masters of Science and Ph.D. in Applied Industrial / Organizational Psychology.
Before working at Post, Dr. Ross worked at three other colleges: Bloomfield College, Montclair University, and Coppin State University. Ross was Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services at Bloomfield College located in Bloom¬field, New Jersey. Ross was Dean of Enrollment Management and Retention Services at Montclair State University located in Montclair, New Jersey. His most recent job was Vice President for Enrollment Management at Coppin State University located in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also a teacher in Industrial Organization Psychology for eleven years before that. Dr. Ross now teaches College 101 at Post. “It (Teaching) makes you feel good, makes you feel like you were part of their journey,” Ross said.
He says he loves working on a college campus because he gets to see important bench¬marks in people’s lives all the time. “The person you are the day you first walk in (to college) and 15 weeks later, is a completely different person, much more confidant,” Ross said.
Dr. Ross said that when he interviewed at Post in April, he picked up a copy of the Pioneer. He says that he likes the fact that Post has an active newspaper. He says his past universities he worked at struggled with keeping an active newspaper. Ross said the amount of students at Post is the perfect size because it is right in the middle. “Post is an interesting place, I want to learn more about its history and have an official tour with the campus historian,” said Ross. He says he picked Post because he wanted to be close to his house in New Jersey and he liked the beautiful campus.
Ross has an apartment in Port Washing¬ton and goes home to New Jersey for his wife, Joanie, every weekend. They do not have any children. Ross says he likes Port Washington and Brookville because the scenery of nature and trees remind him of his home in New Jersey. “LIU is the greenest campus I ever been on its beautiful, also the biggest campus I ever been on,” said Dr. Ross.
He says that his co-workers have been very welcoming. “Folks over here in Mullarkey Hall have been the best, very helpful and very unafraid,” Ross said. Ross spends 65% of his time at work in meetings and he says it really stresses him out at times. He has many tasks to complete and little free time. “It’s nice to have a nice, normal, everyday conversation with people, it takes the stress away,” said Ross. His weekly work schedule is booked up with meetings, briefings, conferences, meetings over lunch, class and his cabinet meeting, when all Directors and Associate Directors that report to Dr. Ross meet.
“I’m looking forward to a very fruitful, productive, busy semester; I think it will be a good one,” said Dr. Ross.
Be First to Comment