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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Douglas L. Christiansen, Purdue University’s top admissions and enrollment management executive, has been named Vanderbilt University’s senior enrollment strategist in a newly established position designed to enhance the university’s admissions and financial aid efforts.
Christiansen, assistant vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions at Purdue University, will become associate provost for enrollment and dean of admissions at Vanderbilt, where he will oversee the offices of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid beginning Aug. 1.
“Doug Christiansen already has an exceptional track record as an enrollment executive in a very competitive environment, as well as a national reputation for academic excellence and integrity,” said Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Nicholas S. Zeppos. “He is a brilliant, thoughtful, analytical and creative leader who will help us build on Vanderbilt’s tremendous success in recent years. We are fortunate to have someone of Doug’s caliber to lead our admissions and financial aid efforts.”
“I’m excited to offer a comprehensive lens to the enrollment management enterprise at Vanderbilt University and lead this critical aspect of the educational experience,” Christiansen said. “Vanderbilt has the opportunity to move strategically forward in inviting talented students from around the country and the world into its unparalleled learning environment.
“I have cherished my time at Purdue University and I’m looking forward to this new opportunity and to becoming fully engaged in the Vanderbilt community,” he said.
Under Christiansen’s leadership, applications for admission to Purdue increased 48 percent, resulting in improved academic quality, ethnic diversity, and international presence. Purdue’s total undergraduate enrollment is 30,875 on the main West Lafayette, Ind., campus.
In addition to serving as the chief enrollment officer at Purdue, Christiansen is administratively responsible for a wide range of programs, including admissions, financial aid, orientation, new student programs, learning communities, early access programs, the registrar, and enrollment management analysis and reporting. He also has coordinating responsibility in the areas of space management and academic scheduling, the bursar, graduate school admissions, and international students and scholars. He holds an appointment as assistant professor in Purdue’s College of Education, where he teaches graduate courses in institutional policy research, reporting and evaluation, and the history of higher education.
Prior to coming to Purdue in 1995, Christiansen was associate director of Student Recruitment and High School Services at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he earned a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education administration and a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree. He is a member of The College Board, the National Association for College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), the Association of Chief Admissions Officers of Public Universities (ACAPU), the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), and the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC).
A frequent speaker and conference panelist, Christiansen has presented nationally at AACRAO, NACAC, the North American Enrollment Management Institute, the World Leadership Conference and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He also consults with universities throughout the United States on enrollment management and revenue generation funding models.
Media contact: Elizabeth Latt, 615-322-NEWS
elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu