January 28, 2015 by Greg St. Martin

North­eastern Uni­ver­sity has appointed Sundar Kumarasamy vice pres­i­dent for enroll­ment man­age­ment, effec­tive June 1, 2015. He will bring exten­sive lead­er­ship, data-​​driven strategic plan­ning, and man­age­ment expe­ri­ence to this crit­ical role in leading the university’s con­tinued selec­tivity and inno­va­tion in under­grad­uate stu­dent enrollment.

Kumarasamy will oversee the offices of under­grad­uate admis­sions and enroll­ment mar­keting, stu­dent finan­cial ser­vices, and enroll­ment research at North­eastern, while also playing a role in stu­dent reten­tion efforts. He has more than 20 years of expe­ri­ence in higher edu­ca­tion man­age­ment plan­ning in areas such as recruit­ment, admis­sions, finan­cial aid, stu­dent suc­cess, and tech­nology. He is coming to North­eastern from the Uni­ver­sity of Dayton, where he is the vice pres­i­dent for enroll­ment man­age­ment and marketing.

“I’m excited to become part of the inno­va­tion, growth, and for­ward motion hap­pening at North­eastern that is shaping not only the uni­ver­sity but also the future of higher edu­ca­tion, where the land­scape is both com­plex and rapidly evolving,” Kumarasamy said. “North­eastern is a model for best prac­tices in this space.”

Kumarasamy, who will suc­ceed Jane Brown in his new role, said the fac­tors that attracted him to North­eastern include the university’s out­standing fac­ulty and stu­dent body, inno­v­a­tive cur­riculum, and global lead­er­ship in expe­ri­en­tial learning. North­eastern received a record 49,822 under­grad­uate appli­ca­tions for 2,800 spots in the fall 2014 freshman class, with admitted stu­dents also exceeding all pre­vious bench­marks in aca­d­emic achieve­ment and geo­graphic diversity.

Kumarasamy’s accom­plish­ments at the Uni­ver­sity of Dayton are many. They include dri­ving a 92 per­cent increase in appli­ca­tions over the past seven years; reaching record highs in enroll­ment, aca­d­emic quality, and reten­tion rate; and spear­heading inno­v­a­tive mar­keting and branding ini­tia­tives. He also increased inter­na­tional enroll­ment by 901 per­cent in less than five years, and reengi­neered recruiting, admis­sions, finan­cial aid, reten­tion, and alumni rela­tions using pre­dic­tive analysis.

Prior to the Uni­ver­sity of Dayton, Kumarasamy worked at St. Joseph’s Uni­ver­sity from 1995 to 2006, where he drove a 223 per­cent increase in overall appli­ca­tions in that time, increased the geo­graphic reach of the uni­ver­sity and expended out-​​of-​​state appli­cants, and ini­ti­ated the cre­ation of inter­na­tional satel­lite admis­sions offices in India and Singapore.

“Sundar has an impres­sive array of skills, expe­ri­ence, and cre­ativity, and we’re thrilled that he’ll be joining us to help us tackle the exciting oppor­tu­ni­ties that we’ll face as our insti­tu­tion con­tinues soaring to new heights,” said Senior Vice Pres­i­dent and CEO of the North­eastern Global Net­work Philomena Man­tella, who over­sees Northeastern’s divi­sion of Enroll­ment, Stu­dent Life and The Global Network.