Special
Recruitment Program Created
by Diana Pounds
A recent reorganization in the Student Affairs office will
bring staff involved in recruiting top students and other
targeted student groups together in a new unit and strengthen
financial aid services, said Tom Thielen, vice president for
student affairs.
"The new unit -- to be called the special recruitment program
-- reflects our commitment to putting more effort into
recruiting specific groups of students, such as high-
achievers or children of alumni," Thielen said.
Joining the unit will be Mary Jo Banwart, an Alumni
Association staff member and recruiter in the alumni Legacy
Program, and Cyndi Bonus, an Honors Program staff member who
recruits National Merit and National Achievement scholars.
There also will be two new positions in the special
recruitment unit -- a coordinator for the unit and a staff
person to work on the Hixson Opportunity Awards program. The
Hixson program, begun this year with a $5 million gift from
the Lied Foundation, was named for Lied trustee Christina
Hixon. It provides more than a hundred $2,500 ISU
scholarships annually to Iowans who might not otherwise
attend college.
As part of the reorganization, Earl Dowling, who has been
serving as assistant vice president for enrollment services
and director of financial aid, will drop the enrollment
services portion his of duties.
"Earl essentially has been doing two jobs since 1989, when
the two positions were merged," Thielen said, "and he has
served Iowa State very well. But in the past five years, it
has become increasingly obvious that we can't expect one
person to oversee two such vital areas as recruiting and
financial aid."
Thielen said Dowling chose to remain in financial aid, an
area in which he is nationally recognized. Through Dowling's
efforts, Iowa State was selected in 1993 as one of the first
participants in the direct lending program, in which the
federal government provides loans to students through schools
rather than private lenders.
The financial aid office will be part of what Thielen terms
an "enrollment" cluster under the reorganization. The cluster
will consist of four units,...