Anthony Jones, who started working as Vice President of Enrollment Management at the beginning of the school year, is leaving DePauw.
According to President Mark McCoy, Jones is leaving because he is splitting too much time between his family and work. McCoy hired Jones from Fisk University in Nashville, TN, and Jones moved to Greencastle while his family stayed behind. “He planned on spending the weekends with his family, but of course in the admissions world, you don’t get much time to go home,” said McCoy. “As a father, I certainly understand, and you have to support your people first and foremost.”
Since Jones has left, McCoy placed Cindy Babington, Chief of Staff to the President, in charge of Enrollment at the University.
Babington served as Vice President of Enrollment Management for two years prior to Jones’s arrival, and was put into the position as the interim of Enrollment Management. The administration also looked into interim search firms and reviewed several other candidates for the position before deciding on Babington. “I didn’t feel as though any of them were as strong as Cindy,” McCoy said.
Babington had only been out of the position for six months before she was asked to step back in. “It’s because I was in the position so recently, it wasn’t hard from the standpoint of picking up what needs to happen,” said Babington. “There was a bit of a challenge getting to speed with changes from fall, but that was it.”
Despite Jones’s departure, McCoy and Babington are not worried about the future of enrollment at DePauw University. The admissions team still has a goal of a class size of 620 new students. “Applications are up, deposits are slightly up from last year, and applications are doing well in most of our territories,” Babington said.
Additionally, Babington noted that last year applications from Indiana were lower, but have risen up to their previous level. “So that is a good sign,” Babington said.
“The admission staff is incredible,” said McCoy. “We have a strong team, but given that [Jones left] I think we are in the best possible situation.”
“I think it’s one of those things where you’re just hopeful and trying to get a good class,” said Babington. “There’s always a concern of the cost of higher education, affordability, and return of investment, but I wouldn’t say it has anything to do with the change in positions.”
However, students feel differently about the future of the University.
“I think it’s incredibly vital in this time, when we are unsure about the future of undocumented students at American universities, for an experienced and dedicated person to be in charge of diversity,” said sophomore, Peper Langhout. “I think that in a time when we need a lot of leadership in process making you need someone who is dedicated to diversity from beginning to end.”
After this semester, the Administration will be searching for a new Vice President of Enrollment Management for the Class of 2022.