Office of the Chancellor

Organizational Changes in Enrollment Management

January 15, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you had a good break and that your spring semester is off to a great start.

As we begin the new year, I’m writing to share some organizational changes that are being implemented next week as we continue to address the trend of declining student enrollment that has occurred over the past several years. Final spring semester headcount and credit hours will be down again, and we need to take proactive measures to reverse the trend and ensure the sustainability of our academic enterprise.

During the past few years, we have been actively realigning our efforts to place a stronger emphasis on the complete lifecycle of student engagement—from recruitment to campus experience to graduation to career placement.

As we intensify that focus, we will be moving oversight for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of International Education. These units will move from the Office of Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management to the Division of Student Affairs—and will now report to Krissy Creager, vice chancellor for student affairs. As you know, Dr. Creager is no stranger to student recruitment and enrollment management, having served for five years as associate vice chancellor for student success in Academic Affairs before being named vice chancellor in 2019.

Reflecting these changes, the Division of Student Affairs is being renamed the Office of Enrollment Management and the Student Experience, and the Office of Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management is being renamed the Office of Academic Affairs.

As part of this realignment, Ken Christmon, currently associate vice chancellor for admissions, is moving to the Office of Human Resources, where he will become Purdue Fort Wayne’s first associate vice chancellor in the new Office of University Ombudsperson. In this role, he will be responsible for providing informal dispute resolution services when intervention is preferred over formal faculty, staff, and student grievance procedures. He will report to Cynthia Springer, associate vice chancellor for human resources and institutional equity. I want to thank Ken for his many contributions and for the insight and perspectives he will bring to his new role.

As we implement these changes, I also want to extend heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Carl Drummond, vice chancellor for academic affairs, for his stewardship of enrollment management during the past five years. We will continue to rely heavily on his knowledge and expertise as he turns more of his focus to academic affairs, centralized academic advising, and accreditation.

Please note that these changes—which are budget and staff neutral—are effective next Tuesday, January 19.

Thank you for your support as we make these important organizational changes and redouble our efforts to attract and retain outstanding students from Indiana, across the country, and around the world.

Sincerely,

Ron Elsenbaumer
Chancellor