A seasoned enrollment manager with extensive experience in integrating enrollment and marketing activities is joining Ball State University in the newly created role of vice president for marketing, communications, and enrollment management. Tom Taylor, currently assistant provost for enrollment at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County — known as UMBC — will assume the post Aug.1.

The new position has responsibility for the university's admissions, scholarships and financial aid, registrar, student records, marketing, and communications functions.

The new administrative structure encompasses offices previously reporting to separate vice presidents. The change will facilitate deeper integration between enrollment management and marketing communications functions that will better serve the university in the years ahead, said Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora.

"With a new structure, we can create a much more powerful synergy between marketing and recruitment," she said. "And with Tom Taylor in this position, we can expect great things. This is an individual who has been an integral player in transforming one university's reputation over time and who has an extraordinary track record of success in enrollment management.

"Tom also has the kind of attributes that will make him a great leader and an effective collaborator. He is unassuming yet extremely knowledgeable, reflective yet action oriented, data driven but very creative. He's truly a great fit for Ball State."

Taylor's hiring is pending approval by the university's board of trustees at its next meeting, which is scheduled July 22.

Taylor says he was attracted to Ball State because of the unusual opportunity to bring together marketing and enrollment management in one organization.

"This is a forward-thinking structure that leverages the strengths of both areas. It will help us tell the Ball State story with increasing consistency and focus, which in turn will help us recruit talented students who are the best fit for the university," he said.

"My sense of Ball State is one of positive anticipation, of a university ready to move to the next level in terms of achieving the wider renown and reputation it deserves. And I am honored to be tapped to lead that effort. I got such a feeling of energy, enthusiasm and creativity from the people I met, a sense that this is a whole campus ready to roll up its sleeves and go to work on this effort."

UMBC is a public research university just outside Baltimore with a total enrollment of about 12,000. The university matriculates about 1,400 freshmen each year — 15 percent from out of state — with an average GPA of 3.7.  The incoming class has grown from just over 800 students with an average GPA of 3.3 in the fall of 1994. The campus has also achieved other enrollment goals including improved SAT scores, increased full-time enrollment and continued success in attracting a diverse student population.

Taylor has spent his career at UMBC, beginning as an assistant director of financial aid in 1977. He moved steadily up through positions of associate director of financial aid, director of financial aid and scholarships, and assistant provost for admissions, financial aid and scholarships, prior to assuming his current post in 1997.

Taylor holds a master's in English from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's in English from Hamilton College. He has also taught for UMBC's English department, including the Honors College section of Introduction to Shakespeare.

Born in Baltimore, Taylor says he is looking forward to his move to the Midwest and to engaging with the enthusiasm and warmth he feels within the Ball State community.

"I experienced a genuine friendliness and feeling of community during my visits that was very appealing. That sense of community and commitment forms a very important basis for the successful marketing of the institution," he said.

Taylor's family includes his wife, Donna; step-daughter, Vicky Lavia; and daughters Kaitlin, 18, and Maggie, 8.

(Note to Editors: For more information, contact Taylor at taylor@umbc.edu or (410) 804-5341. Get a print-quality photograph of Taylor at www.bsu.edu/photoservices/people. For background on Ball State, contact Heather Shupp at hshupp@bsu.edu or (765) 285-1560.)