Information on Robert Massa is insight on administration

Lafalum · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 843

Robert Massa who will be the new VP for Communications was profiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education this morning. He worked for Hopkins for 10 years and his kid just graduated from Lafayette. Massa is leaving Dickinson where he was enrollment manager and has gained national attention in that role. He also had athletics reporting to him. Massa has also worked at Colgate. Since we just fired our enrollment manager he will also assume that position temporarily until we hire a new one.
He does not like merit aid at all and sees the aid question as a "partnership" between the school and family but the school should seek out students that can pay. Dickinson reduced its discount rate (aid/tuition room and board) from over 50% to 33%. ( Lafayette is close to 40%) He doesn.t believe in competing by price, although does admit to paying up for prized students. By lowering the amount of aid given, it frees up tremendous resources for other needs. He believes in actively recruiting legacies, and he did pay up for foreign students.
The only school he worked for that had athletic scholarships was Hopkins. Its hard to tell where he might be on football scholarships. This guy seems like an able man. He is 57 so is at the end of his career.

TheTruth · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 485

Good assessment Lafalum. Interesting about recruiting students that can pay. We'll have to watch this closely.

have you heard of any other "changes"?

Lafalum · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 843

Not on the personnel side but there is a full scale scramble for resources and its getting a little ugly. Budgets are tight and raiding the other guy or manipulating the accounting system to get more money is in full swing. Anyone who has worked in any company during one of these cycles know the feeling. Inter-departmental charges go wild. This is the first time it has really hit higher education and their not used to it.
Admissions apparently has their marching orders.....find more qualified full pays. There is some nervousness over "summer melt" ...how many will not show in the fall. There is a feeling that the recession hit too late to effect many applicants last year but this year will be tough for us and other schools like us.

What is interesting that we have tiered admissions so many different ways.
In general we want more full pays so they get preference
Scholarship athletes by agreement with the faculty and the nature of the marketplace will probably be better than the average student admit this year
Average students with high need are not desired
Diversity is still sought after so no change
Foreign students in general are more qualified.

TheTruth · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 485

I think the Admissions Office always had these orders but I'm sure it is emphasized this year. The only problem is every other college and university is doing the same thing. And 529 plans got crusehed over the past 18 months; Wall Street and other financial jobs took a huge hit; unemployment is up to 9.5%. So the pool of "full pay" has shrunk.

What will happen with this year's applicant pool is anyone's guess. I do think the "full pay" parents are savvy and will play one school against another.

I've been telling my friends for years. If you are going to save for your child's education, save for all of it or none of it. Do not get caught in the middle. Or have more kids.

I'd love to hear how the other Patriot league schools are doing. I'm assuming we are all facing the same challenges to some degree.