A new plan for coordinating undergraduate admissions

Chancellor Carol Christ, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Paul Alivisatos and Stephen Sutton, vice chancellor for student affairs, sent the following message to the campus community on Monday: 

Femi Ogundele will serve as the new associate vice chancellor of enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions. (UC Berkeley photo by Stephen McNally)

We are writing today to let you know of plans to elevate the campus undergraduate enrollment management function and integrate key departments within it. The goal of this organizational change is to better coordinate across the units that support students from early outreach to admissions and financial aid, and then as they progress toward graduation. We believe these changes will enhance our effectiveness in attracting and retaining our scholars and will add a new level of strategic focus and oversight to our admissions and enrollment-related functions.

Integral to these changes is the elevation of Olufemi “Femi” Ogundele to the position of associate vice chancellor of enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions, effective today. He will also join the chancellor’s cabinet and will have a dotted-line reporting relationship to the chancellor and executive vice chancellor and provost (EVCP) in his role as AVC, in addition to his main report to Vice Chancellor Sutton as dean of undergraduate admissions. He will continue to collaborate closely with the vice chancellor of undergraduate education on admissions and enrollment planning.

The organizational changes consolidate the work of several units under shared management. They include:

• The Office of the Registrar, which will report directly to Femi;
• Financial Aid & Scholarships, whose leadership will have a dotted-line reporting relationship to Femi;
• The Center for Educational Partnerships Program, which will move from the Division of Equity and Inclusion; and
• The Visitor and Parent Program, which will remain in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs but will have a dotted-line reporting relationship to Femi.

While the final organizational structure is still under development, these first steps are designed to provide the infrastructure and services to support students in their enrollment decision making, while working to strongly position UC Berkeley among their options.

Femi has made many consequential contributions in his time here to campus-wide admissions and diversity efforts, including serving on the steering committee and as co-chair of one of the working groups on the Undergraduate Diversity Initiative Task Force, co-chairing a working group of the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Task Force, revamping processes within undergraduate admissions to ensure fairness and integrity, and overseeing the team responsible last year for building the most diverse class of incoming undergraduates in 30 years. This year, the campus has a record number of freshman applications for admission and a 38 percent increase in freshman applications from under-represented students, thanks in large part to Femi’s team.

Please join us in congratulating Femi and in continuing our work to build our tradition of excellence and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.