UW–Madison names Kindle to lead enrollment management

Derek Kindle has been named the new vice provost for enrollment management beginning March 1.

Kindle has served as UW–Madison’s director of the Office of Student Financial Aid since 2016 and has more than 18 years of experience working in higher education.

The vice provost for enrollment management provides leadership in planning, developing, executing and assessing a strategic undergraduate enrollment management plan for the university and is responsible for organizing and creating a vision for the Division of Enrollment Management, which comprises the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, the Office of Student Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar, and the central management office of the division.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve UW–Madison, and most importantly, its students, in this role,” Kindle says. “I have been fortunate to serve under incredible leadership and alongside so many great teams and partners within the division and throughout the campus and community.”

The mission of the Division of Enrollment Management is to provide access to higher education at UW–Madison, to foster collaborations among its units and with campus partners to ensure student success, and to serve as a national thought leader in innovative enrollment strategies. It has an operating budget of $17.5 million and administers nearly $480 million annually in student aid. The division consists of 160 full-time and 31 part-time professionals, and 110 student employees. The Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab, a research-practice partnership led by associate professor Nicholas Hillman, is also housed within the division. The vice provost is a member of the Provost’s Executive Group and the Chancellor’s Leadership Council.

“Derek has demonstrated incredible vision and creative leadership as the director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, and we are very confident he will continue to excel as vice provost for enrollment management,” says Provost Karl Scholz. “I look forward to continuing to work with him in this vital role.”

A nationally recognized expert in higher education, Kindle serves in several national higher education organizations, including the College Board and the National Association for Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET). Kindle was also a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) design team and part of the early Government Accountability Office’s study of ways to simplify the FAFSA.

Steve Hahn announced in November that he was stepping down from the role after serving as vice provost since April 2015 and interim vice provost for two years prior to that.