Saying she hopes to work with faculties and departments to meet their student recruitment goals, Katia Benoit is looking forward to expanding recruitment in the US while continuing a focus on key regions in Ontario.

Benoit, a liaison officer since 2000 and a two-time UWindsor grad (BSc 2000, M.Ed 2008), recently took up an appointment as acting director of student recruitment. In this role, she will manage UWindsor student outreach efforts within Canada and the US.

“We will be working with academic areas across campus to better coordinate our efforts in the recruitment process,” she says. “We each have a role to play in attracting top students to our campus.”

Dave Bussière, assistant vice president, admissions and records, says the office has spent two years re-thinking and re-energizing its approach to domestic undergraduate recruitment. He argues those efforts have paid off with back-to-back years of growth in applications.

Since 2010, high school visits and prospects from the Ontario Universities’ Fair have doubled. Attendance at the Fall Open House was up by over 40 per cent. The next step, Dr. Bussière notes, is to consolidate the changes.

“We have become more aggressive on recruitment and it has paid off. The strategy is in place, and Katia is the right person to operationalize the change,” says Bussière.

In her new role, Benoit will further develop Ontario high school and college recruitment practices. She will also spearhead a focus on recruiting quality students from nearby US counties.

“This strengthens the links between recruitment and admissions,” says acting registrar Charlene Yates. “The closer that we connect admissions and recruiting to our overall enrolment goals, the easier it is to focus on enrolment management.”