Two new vice presidents to join Rowan University
Two new vice presidents to join Rowan University
May 10, 2007
Jordan-Cox to lead Student Affairs; McRae to lead University Advancement
After an intensive national search, Rowan University has announced the appointment of two new vice presidents to oversee Student Affairs and University Advancement, respectively.
Carmen Jordan-Cox, currently vice president of Student Services at Merritt College in Oakland, Calif., has been named vice president for Student Affairs at Rowan, while Mary McRae, currently associate vice president for Development at Villanova University, has been named vice president for University Advancement.
As vice president for Student Affairs, Jordan-Cox replaces Drew Calandrella, who left Rowan last fall after six years at the University to become vice president for Student Affairs at California State University, Chico.
McRae replaces Philip Tumminia, who retired this spring after 38 years with the University. Tumminia secured the transformative $100 million gift the University received in 1992 from industrialist Henry Rowan and his wife, Betty. At the time, the gift was the largest ever given to a public institution.
Dr. Donald Farish announced the appointments to the University community on Thursday.
"The Student Affairs and University Advancement divisions are critical components of today's higher education institutions," said Farish. "Dr. Jordan-Cox will focus on improving student services, which will help us raise our retention and graduation rates. Ms. McRae will head the effort to secure more private and corporate funding, an area in which we have been very successful, but need to build in order to allow us to continue to offer students a quality education at a relatively affordable price."
Farish added, "We were very pleased to have had deep talent pools in both searches and I am absolutely delighted that our top choices for both positions accepted our offer. It speaks highly of our reputation and what we have accomplished as an institution over the years."
McRae is expected to join Rowan on July 16 and Jordan-Cox on July 30.
Jordan-Cox, of Daly City, Calif., joined Merritt, a comprehensive, two-year college, in 2003. From 2001-03, she served as vice president of Student Services at Laney College, which, like Merritt, is part of the Peralta Community College District, a four-college district serving 29,000 students in six San Francisco Bay Area cities.
During her time with the Peralta district, Jordan-Cox helped guide the Merritt campus through the development of a new college governance system and assumed administrative leadership for Institutional Planning and Research. She also served as acting president of Laney College during an extended illness of the college president.
Jordan-Cox has 27 years experience as a vice president. Prior to her time at the community colleges, she served as vice president for Student Affairs and assistant professor of education at the University of San Francisco and was vice president of Student Life/Dean and an assistant professor of education at Spelman College in Atlanta. At Spelman, she worked to increase enrollment by 32 percent and to improve the sophomore retention rate to 88 percent. Jordan-Cox has extensive auxiliary services, budget, athletics, facilities and strategic planning expertise.
Jordan-Cox, who did post-doctoral study at Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management, earned her Ph.D. in higher education, organization and administration from Boston College and received her master's degree in counselor education and student personnel administration from Pennsylvania State University. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from Indiana University.
A resident of Narberth, McRae began her career with Villanova 21 years ago when she was appointed senior staff accountant in the Office of Financial Affairs. Since 1996, she has served as associate vice president for Development, and is currently overseeing a $300 million capital campaign and a $5.5 million Institutional Advancement budget.
In her position, McRae focuses her efforts exclusively on gifts in the $250,000 to $1 million range and oversees initiatives aimed at securing planned giving and corporate and foundation giving. Her office, which has included 60 employees, has secured upwards of 21,000 gifts annually.
McRae, who holds a bachelor's degree in accountancy from Villanova, has successfully managed a previous five-year capital campaign with a goal reaching $141 million and built a major gift program. Her other positions at Villanova have included assistant vice president for Development and director of The Villanova Campaign, director of Development for Administrative Services and Annual Giving, director of Administrative Services, and manager of gift and pledge processing.
Prior to joining Villanova, McRae was assistant controller for Marriott Hotels in Philadelphia and Austin, Texas.
After an intensive national search, Rowan University has announced the appointment of two new vice presidents to oversee Student Affairs and University Advancement, respectively.
Carmen Jordan-Cox, currently vice president of Student Services at Merritt College in Oakland, Calif., has been named vice president for Student Affairs at Rowan, while Mary McRae, currently associate vice president for Development at Villanova University, has been named vice president for University Advancement.
As vice president for Student Affairs, Jordan-Cox replaces Drew Calandrella, who left Rowan last fall after six years at the University to become vice president for Student Affairs at California State University, Chico.
McRae replaces Philip Tumminia, who retired this spring after 38 years with the University. Tumminia secured the transformative $100 million gift the University received in 1992 from industrialist Henry Rowan and his wife, Betty. At the time, the gift was the largest ever given to a public institution.
Dr. Donald Farish announced the appointments to the University community on Thursday.
"The Student Affairs and University Advancement divisions are critical components of today's higher education institutions," said Farish. "Dr. Jordan-Cox will focus on improving student services, which will help us raise our retention and graduation rates. Ms. McRae will head the effort to secure more private and corporate funding, an area in which we have been very successful, but need to build in order to allow us to continue to offer students a quality education at a relatively affordable price."
Farish added, "We were very pleased to have had deep talent pools in both searches and I am absolutely delighted that our top choices for both positions accepted our offer. It speaks highly of our reputation and what we have accomplished as an institution over the years."
McRae is expected to join Rowan on July 16 and Jordan-Cox on July 30.
Jordan-Cox, of Daly City, Calif., joined Merritt, a comprehensive, two-year college, in 2003. From 2001-03, she served as vice president of Student Services at Laney College, which, like Merritt, is part of the Peralta Community College District, a four-college district serving 29,000 students in six San Francisco Bay Area cities.
During her time with the Peralta district, Jordan-Cox helped guide the Merritt campus through the development of a new college governance system and assumed administrative leadership for Institutional Planning and Research. She also served as acting president of Laney College during an extended illness of the college president.
Jordan-Cox has 27 years experience as a vice president. Prior to her time at the community colleges, she served as vice president for Student Affairs and assistant professor of education at the University of San Francisco and was vice president of Student Life/Dean and an assistant professor of education at Spelman College in Atlanta. At Spelman, she worked to increase enrollment by 32 percent and to improve the sophomore retention rate to 88 percent. Jordan-Cox has extensive auxiliary services, budget, athletics, facilities and strategic planning expertise.
Jordan-Cox, who did post-doctoral study at Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management, earned her Ph.D. in higher education, organization and administration from Boston College and received her master's degree in counselor education and student personnel administration from Pennsylvania State University. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from Indiana University.
A resident of Narberth, McRae began her career with Villanova 21 years ago when she was appointed senior staff accountant in the Office of Financial Affairs. Since 1996, she has served as associate vice president for Development, and is currently overseeing a $300 million capital campaign and a $5.5 million Institutional Advancement budget.
In her position, McRae focuses her efforts exclusively on gifts in the $250,000 to $1 million range and oversees initiatives aimed at securing planned giving and corporate and foundation giving. Her office, which has included 60 employees, has secured upwards of 21,000 gifts annually.
McRae, who holds a bachelor's degree in accountancy from Villanova, has successfully managed a previous five-year capital campaign with a goal reaching $141 million and built a major gift program. Her other positions at Villanova have included assistant vice president for Development and director of The Villanova Campaign, director of Development for Administrative Services and Annual Giving, director of Administrative Services, and manager of gift and pledge processing.
Prior to joining Villanova, McRae was assistant controller for Marriott Hotels in Philadelphia and Austin, Texas.