On Monday, October 12, President of the College, Scott Feller, notified the campus that Tyler Wade ’12 accepted the role of Dean for Enrollment Management. The offer was extended by the college following an arduous, nation-wide search involving The Bryant Group, a national recruitment firm.

“It is interesting to say we had a five month process to find the guy that was across the street,” said Feller. “I think it would be natural for readers to think that was a little strange or that’s a little inefficient, but we went into it very open about wanting to hear from a lot of people their vision for the Wabash College enrollment office. We talked to great people who gave us great ideas, but at the end of the day, I think we saw that Tyler really has a good handle on the strategies that should guide our efforts, and he’s had a lot of experience here at the more tactical level of implementing those strategies.”

Wade spent just over 12 years working in the Office of Admission. In his time he has served in almost every role in the office, and spearheaded recent efforts to expand recruiting across southern Texas. In this time, Wade has developed a plethora of relationships among the Wabash community, which could not be denied in his consideration for the role.

“Tyler has a deep set of relationships all around campus and all around the Wabash Nation,” said Feller. “He is very committed to relationship building. He was an elected city council person in Greencastle, Indiana. To be an elected official in a small town requires a certain gift for forming relationships.”

In this new role, Wade will take an overarching role in the management of enrollment strategies. His ascension comes at a crucial time in college admissions.

We are approaching a demographic cliff, where there will be less high-achieving young men graduating high school. While the college will be able to increase its applicant pool to a certain extent, the proportion of students that attend out of the total applicant pool must increase.

“Are there big challenges that we face?” said Wade. “Yes, but I wouldn’t want to be doing it anywhere else, with anybody else. The only way that Wabash can differentiate itself, especially when our target demographic is the most sought-after demographic in the country, has to be the people that we have. We need to get everyone on board with the idea that enrollment is everybody’s business.”