Admittedly Big Shoes to Fill

When Doris Davis leaves her post as associate provost for admissions and enrollment, Cornell will lose a veteran administrator with 30 years of higher education experience, but more importantly, an innovator who consistently used the tools at her disposal to push the University in the right direction, even when it was not the easiest or simplest option. The importance of the admissions office cannot be understated, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the face of the University and the individuals with whom we interact on a daily basis. The utmost care must be taken to ensure that the transition period and Davis’s replacement continue building upon the legacies she leaves, and fixing the problems that remain.

By drastically increasing the number of applicants, the admissions department lowered its acceptance rate from 32.9 percent to 19.1 percent in Davis’s 10 years on the Hill. A lower acceptance rate is flashy and helps Cornell’s position in various rankings, but Davis’s most important contribution to the University was her commitment to the diversity of each incoming class. The University’s recent “enrollment priority” financial aid initiative, which offers additional grants and reduced loans to applicants with certain characteristics, is a step in the right direction toward making Cornell more financially attractive for minorities, thereby increasing racial diversity. Almost 36 percent of the Class of 2013 consists of minority students, up from 28.4 percent in the Class of 2003. Progress has been made, but there is still much room for improvement. Provost Kent Fuchs must ensure that Davis’s successor remains committed to advancing racial diversity throughout the admissions and enrollment process.

Equally crucial to the future of the University is its commitment to socioeconomic diversity. While some red flags are raised by the consistently high percentage of freshman classes filled by the early decision program — it generally favors applicants from advantaged families who do not need to compare financial aid packages from different schools — Davis’s influence helped the University recommit its financial aid policies to advancing socioeconomic diversity. Due to a financial aid initiative on Davis’s watch, student loans were eliminated for students from families making less than $75,000, and parental contributions were eliminated for students from families making less than $60,000. Additionally, the University began holding financial aid workshops to help prospective applicants evaluate their options for aid from Cornell. The next step to increasing the affordability of enrollment, which will also fall to Davis’s successor, is increasing aid targeted at middle-income families who may harbor doubts about their ability to pay for a Cornell education, especially in the midst of a recession.

The University’s admissions and enrollment practices have come a long way in the past 10 years, and have continued to make largely laudable progress since the beginning of the recession. It is crucial to find a replacement for Davis who is able to make the right choices for Cornell’s long-term future, even if they are the hard choices in the short run.