In July, Beverly H. Davis became the director of graduate admissions, a new position developed to respond to concerns from the Graduate Council and others about declining graduate enrollment throughout the university. Davis will lead and unify the recruitment effort for graduate students, coordinate the process of graduate applications, and design a graduate prospectus.

"It became clear that we needed additional coordination of graduate admissions and recruitment efforts," said Provost Peter Stearns. "We need a central place where a student who calls can obtain information about all the programs." The individual schools will retain their admission processes, he said, but the goal is to create better procedures for public information, better marketing, and increased enrollment. "Ms. Davis has the kind of enthusiasm and marketing savvy we were seeking for this position, and I'm confident she'll help us move graduate recruitment to a new level."

While the university has set goals to increase the graduate population, the demographic trend is moving in the opposite direction. Graduate enrollments are decreasing nationally, and the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia reports that over the past five years, the state's population in the target market age range of 25 to 44 has decreased by 9 percent.

"We're faced with the challenge of increasing graduate enrollments even though the target market population has been decreasing," Davis says. "We have to work harder to maintain our share of the market, be more assertive, more proactive." Teamwork is a necessary component of increasing enrollment, Davis says. She plans to begin by forming a universitywide graduate recruitment team comprising representatives from each academic unit.

Previously, Davis, who has extensive advertising experience, worked at the School of Public Affairs at American University where she developed and managed a successful marketing and recruitment plan for its graduate programs. She has a B.A. in political science and a certificate in media technology from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, where she spent summers working full time in the admissions office. She is in the process of finishing her M.A. in international communication at American University.