Stetson resigns as dean of admissions

For the past 29 years, prospective students have eagerly torn open their decision letters from Penn hoping to see a letter, signed by Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson, welcoming them to the next year's class.

But soon, another person's signature will appear at the end of those letters as Stetson announced his resignation on Tuesday, effective June 30, 2008.

Stetson began as dean of admissions at Penn in 1978, when the Admissions Office was only processing about 7,000 applications per year, and his first fully admitted class consisted of only 267 students of color and 29 international students, according to a University press release.

Stetson added that when he started, "88 percent [of Penn students] were from New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania," and he made it his mission to expand recruitment beyond the Northeast to destinations both nationally and internationally.

And over the past 29 years Stetson, and his team of admissions officers who have spearheaded this mission, have successfully increased and diversified Penn's applicant pool - and ultimately its student body.

That current number of applications now reaches nearly 23,000 a year, almost quadruple of what Penn saw when Stetson began his tenure here, and this past year the admissions rate was the lowest in Penn's history at 16.1 percent.

Additionally, the Class of 2011 will be composed of nearly 900 students of color and 318 international students.

Stetson said: "1 percent of the entering class was international," when he started in the Admissions Office, and that number has risen to 13 percent for the incoming freshman class.

For these accomplishments among others, Stetson is fondly regarded among his peers.

Doris Cochran-Fikes, a regional director of admissions who has worked with Stetson for the past decade, said that "he took us from being a regional institution in the '70s to being an international institution" today.

As an example of this, she cited his work in drawing in more California applicants.

"He had the idea of starting a regional office in California, and the seeds of that idea that he planted in the late 1970s have grown," Cochran-Fikes said. "Now, California is the state that sends us the largest amount of applications."

Elizabeth Spegele, another regional director of admissions, agreed with Cochran-Fikes on the important role Stetson has played as dean.

"I just finished my first year here, and I had a fantastic year," she said. "Dean Stetson is really, truly knowledgeable in this field and brings that knowledge to every single interaction."

And Stetson will bring his knowledge to his new role as a national consultant to other colleges and universities on admissions.

"Hopefully, I have learned a lot and can be helpful" at other universities, Stetson said.

A committee headed by President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels will conduct a search for a replacement.

"As hard as it may be to follow him, he shows us that the greatest deans of admissions are the ones who can help us chart the university's future, who don't just respond to whatever trends or fashions are out there right now, but are able to partner with the rest of the university's leadership to envision how we want Penn to look in the future," Daniels wrote in an e-mail. "What we're looking for in the next dean of admissions is someone who has that same kind of vision."

Still, Stetson noted multiple times that the progress that Penn admissions has made over the past 29 years could not have happened if it hadn't been for his staff and successive administrations.

"The leadership of the University has been overwhelming supportive and has helped this great university advance to where it is today," he said.

On that note, Cochran-Fikes added that "every institution needs good leaders and Penn has been lucky to have Dr. Rodin and Dr. Gutmann, but when they write the history of Penn, they have to have Lee's name in there too. He's done a great deal for this institution . and will be missed."

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