Joan T. McDonald, Senior Vice President
As
the Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management at Drexel University,
Joan McDonald oversees the enrollment of approximately 9,000 new students
each year. She joined Drexel in 1996 as Director of Undergraduate Admissions
and in 2000 was promoted to the position of Dean of Enrollment Management.
In 2003, McDonald was appointed Vice President, and in 2004 she assumed
oversight responsibility for the University's $350M financial aid program.
She was promoted to Senior Vice Provost in 2009. She also oversees
the Enrollment Management Creative Group, which annually wins a number
of national awards for recruitment communications.
Since McDonald's appointment in 1996, undergraduate full-time enrollment at the University has more than doubled, and the academic quality of enrolling undergraduates has increased significantly. The University now draws more than 30 percent of its undergraduates from outside of its region, across the United States and internationally. The 16th largest private nonprofit university in the nation, Drexel is home to more than 21,000 students on three campuses in the Philadelphia region, a satellite campus in Burlington County, New Jersey, and a center for graduate study in Sacramento, California. For the sixth consecutive year, Drexel has been named one of the best national universities by U.S. News & World Report. McDonald also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Education where she teaches a popular course in enrollment marketing, and she frequently speaks regionally and nationally on trends in the enrollment management field.
McDonald serves on the boards of directors for Campus Philly, the Delaware Valley Science Fair, and Philadelphia Futures. She is a member of the National Association of College Admission Counselors, the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling, and the American Marketing Association.
Prior to joining Drexel, McDonald held administrative positions at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the University of Chicago. She holds a graduate degree in higher education administration from Loyola University Chicago and an undergraduate degree from Marquette University. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, McDonald now resides in Haddonfield, New Jersey.