Keenyn McFarlane, who had previously served as the assistant vice president and budget director for the Division of Students and Enrollment, has returned to Brandeis to serve as the vice president for enrollment, according to an e-mail to the Brandeis community from Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy. McFarlane, who recently worked as deputy chief financial officer for the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C., began serving in his new post on April 5, according to the e-mail.

In an interview with the Justice, McFarlane said that he replaced Frank Urso, who left after serving in the post since McFarlane's 2007 departure.

"In his current role at Brandeis, Keenyn will focus on division wide budget issues, oversight on the administrative side for student activity fees, and management of the enrollment drivers that impact University tuition revenue," Eddy wrote in the e-mail.

McFarlane said that in his previous post as vice president of students and enrollment he had "a lot of interaction with student groups, managed the resources and helped staffing decisions for the Division of Students and Enrollment [and] was the liaison to the University financial departments."

Being at Brandeis before has helped with his understanding of how the University works and to whom to turn to with a question or to get something done, said McFarlane.

As deputy chief financial officer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. McFarlane said that he was responsible for all the fiscal resources of the bureau, from formulating the budget to implementing it.

In his new post, McFarlane said that he is responsible for elements of admissions and enrollment as well as certain elements of his previous post as vice president of students and enrollment.

"What we have to look at is our capacity to deliver on whatever that optimal level of enrollment is," McFarlane said.

He explained that there is a lot of pressure on enrollment in terms of creating revenue and meeting academic standards and that, along with this pressure, the University must maintain and work to improve its ability to house, feed and educate students.

McFarlane said that the increase in the number of applications for the Class of 2014 and the fact that the University was able to accept a smaller percentage of applicants but still achieve the desirable class size is a good thing that means that Brandeis is a "desirable institution."

"It challenges people to want to do even better, and more in high school and not just better academically, but more from a social or community perspective, and that's what we want," he said.

McFarlane said that students have and remain most important to him.