University President Frederick Lawrence announced in a August 8 campuswide email that he appointed Andrew Flagel to the position of senior vice president for Students and Enrollment.

Flagel, who previously served as dean of admissions and associate vice president of enrollment development at George Mason University, will begin serving in his new role at Brandeis on Sept. 1, according to Lawrence's email.

Lawrence wrote, "Andrew impressed the search committee and all those he met on campus with his intelligence, his passion for higher education and his engaging manner."

The post of senior vice president for Students and Enrollment has been vacant since Jean Eddy's departure for the position of senior vice president for Students and Enrollment at the Rhode Island School of Design at the end of September 2010.

The duties of the Division of Students and Enrollment have since been fulfilled jointly by Vice President for Enrollment Keenyn McFarlane and Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer.

Flagel said he is excited and energized by his new position. "In all the institutions where I have worked or consulted, [I have] never found an institution that excited me as much or aligned as closely with my values and beliefs as Brandeis," he said in an interview with the Justice. "Add to that the opportunity to join President Lawrence and help to bring into reality the vision that he has painted for the next phase of Brandeis' development, it's an incredibly exciting and energizing opportunity and one that I am anticipating greatly."

Flagel explained one goal that Lawrence and Provost-elect Steve Goldstein have discussed with him as "establishing a seamlessness in our service to students."

"The provost[-elect] and I have had a great conversation about the need to enhance the teams that we have in place to make sure that that set of services that you receive really starting from the moment of interest in Brandeis all the way through your relationship during your life seems more continuous and appears seamless to you," he said.

Flagel, who is active on Twitter, also expressed his commitment to social media. "I love being in touch with students across campus and being accessible to them. Not just with an open-door policy but with that kind of media access. So I intend, with the president's forbearance, to continue particularly on Twitter," he said.

The position of senior vice president for Students and Enrollment has changed following the Nov. 29, 2010 report of the Administrative Structure Advisory Committee to then-President-elect Lawrence and then-President Jehuda Reinharz, which evaluated the roles of provost and senior vice president for Students and Enrollment.

The committee, among other suggestions, strengthened the role of the provost and redefined the role of the senior vice president for Students and Enrollment, according to the November committee report.

"Working with the president, provost and other senior administrators, the senior vice president will focus on the recruitment, retention, quality of life and post-graduation outcomes for the entire student body," according to the committee report.

Departments reporting to the senior vice president will include Undergraduate Admissions, Student Financial Services, the Hiatt Career Center and the Student Life areas of other departments.

The Division of Students and Enrollment will also shift focus from primarily undergraduate services to include the needs of the graduate school population, according to the committee report.

The committee report additionally repeated the point that the senior vice president will work closely with the president, the provost and other senior administrators in carrying out the responsibilities of the Division of Students and Enrollment.

Lawrence and Reinharz accepted and announced these new guidelines in a Dec. 2, 2010 campuswide email.

The search for Eddy's replacement began in January 2011, according to a Jan. 28 campuswide email from Lawrence.

The committee, chaired by Senior Vice President for Administration Mark Collins, was comprised of students, faculty, administrators, a member of the chaplaincy and a university trustee. Two undergraduates, then-Student Union President Daniel Acheampong '11 and Rebecca Bachman '13, served on the committee.

According to Lawrence's email, the University retained Witt/Kieffer, an executive search firm, to aid the process of filling the position. According to Witt/Kieffer's website, it is "the preeminent executive search firm that identifies outstanding leadership solutions for organizations committed to improving the quality of life."

Witt/Kieffer is not the same search firm used in the provost and president searches, which also took place over the course of the last year.

Flagel was also the executive director for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference held at George Mason, which hosts 30,000 students from 140 countries, according to the conference's website.

Flagel graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in education, according to the conference's website. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University, according to BrandeisNOW.

The conference's website also states that Flagel served as director of admissions and recruitment at the University of Michigan-Flint and later as director of admissions and enrollment management for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Flagel also served as the regional director of admissions at The George Washington University.

According to BrandeisNOW, Flagel is a columnist for My College Options, a website for which he writes about the college admissions process.

Editor's note: This is an updated version of an article originally posted online August 8.