Special Recruitment Program Created by Diana Pounds A recent reorganization in the Student Affairs office will bring staff involved in recruiting top students and other targeted student groups together in a new unit and strengthen financial aid services, said Tom Thielen, vice president for student affairs. "The new unit -- to be called the special recruitment program -- reflects our commitment to putting more effort into recruiting specific groups of students, such as high- achievers or children of alumni," Thielen said. Joining the unit will be Mary Jo Banwart, an Alumni Association staff member and recruiter in the alumni Legacy Program, and Cyndi Bonus, an Honors Program staff member who recruits National Merit and National Achievement scholars. There also will be two new positions in the special recruitment unit -- a coordinator for the unit and a staff person to work on the Hixson Opportunity Awards program. The Hixson program, begun this year with a $5 million gift from the Lied Foundation, was named for Lied trustee Christina Hixon. It provides more than a hundred $2,500 ISU scholarships annually to Iowans who might not otherwise attend college. As part of the reorganization, Earl Dowling, who has been serving as assistant vice president for enrollment services and director of financial aid, will drop the enrollment services portion of his duties. "Earl essentially has been doing two jobs since 1989, when the two positions were merged," Thielen said, "and he has served Iowa State very well. But in the past five years, it has become increasingly obvious that we can't expect one person to oversee two such vital areas as recruiting and financial aid." Thielen said Dowling chose to remain in financial aid, an area in which he is nationally recognized. Through Dowling's efforts, Iowa State was selected in 1993 as one of the first participants in the direct lending program, in which the federal government provides loans to students through schools rather than private lenders. The financial aid office will be part of what Thielen terms an "enrollment" cluster under the reorganization. The cluster will consist of four units, each with its own director or coordinator. The other three units are admissions, orientation and retention, and the newly created special recruiting program. Initially, Thielen will directly oversee the "enrollment cluster" units while he studies the new organizational structure. Thielen then will determine if other steps need to be taken to improve recruitment. One option he said he will consider is appointing a coordinator of the enrollment cluster. _____ contact: Diana Pounds, Internal Communications, (515) 294- 4845 updated: 7-7-95