Appointment of Dr. Edward Mills as Vice President of Strategic Enrollment

Monday, April 24, 2023, 9:00am

TO: Campus Community
FR: Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee, President, Sonoma State University
RE: Appointment of Dr. Edward Mills as Vice President of Strategic Enrollment

I am pleased to announce my appointment of Dr. Ed Mills as Vice President of Strategic Enrollment for a three-year term. As you know, Dr. Elias Lopez is retiring from his position as Senior Associate Vice President in June with the universal thanks of the whole campus for building a strong team and a bold and visionary Strategic Enrollment Management Plan, 2023-2027 to increase our student population and move us closer to our CSU target.

I have opted to elevate the lead position in Strategic Enrollment to a Cabinet-level position, reporting directly to me, to emphasize the importance of enrollment management to the future success of the campus and to ensure that the campus leadership team works interdivisionally to support recruitment and retention.

Dr. Mills comes to Sonoma State with more than 30 years’ experience in student affairs, enrollment management, and related software development. For the last 16 years, he has served in two key positions at Sacramento State University, first as the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Support and for the last nine years as Vice President for Student Affairs and Chief Enrollment Officer. In those positions, he led Sac State’s efforts to achieve federal designation as a Hispanic-Serving and API-Serving Institution. He has also led the campus’ GI 2025 initiative, developed marketing and communication strategies, and partnered with Academic Affairs on block enrollment, advising, and other student success initiatives. Prior to arriving at Sac State, Dr. Mills served as Vice President for Enrollment Services and Chief Enrollment Officer at Cleveland State University and in a variety of enrollment- and financial aid-related leadership roles with Datatel, Inc.

Dr. Mills will lead enrollment management efforts at Sonoma State and will supervise the Offices of Records and Registration, Outreach and Recruitment, and Admissions, working closely with Strategic Communications, the Advising Center, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Advancement, among others, to continue and deepen efforts to maximize enrollment. Dr. Mills will start on August 20, 2023. During the summer (June 1 - August 20), Provost Karen Moranski will supervise the units in Strategic Enrollment.

We look forward to welcoming Dr. Mills to our campus and our leadership team in the fall. We are making progress on enrollment, and I appreciate the efforts that faculty, staff, students, and administrators have made to increase our student population.