Lela Clark hired as admissions director for UNCP

Lela C. Clark is joining a winning team as director of admissions at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

With enrollment at UNCP up over 45 percent in just three years, the veteran admissions manager will keep what works and fine tune the rest.

"A major reason for the success at UNCP is the hard work of our admissions team, and a comprehensive recruitment advertising mix," Clark said. "There is also an excellent plan in place that Jackie Clark (vice chancellor for Enrollment Management) created when she led this office."

Lela Clark brings to the Office of Admissions her local roots and her experience in the competitive arena of recruiting for distance learning programs at Old Dominion University.

"Lela is an excellent addition to the admissions team at this stage in our recruitment history," Jackie Clark said. "It is time for fresh leadership with new ideas to add to a solid recruitment program whose constant challenge is continued improvement. I'm confident that Lela will provide this important leadership."

Clark comes to UNCP from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., where she served as coordinator of admissions for distance learning programs with a student population of approximately 6,000. She is finishing her Master's in Higher Education Administration at ODU at a satellite campus in nearby Smithfield, N.C.

A Fayetteville native, Clark is a graduate of Douglas Byrd High School and UNC-Chapel Hill. In her first weeks on the job, she said she learned that UNCP lives up to its billing for delivering education with a "personal touch."

"I had heard about the "personal touch,' and now I see first-hand that this is a student-centered educational environment," Clark said. "Personal attention is a good thing in higher education, especially for freshmen. Personal attention is also something that many universities cannot or do not deliver."

Clark said UNCP is a good place to be at this time.

"I'm fortunate to be coming into this position at a time when so many wonderful things are happening," Clark said. "The Admissions Office is seeing a significant increase in the number of inquiries and applications received. The word is spreading that UNCP is not only a great place to be, but also a great place to get a high quality education."

"I know this area, and I thought it would be a good place for me to use and expand on the skills I have acquired," she said. "I look forward to being a contributing member of the team at UNC Pembroke and to working with others across campus in meeting the goals and mission of the university."

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