Occidental College has named Vincent T. Cuseo as its new vice president for admission and financial aid. He succeeds Bill Tingley, who is retiring this month after 43 years in the college admission business.
Cuseo came to Occidental in 1999. He served as senior associate dean of admission and director of transfer admission before becoming the College’s dean of admission in 2001. As dean, his accomplishments include helping to increase the student applicant pool by more than 100 percent, starting a student interview program, and tripling the number of alumni involved in the admission volunteer program.
"I am delighted that Vince has agreed to take the reins that Bill so ably held for 12 years," said Occidental President Jonathan Veitch, who thanked the College’s search committee for its hard work. "Vince’s knowledge of Oxy and his acumen and skill in managing complex admission and financial aid processes will help us continue to produce outstanding results in the years ahead."
He added that Cuseo’s extensive administrative experience and vital relationships with the college counseling community helped reposition the College over the last decade. The appointment is subject to approval by Occidental’s board of trustees, and Veitch will ask the board to approve it later this month. Cuseo will begin his new role as vice president on Feb. 1.
"I have a profound commitment to Occidental’s values," Cuseo said of his new position. " I look forward to further advancing Oxy's unique stamp on the world of higher education in concert with President Veitch and the rest of the College community."
Prior to Occidental, Cuseo spent six years as Grinnell College’s admission director. He also served as Stanford University’s associate director of undergraduate admission, and held admission positions at Boston College and Santa Clara University. Cuseo graduated with a BA in philosophy from Fordham University, and earned a master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.
A national search for the critically important post began in October. Co-chaired by President Veitch and human resources director Richard Ledwin, the committee was composed of Charlene Liebau, a College trustee; athletics director Jaime Hoffman; Barbara Avery, vice president for student affairs and dean of students; Brett Schraeder, director of enrollment management; associate dean of admission Sally Richmond; Eric Newhall, vice president for academic affairs and ECLS professor; associate sociology professor Dolores Trevizo; and physics professor Alec Schramm. The Washington, D.C.-based firm Academic Search assisted the committee to ensure that it could interview a number of highly qualified and diverse candidates.
