Susan Donovan sometimes gambles on young people. In her job as Syracuse University’s dean of admissions, her wagers can pay off.

Donovan recalled one student who was rejected for admission a few years ago who showed her a spark of persistence. The student asked to meet her in person for an interview, then glowed with passion for SU, Donovan remembered, so much so that the student’s mediocre grades seemed less important.

After informing the student that the university was going to change the original admissions decision, Donovan asked the student to not embarrass her by doing poorly.

The student not only graduated but was offered a chance to earn a master’s degree at Columbia University, and soon after began teaching in Harlem, Donovan said.

‘Those are the kinds of stories that happen quite often,’ Donovan said, ‘when you can look beyond the numbers and see potential and drive and a real eager personality.’

Those student successes mean a lot to Donovan as she nears retirement in August after 35 years at SU. Donovan’s peers said they have admired her passion for her job, her hard work to better the admissions office and how she connects with students.

Donovan admitted she never envisioned herself working at the university, let alone as dean of admissions. When she came to SU in 1975 as an assistant director in the admissions office, Tolley Hall was the admissions building, Newhouse II had just been built, the chancellor was Melvin Eggers and Jim Boeheim was in his final year as assistant basketball coach for the Orange. 

Donovan studied to get her graduate degree in advertising while she was working at the university. She earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from SU as well. She said she was and still is a true Orange fan.

Donovan was working for the Syracuse mayor when she was approached to work at SU. After four years at the university, she was promoted to associate director and, in 1986, was named director of admissions. Associate dean of admissions and financial aid was Donovan’s last title before becoming dean of admissions in 1999.

When Donovan was associate director of admissions in 1980, her son, Dave Donovan, an alumnus from the Class of 1992, was 10 years old and delivered newspapers each morning. 

His routine started with bringing the papers inside, rolling them up with rubber bands and then heading out on his bike to throw them on lawns around the neighborhood. There were no sick days, but one day he was too ill to go out on his route. So his mother, without being asked, walked outside at 6 a.m., got the papers that were lying on the driveway and came in to start rolling them.

Together, mother and son rolled the newspapers, and then Susan delivered them.

‘I think it says something about her dedication — she’s a pretty selfless person,’ Dave Donovan said.

Dave said his mother leaving SU is bittersweet, and he believes it’s best to end on a high note. 

‘I think she has the next chapter of her life ahead of her,’ he said. ‘And I think it’s going to be a good next chapter for her, too.’

Dave said that in today’s job market, staying in one job for three to five years is considered a long time. He said he believes there is something to be said for his mother’s presence at SU for 35 years and the longevity of her time in one place.

‘Thirty-five years is long enough to do one thing,’ Susan said.

Though she didn’t see herself doing college admission work, she said she did know she wanted to travel as part of her job.

‘A lot of things I thought I’d like to do involved travel,’ Donovan said. ‘When I was a student at SU, I spent a semester in Italy, and that just completely changed my perspective on everything. So in my future was an idea that I’d have a job where I’d be traveling.’

And she did. This past year she traveled to Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia to recruit students and facilitate programs for admitted students. In Puerto Rico, Donovan created recruitment programs for students and their families in their native language, Spanish, so they could fully understand the information being presented to them. She also facilitated programs with current students interacting with prospective international students.

‘She used so many different ways to increase Puerto Rican recruitment,’ said David West, associate director of admissions.

Twelve years ago, when recruitment in Puerto Rico began, the university only had about five to six first-year Puerto Rican students, Donovan said. This past fall 48 first-year students and 10 transfer students from Puerto Rico enrolled in the university. Next year, Donovan said, the university expects more than 50 first-year students from Puerto Rico.

Donald Saleh, vice president of enrollment management, has been working with Donovan for more than nine years. Saleh said he and Donovan have focused on common goals for the university and have played off each other’s strengths over the years.

One of Donovan’s biggest accomplishments in Saleh’s opinion is the removal of paper applications for the university. He said she worked to get the staff adjusted to the switch.

‘The fact that we moved away from a paper application, nowadays that doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but it was,’ he said.

Saleh explains Donovan’s accomplishments as something that cannot be completed in one day or one year but have come into play from ongoing commitment to the university.

‘It’s 35 years of experience, it’s important relationships with alumni, guidance counselors across the country, and the deans and faculty across campus,’ Saleh said in regard to what the university will lose come August. ‘We will lose, in addition to that, the personal commitment that she has to both excellence and equity.’

For Donovan, there is no typical workday, but there are certain expectations she has coming into work. A routine day on the road for Donovan would be visiting four high schools, conducting interviews and meeting with high school counselors. In the office, answering e-mails from parents and students, talking with alumni and dealing with issues are all in a day’s work.

‘There are always meetings and planning and organizing, so it’s just a very diversified set of responsibilities and something new all the time,’ Donovan said.

She often deals with disappointed students who haven’t been admitted to SU or have been admitted but are facing financial difficulties. Donovan said her office deals with a lot of problem solving.

Donovan is proud of developing a professional and effective staff in the admissions office, she said. She said she is pleased with the relationship her office has with other colleges and other offices within the university. 

Donovan said her office has been able to increase diversity on campus significantly. Minority students made up 32 percent of last year’s incoming class. This number has risen from less than 20 percent in years past, Donovan said. The average GPA of the incoming freshman class has risen to a 3.7, which Donovan said shows a higher quality of students matriculating at SU.

Donovan deflected credit for many of her office’s accomplishments to her staff.  

Nonetheless, Donovan has been honored several times throughout her career and has received numerous awards from the National Association of College Admission Counseling. Last year she received the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence. Donovan described the award as the icing on the cake of her career.

‘She is really an extraordinary dean of admissions,’ said Eric Spina, vice chancellor and provost. ‘She is very effective with young people thinking about SU and their parents, which is a very important part of the relationship with the university. She is warm and knowledgeable and very understanding of things.’

When Spina was dean of engineering, he said, there was a specific goal to increase the number of engineering students. He worked with Donovan and others at the university to put together a program to do so.

Donovan attacks each project she’s assigned with great ideas and passion, Spina said.

‘She’s thrown herself totally into this position, which for her is a way of life,’ Spina said. ‘It’s always been a joy to work with her. She’s very positive, understanding, supportive and really is someone that loves the university and what it stands for.’

Steve Secora, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he considers Donovan to be very good mentor. She was his boss for eight years when he worked in the admissions office, and he said he now considers her a peer.

‘She is encouraging and uplifting,’ Secora said. ‘I think the university is losing someone who really knows the institution. She’s been here for so many years, so I think we’re going to be losing someone who really knew how to get the message across to prospective students.’

Donovan said she has enjoyed the interesting yet challenging work she has done in the admissions office in terms of qualitative relationships and quantitative results that are visible to others.

‘My nephew once said to me something like, ‘Aunt Susan, you’re the only one in the family who seems really excited and loves what she does,” Donovan said. ‘And I really have. There are always ups and downs in every job, but it’s been a great experience and I just hope that I can continue to stay in contact with all the people that I’ve admired so much here.’

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Published on April 6, 2010 at 12:00 pm