College Admission Deans to Visit FWCD on February 22
The College Counseling Office is pleased to announce this year's College Colloquium program is from 6:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 22, in the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center. Parents and guardians with students in grades 8-11 are invited to this informative, enjoyable presentation. The panel of experts will address national trends in college admission and provide useful perspectives for students and parents who are approaching the college search process. We look forward to welcoming Jeff Blahnik, Vice President of the Division of Enrollment Management and Executive Director of the Office of Admissions & Recruitment at The University of Oklahoma; JT Duck, Dean of Admissions at Tufts University (MA); and Elena Hicks, Dean of Admission and Executive Director of Enrollment Services at Southern Methodist University (TX).
Blahnik came to The University of Oklahoma in 2014 and has served as Director of Admissions, Executive Director of Admissions and Recruitment, Associate Provost for Enrollment Planning and now Vice President for the Division of Enrollment Management. In 2015, Blahnik was charged with merging two departments and forming the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, which handles the admission, recruitment, enrollment forecasting and marketing for domestic and international undergraduate prospective students. In 2019, Blahnik was named Senior Associate Vice President, which includes oversight of the Office of Financial Aid (which includes the Student Financial Center and Scholarships Office) and the Office of the Registrar, as well as Enrollment Marketing and Communication, Veteran Student Services, and the Office of Admissions and Recruitment.
He graduated with degrees in political science and philosophy from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then earned his Juris Doctorate from Marquette. Previously, Blahnik has worked in financial aid at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and in admissions at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Duck has served as Dean of Admissions at Tufts University since 2019, where he oversees admissions to the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.
Over the last 20-plus years, Duck has held senior admissions positions at Haverford College, Brandeis University, MIT, and Swarthmore College. He also served as Director of College Counseling at Boston University Academy. He is a first-generation-to-college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts from Haverford College and a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Since the spring of 2017, Hicks oversees all activities in the Southern Methodist University Office of Admission, including admission for first-year, transfer and international applicants. She works closely with SMU Public Affairs to develop the University’s marketing messages, and with faculty, staff and alumni to recruit high-achieving undergraduate students from across the U.S. and around the world as SMU continues to rise in national prominence.
With more than 30 years of education experience, Hicks has considerable knowledge of student recruitment, selective admission and family involvement. She currently serves as Chair for the Coalition for College, a 160-member group of universities dedicated to the advancement of limited-income, under-resourced, and/or first-generation students to help make the college process accessible and financially attainable.
Prior to her tenure at SMU, she served as Dean of Admission at Loyola University Maryland where she successfully developed and implemented recruitment strategies that resulted in a significant increase in first-year applications and an increase in the enrollment size of the entering class during her nine-year tenure. While at Loyola, she also served as President of the National Catholic College Admission Association, a group of 145 colleges and universities committed to serving students, parents and counselors. Prior to her role at Loyola, Hicks spent seven years as the Director of Admission for Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio, and 11 years at Texas Christian University in roles of increasing responsibility that ultimately led her to be named Assistant Dean of Admission and Director of Information Systems.
College Colloquium provides a unique opportunity for students, parents and guardians to hear directly from the leaders and decision-makers in the world of college admission. Not only are these deans and directors setting admission policies and guiding the admission process at their own institutions, but they also are part of national conversations about the state of college admission.
