October 23, 2019

Thought Leader: Access, equity and radical hospitality in higher education

Dawn Medley

As associate vice president for enrollment management, Dawn Medley is responsible for Wayne State’s domestic and undergraduate admissions, the campus “one-stop enrollment services shop,” customer relations management and campaigns and all Title IV financial aid and merit scholarships totaling over $330 million annually. As a first-generation college student herself, Medley is always seeking new, innovative ways to reach today’s students and make college accessible to all. She is the architect of Wayne State’s innovative Warrior Way Back program, which has become a national model for re-engaging – and reenrolling – students who left the university with debt, but no degree.

Her areas of expertise include:

Communication life-cycle creation
Financial aid packaging and student debt forgiveness
Adult student reengagement
Geo-demographic analysis with predictive modeling
Leveraging technology and partnerships for student success

“At Wayne State, we have discovered that there is no silver bullet to helping our students learn “how to college.” But we now know about several solutions that can work in tandem to help our students succeed. Success is not just about how students learn in the classroom. It’s also about how students interact with the institution.