The University of Montana announced on Friday that it has hired a new vice president for enrollment and student affairs.

He is Thomas Crady, currently the vice president for enrollment management at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. University of Montana Vice President for Integrated Communications, Peggy Kuhr explained the emphasis on Crady's abilities in increasing enrollment.

When UM President Royce Engstrom announced his planned staff and budget cuts in November 2015, one of the proposals put forward was a new Vice President position specializing in increasing enrollment.

"We were searching for someone with experience in both student affairs and enrollment," Kuhr said. "Specifically topics pertaining to enrollment and recruitment strategies for the world of higher education, today.Tom has a great amount of experience in that field."

Kuhr emphasized the success that Crady showed in his previous position at Gustavus Adolphus College.

"In Tom's case, he was the vice president in charge of enrollment management at his current college since 2010, and has been able to increase international enrollment, undergraduate enrollment, and has a lot of ideas about recruiting today," Kuhr continued. "He also was doing similar work at several other colleges previously, and he worked in student affairs, which is really all about the student experience after they get to campus."

Crady will be replacing the retiring Vice President of Student Affairs, Teresa Branch, who has been at UM for 13 years. Crady will take up his duties in early July. As of the 2012 budget, Branch was paid $144,000 per year.

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