Staffing Announcement: Richard Levin, Executive Director Enrolment Services and University Registrar

From: Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost
Sandy Welsh, Vice-Provost, Students
Date: May 21, 2020
Re: Staffing Announcement: Richard Levin, Executive Director Enrolment Services and University Registrar

After almost a decade of exceptional leadership, Richard Levin has decided to step down this fall from the position of Executive Director, Enrolment Services and University Registrar.  During his tenure, the University of Toronto saw strong growth in applications, enrolment, and student financial aid, as the former Admissions and Awards department evolved into what is now Enrolment Services. 

Beginning in September 2020, Richard will transition into a new role serving the University as Senior Strategist, and will report to Professor Sandy Welsh, Vice-Provost, Students. In this new role, Richard will provide expertise related to strategic initiatives including matters related to enrolment and data governance.

A process to fill the leadership role in Enrolment Services will begin shortly.

We will have a chance to acknowledge Richard’s outstanding leadership as Executive Director and University Registrar at a future date, whether virtually or in-person. For now we would like to highlight a few of Richard’s key accomplishments, some of which were underscored in his Chancellor’s Award for Influential Leadership in 2014:

• Creation and renewal of structures, processes, and principles to enhance coordination of student recruitment, admissions, and financial aid across divisions, bringing the vast majority of these functions online, including the launch of Award Explorer, a University-wide awards management system; Slate, a new recruitment and admissions system; and a secure digital transcript;
• An increase in U of T’s share of first choice OUAC ‘101’ applicants among Ontario universities to 16.9%, the highest level since 2002;
• An increase in annual student financial aid from $147 million to $228 million;
• Leadership of a successful proposal for the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program and leadership on the Pearson Scholars initiative;
• Redesign of the prospective student experience, including redesigned websites, publications, and videos, Visitors’ Centre modernization with interactive touch screen technology, online event registration and check-in, and same day follow ups with attendees; and
• Implementation of a data-driven approach to recruitment and admissions, including introduction of admissions data cubes, other analytical tools, and bi-annual applicant surveys.

Please join us in thanking Richard for his outstanding service and commitment to U of T in his current role, and to welcome him to his new role as Senior Strategist.