Administrative history

Boston College created the Office for Enrollment Management in 1974-75 to integrate the previously separate functions of recruitment, financial assistance, research, and retention. The concept had no established name in the profession at the time. The office reported to the Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculties.

In spring 1975, John J. Maguire was appointed Dean of Admissions, Records, and Freshman Financial Aid to lead the unified structure, with the Directors of Admissions, Financial Aid, and the University Registrar reporting to him. In a September 1975 interview with The Heights, he suggested "Dean of enrollment management might be another title for the job" - one of the earliest known uses of the phrase. The following month, The Colleague listed "Enrollment Management" as a formal topic in a university-wide Management Development Program, alongside Financial Management and Planning. Maguire resigned in 1983, and the position was eliminated, with the Directors of Admissions, Financial Aid, Enrollment Management Research, and the Registrar's Office reporting directly to him.

The Dean for Enrollment Management position was formally established during the 1986-87 academic year. Robert S. Lay, previously Director of Enrollment Management Research at BC from 1979 to 1985, was appointed Dean for Enrollment Management in 1988, returning from a comparable role at Suffolk University. He reported to the Academic Vice President and Dean of Faculties. The 1989-90 Fact Book confirms this structure, with the Director of Enrollment Management Research, the Director of Financial Aid, and the University Registrar among the offices reporting to him.

In 2014, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley created the newly established position of Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, elevating the function to report directly to the Provost. BC alumna Nanci Tessier, then vice president for enrollment management at the University of Richmond, was appointed to the role. She oversaw the offices of Enrollment Management, Undergraduate Admission, and Student Services including Financial Aid. At the time of her appointment, Quigley noted in a press release that "enrollment management as a field first emerged here at Boston College four decades ago", an institutional acknowledgment of BC's foundational role in developing the profession. John L. Mahoney, Jr., a BC alumnus who had joined the Undergraduate Admission office in 1984 and been appointed Director of Undergraduate Admission in 1990, was named Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid in 2018 and subsequently succeeded Tessier as Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, reporting directly to the Provost and Dean of Faculties. The 2019–20 Fact Book reflects this structure, with the Vice Provost overseeing the Director of Undergraduate Admission, the Director of Financial Aid, the University Registrar, the Director of Student Financial Strategies and Enrollment Analytics, and the Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Enrollment Management.

He retired in 2023 after 39 years of service. As of 2026, the Vice Provost position has not been filled.