Acadia University President and Vice-Chancellor Ray Ivany announced today that Susan Mesheau has been appointed the University’s new Vice-President Recruitment and Student Services. Ms. Mesheau’s appointment is effective March 10, 2014.

“I want to welcome Susan to Acadia and to our community, where I know she will make an immediate and positive impact,” said Mr. Ivany. “Susan’s proven record of achievement and commitment to high quality, high engagement undergraduate education makes her an ideal fit for Acadia. She understands the aspects of our campus that make us unique within Canada and her leadership experience will enable her to work with our faculty and staff for the benefit of our students.”

Ms. Mesheau is a graduate of Mount Allison University and throughout a 23-year career with the New Brunswick Department of Economic Development and Tourism she developed expertise in marketing, advertising and communications. She joined the University of New Brunswick in 2001 as Director, Recruitment and Integrated Marketing, where she helped UNB achieve success in increasing its undergraduate enrolment. Her “Making a Significant Difference” brand awareness program was the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) 2003 Circle of Excellence Award Winner for Institution-wide Branding. In 2008 she was appointed UNB’s Executive Director of U First: Integrated Recruitment and Retention, where she led the University’s efforts to recruit and retain students. She has authored articles and delivered professional development presentations to industry professionals on promoting student success and developing post-secondary recruitment and branding strategies. She was awarded the 2011 CASE Crystal Apple for Excellence in Teaching and UNB’s 2012 Macauley-O’Sullivan Administrative Service and Innovation Award. 

“I am looking forward to joining Acadia, one of very few Canadian institutions that have been able to retain an institutional focus on students while developing an extraordinary reputation for excellence in faculty research and teaching,” said Ms. Mesheau. “I have always been impressed by the hard work and innovation demonstrated by Acadia’s recruitment team and their ability to attract outstanding students year after year. On the student service side, there are few institutions that are as well-respected as Acadia for placing the overall well-being of students at the forefront of their concerns, and for building strong bridges to their surrounding communities. I am hopeful we can continue this momentum and that we can continue to achieve success within a very competitive environment that has high performance expectations of every aspect of our institution.”