Liz Kinsley, who formerly served as the Office of Undergraduate Admission’s communications director, started a new position as the University’s director of undergraduate admissions July 15, according to a Northwestern news release.

Kinsley takes on her new role after years of experience in college admissions — she has served on Northwestern’s and Yale University’s senior admissions teams since 2005, and has experience in the senior marketing unit at the University of Chicago.

Kinsley earned her B.A. from Yale in English and music. She also attended New York University, where she earned a master’s in interdisciplinary humanities, and earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern in rhetoric and public culture.

Associate Vice President of Student Outreach Christopher Watson announced the appointment, praising Kinsley’s leadership skills and experience.

“Having worked with Liz for the past four years, I know she is a talented administrator and an innovative strategist committed to our goals of a diverse and intellectual undergraduate student body,” Watson said.

Some of Northwestern’s admissions goals each year include increasing the amount of Pell-eligible students, international students and first-generation college students in each incoming class. In the past 10 years, the University has enrolled 9 percent more Pell-eligible students, 5 percent more international students, and 5 percent more first-generation college students, bringing the current percentages to 21, 11 and 13 percent, respectively.

Kinsley has direct experience in improving the diversity of enrolled students — at Yale, she piloted initiatives to bring the most diverse class in Yale’s history at the time.
“It’s a dream to lead admissions for Northwestern — an institution I love, with remarkable strengths to share,” Kinsley said in a Northwestern news release. “To be able to shape the future of this community at the helm of a smart, hardworking and ever-fun team of colleagues I already know and respect makes this new role all the more thrilling.”

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