Welcoming New Team Members – October

Office of Admissions and Recruitment Please join OAR in welcoming two new team members to the Office of Admissions & Recruitment. Megan Thompson, Admissions Counselor Megan joined our team on Monday, October 18. She earned a BA in Urban Studies with a minor in Educational Studies from Barnard College and an MEd from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Education Policy and Management. For four years, Megan worked in various roles with the Schuler Scholar Program, a college access program in Chicago, where she worked with low-income and first-generation students going through the college search process. For the past year, she has worked for Galin Education, where she oversees the College Essay Coaching program and has become very familiar with helping students to craft their “Why Wisconsin” essays. We’re looking forward to further engaging with Megan’s enthusiasm for supporting students through the college search process. Thank you to the search committee (Emilie Dickson, Nicole Shelley, Joshua Rybaski, Dana Gilbertson, and Froylan Hernandez) for your hard work on the counselor search this summer/fall.   Vince Moua, Senior Manager of Diversity Recruitment and Precollege Engagement Vince is joining us from the San Francisco Bay Area where he’s worked in admissions at Stanford, his alma mater. At Stanford, Vince was a key player in advancing diversity. He led the effort to disaggregate race/ethnicity data important for more intentional admissions reviews, strengthened relations and developed best practices for working with campus cultural/identity centers, and reimagined diversity recruitment and engagement with prospective, admitted, and pipeline program students—all of which contributed to enrolling two of Stanford’s most diverse classes in recent history. Vince identifies as Hmong-American and served as the AAPI liaison for Stanford. He also worked with the events, marketing, and yield team, and served as the territory manager for Wisconsin & Minnesota. Prior to admissions at Stanford, Vince worked internationally “on the other side of the desk” as a college counselor in Seoul, South Korea. Fun Fact: Vince was a cast member on Season 39 of Survivor. He is excited to hit the ground running and “contribute greatly to the continuation, expansion, and implementation of recruitment efforts that enhance UW–Madison’s commitment to Wisconsin and accessibility to underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds.” Special thanks to the Search Committee: Jane Duffstein, Greg Offerman (Financial Aid), Kia Hunter (PEOPLE), and Warren Scherer (Gender & Sexuality Campus Center).