Dean College is pleased to announce Adam Keyes as the new Vice President for Student Success & Campus Life and Paul Vaccaro as the new Vice President for Enrollment Services.

Reporting to President Kenneth Elmore, Keyes will be responsible for student success programs, campus life and community engagement to support student learning and growth. He joins Dean from Clark University, where he most recently served as director of strategic initiatives. At Clark, Keyes progressed from the director of residential life & housing to senior associate dean of students and deputy Title IX coordinator. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Keyes also took on the role of director of COVID testing and operations, establishing and running Clark’s testing center and operations. He held residential life positions at Endicott College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University before arriving at Clark in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Fitchburg State College and a master’s degree from the University of New Haven.

With more than 15 years of experience in student life, enrollment, operations and project management, Keyes looks forward to developing meaningful, equitable experiences for students and the institutional processes and policies needed to sustain them.

“Fundamentally, I want the area of student services and campus life to impactfully shape students’ lives by being a parallel educational experience to the curricular offerings,” said Keyes. “Students come here to learn; academically, socially and emotionally. If properly implemented, that learning is equally important and memorable.”

“Dean has been well positioned to help students become the best version of themselves during the undergraduate educational years,” he added. “The support services, campus engagement opportunities and caring faculty and staff are the perfect combination of resources to help challenge and grow students. I’m really looking forward to being a part of that impactful transformation.”

Also reporting to President Elmore, Vaccaro will oversee areas related to admissions, enrollment operations, admissions marketing and admissions information systems to achieve enrollment goals. With over 25 years of experience in enrollment management, Vaccaro returns to Dean as vice president for enrollment services. He previously served as assistant vice president of enrollment services and dean of admissions at Dean College from 2004 to 2009, before moving on to vice president roles at Regis College and Newbury College. Most recently, Vaccaro was the associate vice president for enrollment at Anna Maria College. Vaccaro is also a past recipient of the prestigious New England College Board

 Distinguished Service Award for leadership, innovation and advocacy in higher education. He is an alumnus of Suffolk University, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an MBA.

“My experience in leading enrollment teams at small colleges in Massachusetts and understanding the challenges that institutions face in today’s competitive higher ed marketplace has drawn me to promote a holistic approach to enrollment management,” Vaccaro said. “Dean is a collective community that genuinely cares about its students and seeks to put their needs first and foremost, and when the opportunity presented itself to be part of that culture again, it was a very easy decision for me to make.”

“I am very much looking forward to joining President Elmore’s leadership team and helping to move the College forward in a thriving baccalaureate mindset,” he added. “Above all, we remain about providing educational access and opportunity while instilling a confidence and belief in our students that I feel few colleges can approach. To be able to contribute again to this type of mission is both exciting and inspiring.”

To learn more about Dean College, visit www.dean.edu