Girard named MSU dean of enrollment

John Girard, Ph.D., has been named the new dean of enrollment management at Minot State University, according to Gary Rabe, vice president for academic affairs. Girard has served as the director since Aug. 15 as well as providing consulting and management the previous summer for the enrollment services office.

After extensive study and review of best practices, the enrollment services office at MSU will be reorganized into the Office of Enrollment Management and will be directed by Girard. The Office of Enrollment Management will bring together the offices of recruiting, admissions, financial aid and international programs.

"We want the Office of Enrollment Management to have first contact with students as recruits, work to admit them, provide and direct student retention activities, and support them until they walk across the stage four years later at commencement as proud graduates of MSU," said Rabe. "John Girard is the perfect person to lead this new effort for Minot State University. He has done an outstanding job as director of enrollment services and has the energy and vision to move Minot State University forward in this new direction."

This integrated approach is a new approach for Minot State University and is the result of review of how the best campuses across the country are organized to recruit and retain students, said Rabe.

"I am absolutely delighted to take on this exciting new challenge. We are extremely fortunate to have an outstanding team of professionals who are dedicated to helping students achieve their academic goals," said Girard. "The energy, enthusiasm and dedication of this team are contagious, and I am very proud to be working with them. I look forward to continuing our efforts to move Minot State University toward Vision 2013."

After more than 24 years as an officer in the Canadian Forces, Girard came to MSU in 2004 as an associate professor in business administration and business information technology. He held a variety of positions at the university before joining enrollment services including the positions of chair of the business information technology department and director of the Job Corps Executive Management Program. Girard is engaged in community activities as a member of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce's Junior Achievement program and Military Affairs Committee

In addition to his doctoral degree, Girard earned an M.B.A. from Touro University International, California, and a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

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