For Immediate Release
Contact: Patricia Samson, Public Relations, Dean College
508-541-1668 or 508-615-0839 (cell)

Dean College Names John Marcus Vice President of Enrollment Services and Marketing

Higher Education Veteran Succeeds Retiring Vice President Jay Leiendecker

Franklin, Mass. – February 10, 2010 – Dean College has appointed John F. Marcus as Vice President of Enrollment Services and Marketing. Marcus will have responsibility for enrollment services, college-wide marketing including public relations and communications and admissions. Marcus succeeds longtime Dean College vice president Jay Leiendecker, who recently retired after having held the position for the past 12 years.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone with John Marcus’ vision, leadership skills and outstanding record of accomplishment in both the corporate and higher education arenas,” said Dean College President Paula M. Rooney, Ed.D. “He brings nearly three decades of experience in admissions and financial aid to his new role, and will continue the development of the enrollment services and institutional marketing programs so ably led by Jay Leiendecker.”

Reporting directly to President Rooney, Marcus will help to achieve optimal recruitment, admission and financial assistance for new and transfer students and will also serve as a member of the President’s Senior Management Team.

During the past 15 years, Dean College’s enrollment has more than doubled; financial assistance has grown to cover 100 percent of the student body; and, approximately 98 percent of Dean students who graduate with an associate’s degree transfer to a four-year college. The progress has come as campus grounds and technology have been expanded and improved; new baccalaureate partnerships and programs have been launched to complement the college’s established associate degree programs; and, the College’s long-term finances have been solidified, with the endowment having grown by nearly 400 percent since 1995.

Marcus comes to Dean College with extensive experience in higher education and the student loan industry, having served as senior vice president at TERI (The Education Resources Institute), the largest non-profit guarantor of private education loans and a leading provider of college access programs. From 1994 to 2007, Marcus held several senior positions, including president, with Nellie Mae, a Sallie Mae company and the 10th-largest student loan provider in the nation.

Marcus also has held positions in admissions and financial aid at Fitchburg State College, Westfield State College and North Adams State College (now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts).

Long active in higher education circles and in the community, Marcus has served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators; as co-chair of the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority Advisory Committee; and as an elected member of the New England Council of The College Board. He also has served as a trustee of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; the Sage School; and the Notre Dame Mission Volunteer Corps. In addition, he has served as president of the North Adams State College Alumni Association.

Marcus holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from North Adams State College. He and his family reside in Walpole, Massachusetts.

About Dean College

Dean College is a private residential college founded in 1865 and located in Franklin, Massachusetts, just 45 minutes from Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. The College has a full time equivalent enrollment of approximately 1,050 students. Dean College awards associate degrees for 15 academic majors and baccalaureate degrees in Arts and Entertainment Management and Dance, in addition to several on-campus bachelor degree options through a partnership with Suffolk University. Outside of the classroom, Dean College fields almost a dozen intercollegiate varsity teams, including the nationally-ranked Dean College Bulldogs football team, which this year competed in the Valley of the Sun Bowl. In addition, more than 25 clubs and organizations meet on campus, ranging from Phi Theta Kappa to the Ski and Snowboard Club. For more information, please visit www.dean.edu.