Washington & Jefferson College names inaugural Director of International Recruitment

Continuing its commitment to growing its international community, Washington & Jefferson College has named Kristin Crosby, former Associate Dean of Admission and Coordinator of International Recruitment at Bates College in Maine, as its inaugural Director of International Recruitment.

“Over the past five years, W&J has dramatically increased its study abroad and international exchange program opportunities, and this position reflects the College’s interest in, and commitment to, continued expansion of its global connections,” said Alton Newell, Vice President of Enrollment at W&J. “We welcome Kristin to the campus community.”

Crosby’s experience in international recruitment also includes serving as assistant director of admission and coordinator of international recruitment for Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She will also be W&J’s regional director for New England.

“I welcome the challenge of laying the ground work to build an international community from the ground up and to promote Washington & Jefferson College to international students and colleagues in the international school community,” Crosby said. “W&J’s history, small size and close community, and numerous global programs, will appeal to the international student market.”

At Bates College, Crosby oversaw all phases of international admission, from recruitment to selection to enrollment. This past year, Crosby said, Bates received more than 1,100 applications from non-US citizens ─ an increase of 27 per cent from the year before.

Crosby said China and India will be the first two countries she will target and hopefully visit this fall.

“Both countries really value education, and U.S.-bound students typically are well prepared for the rigors of college-level work,” Crosby said. “This is an excellent time to introduce students to W&J, because the opportunities at many other liberal arts colleges are shrinking and the opportunities in their countries are also very limited.”

Crosby admits there are some challenges to getting international students to enroll at W&J. One challenge, she said, is that W&J is relatively unknown in the international school arena, simply because W&J hasn’t traveled internationally to recruit. Secondly, there is the location, as many international students seeking liberal arts colleges typically look at schools in New England. The third concern is funding, since many international students need some financial assistance to attend a US college.

“So many of the international students come from large cities, large schools where they are used to being a number and a face in a crowd. They light up when they hear that they can make a difference on a campus, be known, teach others about their culture, and be an individual,” Crosby added.

A native of New Jersey, Crosby holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brown University and Harvard University, respectively.

Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a national liberal arts college founded in 1781. Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional liberal arts curriculum emphasizing  interdisciplinary study and independent student work.

Kudos from Scholarships for USA

Scholarships for USA said it was delighted to hear of Kristin Crosby’s recent appointment as inaugural Director of International Recruitment at Washington and Jefferson College, a nationally acclaimed private liberal arts school since 1781.

Priyanthi and Dissa came to know of Kristin when she was the Associate Dean of international admissions of Bates College Maine where she accepted two of their students (Sulochana Dissanayake ’09 and Massid Carder ’11) with top scholarships.

In 2006 Kristin accepted the Dissanayakes’ invitation to visit Sri Lanka – the first-ever visit by a Bates official – where she visited many high schools both in Colombo and Kandy and had a rare night ride on an elephant at Millennium Elephant Foundation at Pinnawela.

Scholarships for USA said it was very happy to assist Kristin recruiting stellar students to Washington and Jefferson and that it was excitedly looking forward to welcoming her to Colombo in October.