AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst has named Mike Drish its new Director of First-Year Admissions. He comes to UMass Amherst from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), where he served for the past five years as deputy director of undergraduate admissions.
Drish joined the Enrollment Management team on June 1. In his new role, he will be responsible for helping to define the university’s undergraduate recruitment and enrollment goals, as well as seeing that those goals are met. Reporting to Jim Roche, vice provost of enrollment management, Drish will lead and set strategic direction for first-year recruiting staff and oversee daily operations of first-year admissions, including all first-year admissions selection processes.
“I am excited to share the incredible academic experience and community UMass Amherst offers with prospective students, build on the recent successes of the first-year admissions team, especially in these challenging times, and play some role in moving the university forward in the years to come,” Drish said.
Among his critical job duties, Drish will work to establish partnerships with Enrollment Management staff, as well as colleagues throughout campus, to coordinate diversity recruitment and retention efforts. Drish said, “I look forward to collaborating with the admissions staff, colleagues across the university, and members of the community to bring students from all backgrounds to share their stories and build a diverse class at UMass Amherst.”
“I’m excited to have Mike as part of the Enrollment Management team,” said Roche. “Mike takes leadership of a first-year admissions team that has produced very impressive results the past several years, despite significant challenges. We know those challenges will continue to grow. With his wealth of admissions experience at several large public and private research universities, I’m confident Mike will help UMass Amherst continue to meet those challenges and to achieve its goal of becoming one of the best universities anywhere.”
During his two-decade career in higher education, Drish has held leadership positions at both public and private institutions across the country in addition to UCLA. They include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northeastern, Vanderbilt and Purdue universities.
He is an alumnus of two of those schools: Drish earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in education, specializing in organizational leadership, from Vanderbilt. He has held memberships in several professional organizations including the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), New England ACAC, Western ACAC, Western ACAC Inclusion Diversity, Equity, and Access, and the Association of International Education Administrators.
Of his return to New England, Drish said, “I am thrilled that my path has led me to UMass Amherst.”
UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.