AMHERST — Dale R. Hendricks has been named the new director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, effective May 16. He is currently senior associate dean of admission at Amherst College.
Hendricks has more than a decade of experience in higher education admissions and nearly eight years of supervising and managing staff at Amherst College. He also held admissions posts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and Holyoke Community College and worked with the TEAK Fellowship, a program that helps economically disadvantaged and underrepresented intellectually talented New York City students gain access to top public, parochial and independent high schools.
“As a first-generation college student, having access to a quality education fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life,” Hendricks said. “I am excited to work with the admissions team to build bridges to opportunity so that students may experience the transformative power of a world-class UMass education. I’m proud to be joining the UMass community.”
In his new post, Hendricks will be responsible for management and leadership of the university’s undergraduate admissions office. He will also help to define the university’s undergraduate recruitment and enrollment goals and ensure that they are met.
Under the leadership of the associate provost for enrollment management, James Roche, Hendricks will help develop campuswide recruitment strategies and initiatives, and work with senior campus administration to implement methods of attracting and retaining a highly qualified and diverse student body. He is also expected to build and maintain contacts with students, parents, high schools, community colleges and organizations throughout the Northeast.
In his current role at Amherst College, which he has held since 2014, Hendricks serves as a member of the executive leadership team. He also mentors members of the admission team and supervises 15 staff members, and is responsible for search, marketing and enrollment management.
As Amherst College’s coordinator of diversity outreach and associate dean of admission from 2008 to 2011, Hendricks participated in the recruitment and selection of new students for enrollment in the college. He organized the diversity Outreach Recruitment program, which identified promising diversity candidates, and served as a consultant for admissions publications relevant to diversity recruitment.
He also managed on-campus programming, the black alumni volunteer network and Amherst’s partnership with the QuestBridge program, a nonprofit that links high-achieving, low-income students with educational opportunities at universities across the country.
He also was a member of the Amherst College Strategic Planning Committee and participated in the College Board’s Enrollment Leadership Academy from 2012-13.
Hendricks received his bachelor of arts degree in African-American studies and mathematics from Wesleyan University in 1999. He is a member of the New England Counselors of Color Bridging Access to College, the New England Association for College Admissions Counseling and the College Board.