Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado announced March 6 in a campus-wide email that the college is beginning its search for a new vice president for marketing and enrollment strategy.

The position will focus on developing a successful enrollment strategy for the college. Gerard Turbide previously held the position of vice president for enrollment management but resigned in January. Dave Maley, director of public relations, said in an email that Turbide’s previous position has been revised to create the vice president for marketing and enrollment strategy position. The announcement of this search comes almost a week after it was reported that the college is asking departments across the college to cut their budgets due to lower projected enrollment numbers for the 2019–20 academic year.

Enrollment has been declining over the past five years. The projected enrollment for the 2019–20 fiscal year — which is anticipated to be 5,665 students — is the lowest in the past five years; In the 2015–16 fiscal year, the college had 5,979 students.

Collado said the college is looking for someone who can further the college’s enrollment strategy and success in complex ways.

“We are looking for a vice president who brings to the college a deep understanding of the complex interplay between the institutional and national research that informs our enrollment efforts and the critical importance of intentional, innovative marketing,” Collado wrote. “These are two vital, interconnected areas and we will ask this new leader to envision and advance a symbiotic, creative, and trailblazing enrollment and marketing strategy, rooted deeply in data and analytics.”

In the email, Collado described the search process for the new position as one that will be “very ambitious and expedited.” Maley said the search chairs will be meeting soon with the consultants to discuss the search process and would not respond to repeated inquiries about whether or not the search would involve input from the broader campus community.