Nissel Named Vice Provost, Marketing and Enrollment Depts. Merged as Part of Administrative Restructuring

Among various administrative changes, Dean of Students Dr. Chaim Nissel will be promoted to vice provost of student affairs and the Marketing and Communications Department will be merged with the enrollment team, President Ari Berman announced in an Aug. 7 email to university faculty. This restructuring comes in light of  Senior Vice President (VP) Josh Joseph’s upcoming departure from YU in September to begin as executive VP and chief operating officer (EVP/COO) at the Orthodox Union.

Nissel will now work in the Provost’s Office under Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Selma Botman. According to Berman’s email, Nissel will be responsible for the areas of “student success, including student life, residential life, counseling and health, athletics, academic advising, support services and career services.”

First arriving at YU in 1998, Nissel served as director of Housing and Psychological Services. In 2001, he was appointed associate dean of students and was promoted to university dean of students in 2012. 

“I am excited to work with Provost Botman and our academic colleagues, along with students and the student affairs team, to further enrich the student experience and foster student success,” Nissel told The Commentator.

Doron Stern, former VP of communications, will lead the newly-merged Marketing and Enrollment Department as vice president. “This shift places the entire marketing, communications, recruitment, and admissions process under one roof to better ensure accountability and results,” Berman explained in his email. Additionally, all enrollment services for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as international student activities and student finance, have been grouped under this department. Chief Enrollment Management Officer Chad Austein will be reporting to Stern.

Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel Andrew Lauer will now oversee YU’s high schools, Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA) and Central, under Heads of School Rabbi Josh Kahn and Bracha Rutner, respectively.

The email also confirmed that YU is searching for a new EVP/COO to replace Joseph. In the interim, the heads of facilities, human resources, information technology and special projects will report to the President’s office.

These changes were not announced to students as of press time.

“While the world will never be the same,” Berman wrote, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic that has the university beginning the academic year online, “knowing that we have the right people in the boat, all rowing in the same direction, gives us great confidence that we will reach new levels of success in the future.”

Photo Caption: Former Senior VP Josh Joseph (left), newly-appointed Vice Provost of Student Affairs Dr. Chaim Nissel (middle) and newly-appointed VP of Marketing and Enrollment Doron Stern (right).

Photo Credit: Yeshiva University