New vice president of enrollment at Catawba

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 3:06 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

Catawba College News Service

Stressing the value of a private college education is important, Catawba College’s new Vice President of Enrollment Lois Williams says.

“Catawba is a gem of a school. It has dedicated faculty and staff and great facilities,” she said. “This type of educational experience is truly transformative.”

Williams joined Catawba Jan. 1 after spending five years at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. While at Stetson, she served, at various times, as associate dean, acting dean and dean of admissions and financial aid.

Prior to Stetson, she worked for two years at Pfeiffer University as director of financial aid and for eight years at her undergraduate alma mater, Emory & Henry College in Emory, Va. There, she held a variety of positions: admissions counselor, transfer counselor, director of financial aid and registrar.

She later attended Radford University and received a master’s degree in counseling and human development with an emphasis in student affairs.

She credits her years at Emory & Henry with helping shape her career path. It was doubtless her own personal college search process that affected her choice of career.

As a first-generation college student, Williams received a great deal of support from her family, friends and admissions staff to make the dream of attending college a reality.

“My parents didn’t always know what course work to suggest, but they always knew the right questions to ask and the right person to ask,” she said.

“As a junior in college, I began working as a work-study student in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid,” Williams said. “I loved this job!”

She enjoyed seeing the applications come in from the various students who had visited and, in many cases, she had given tours around campus. Being able to share her college experience and her college selection process were key factors for her.

“Picking a college isn’t rocket science, but it is one of the more important decisions that you make in life,” Williams said. She wants to make sure students and families know Catawba will work with them throughout the admissions process as well as the sometimes overwhelming financial aid process.

“In my short time at Catawba, I have learned one great thing about it,” she said. “There is an incredible sense of community. We are all interested and committed to each and every student’s experience here.”

Williams, who loves the mountains — like the ones she grew up in — and names Jane Austen as her favorite author, says she wants people to know that she is “approachable and a person of integrity and character.” She also is hard-working, a characteristic she says she is sure she inherited from her parents, who have “incredible work ethics.”

Williams and husband, Jamie, now live in Salisbury.