Temple’s head of enrollment abruptly resigns

Temple University’s vice president for enrollment and student success resigned abruptly this week after only 2½ years in the post.

Jose Aviles’ resignation is effective Dec. 2, the university said in a message to the campus Wednesday.

“It is very difficult to leave, but I have a life-changing opportunity that awaits me,” Aviles said, adding that he would share details when able. “Serving the Temple University community has been an extreme honor, as I am deeply grateful to have had the chance to fulfill the mission of Russell Conwell and expand access and opportunity to this world-class institution.”

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Temple did not respond to questions on why Aviles is leaving midyear, with the university in the midst of another application cycle.

“Jose has reimagined enrollment management at the university over the last couple of years, helping move us to a modern, technology- and data-driven approach that has delivered results,” Temple president John Fry and interim provost David Boardman said to the campus community.

They noted the university achieved growth in first-year enrollment the last two years, with this year’s group reaching a record high of 5,379.

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The university also under his tenure started the Temple Promise program, which makes tuition and fees free for first-time, full-time college students from low-income families who live in Philadelphia, and the Temple Future Scholars program, a mentoring and college-readiness program.

Aviles, who came to Temple from Louisiana State University, where he had served as vice president for enrollment management and student success since 2017, was recently promoted from a vice provost to a vice president.

He said in his statement that he “received great support from this university and its leaders” and would “continue to cheer on Temple from the sidelines.”

While Temple’s first-year class was strong, the school fell short of its initial overall enrollment projection by about 700 students, which translates to about $10 million in lost revenue.

The university had been estimating it would enroll a total of 30,100 to 30,300 students, which would have been its first enrollment increase since 2017.

Instead, enrollment came in at 29,503, down about 500 from last year and further declining from its high of more than 40,000 eight years ago. (That does not include enrollment on its Japan and Rome campuses, which increased. Including those campuses, Temple’s overall enrollment was over 33,000, a slight increase from last year.)

There have also been concerns about sophomore retention and a higher percentage of third- and fourth-year students not returning.

And in September, the Temple News, the student newspaper, reported that more than 25 admissions counselors, directors, and staff left the department or were laid off over the two years that Aviles led enrollment. Students experienced delays in receiving their admissions decisions, problems with credit transfers, and difficulty with advising and financial aid packages, the Temple News reported.

“I’m proud of the work that we’ve done,” Aviles told the Temple News at the time. “We definitely walked into a challenging time for admissions but when you look at what’s really happened in the last two years, I think I’m most proud of the foundation that we’ve set.”