Bristol Community College names Vice President of Student Services and Enrollment Management
Bristol Community College has named Kate O’Hara as Bristol's next Vice President of Student Services and Enrollment Management. Kate is currently Dean of Bristol’s Attleboro Campus and has been serving on the Interim Student Services and Enrollment Management (SSEM) Leadership team.
As the college’s next Vice President of Student Services and Enrollment Management, Kate embraces the diversity of Bristol’s college community, recognizing the uniqueness of each student’s experience and the need for comprehensive and equitable support services at all campus locations. Having worked in higher education for her entire career, she understands the many challenges facing students today as well as the need to reinforce the value of a college degree and the limitless possibilities that come from being a Bristol graduate.
She will provide strategic leadership, vision and administrative direction to all college initiatives related to student enrollment, persistence and student services. She will also be responsible for facilitating a college culture that attracts, enrolls and retains a culturally and socio-economically diverse community and advances the college's mission and vision by facilitating student engagement and success.
Kate will work with Bristol’s SSEM team to help students navigate the wide range of services available to help them be successful both inside and outside of the classroom. She looks forward to helping students feel confident, safe and welcomed at Bristol, especially as the college increases face-to-face operations at our locations. She will also be increasing efforts to assist Bristol students and their families better understand the college’s enrollment processes through individualized counseling and support. Specifically, she values the importance of helping students understand how to pay for college by demystifying the financial aid process. She begins her new role on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.
Over the past several months, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kate has also served on the Interim SSEM Leadership team, overseeing the college’s enrollment areas, including admissions, college access, enrollment centers, financial aid, registrar and testing. Throughout her roles at Bristol, she has worked to foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across departments through strong collaboration and communication. Her new role will allow Kate to continue building upon the foundation and community efforts she has brought to the college’s SSEM area.
Kate joined Bristol in January 2020 as Dean of the Attleboro Campus after working as Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Bay State College in Boston. Throughout her career, she has led a broad range of teams including student affairs, residence life, student involvement, counseling and disability support services, student success and wellness, and student financial services.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in management from Boston College, her Master of Business Administration from Boston University and her Master of Education in higher education administration from Suffolk University.
Kate is thrilled to continue to lead Bristol Community College in this new capacity and looks forward to working closely with the SSEM department and all of the dedicated faculty and staff throughout Bristol’s college community.
The college will be announcing further details regarding the Dean of Attleboro position in the coming weeks.
