DIVISION OF STUDENT LIFE & ENROLLMENT
APPOINTS ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENROLLMENT
June 2, 2025
The Division of Student Life and Enrollment has appointed Mona Lucas as the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment (AVPE), effective May 24, 2025. This new title reflects the incorporation of additional responsibilities she assumed on an interim basis in May 2024 into her previous role as Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Policies and Strategic Initiatives, a position she held for seven years. In her expanded role, Mona Lucas will continue to provide strategic leadership for Undergraduate Admissions and Student Financial Aid Services, ensuring that recruitment, admission, and financial aid efforts support the university’s goals for enrollment, retention, and graduation.
Mona has been a part of the university administration for 20 years, starting as the Director of Student Financial Aid Services from 1994 to 2001, and later from 2012 to spring 2017. For the most recent years (2017–2024), she served as the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Policies and Strategic Initiatives—an independent contributor role with primary responsibility for advising the Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment (SLE) on policy and legislative matters pertaining to Enrollment Management. In this role, she also served as the Enrollment policy liaison to the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE); responded to inquiries from legislative representatives via the Governmental Affairs Office; and provided both written and spoken testimonies for legislative consideration. She served as the Enrollment point person for the UConn Foundation on scholarship criteria development, donor stewardship, and donor relations, and managed relationships with the presidents of Hartford Promise, New Haven Promise, Waterbury Promise, and Today’s Students – Tomorrow’s Teachers. Additionally, she led multiple strategic initiatives as directed by the Vice President for SLE. These duties will remain in Mona’s portfolio.
Lucas serves as an active member of the CT College and Career Readiness Work Group (CT Postsecondary Student Success), the Hillel International Campus Climate Initiative, the University Compliance Committee, the Retention and Graduation Task Force (co-chair), the Strategic Enrollment Planning Committee, the Survey Governance Workgroup, and the Enrollment Committee of the University Senate. Most recently, she was elected to serve a three-year term on the College Board New England Regional Council Board, and she has agreed to serve as faculty advisor for the UConn Youth and College Chapter of the NAACP, effective Fall 2025.
Lucas began her career as a Financial Aid Peer Counselor while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Kansas State University. Since then, she has held several financial aid management and leadership positions at two-year and four-year public and private institutions, as well as a role in the Higher Education Practice Group of a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. Mona earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Kansas State University, a Master of Education in Administrative and Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, and leadership and management certificates from Cornell University and Harvard University.
Mona looks forward to continuing her contributions toward advancing the university's strategic enrollment objectives. Please join me in congratulating her and thanking her for her continued leadership.
For more information, contact: Janice Canniff at janice.canniff@uconn.edu