Team Biographies

President Jim Scannell's special area of expertise falls in recruitment - from mentoring admissions leaders to building new demand through data analysis and the development of strategic communications. Jim's administrative career spanned over 25 years of leadership in admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management at Boston College, Cornell University, and the University of Rochester.

In addition, Jim has authored numerous publications on enrollment management including On Choosing a College that is Right for You (Peterson's Guides), The Effect of Financial Aid Policies on Admission and Enrollment (The College Board), Working Together: A Cooperation between Admissions and Financial Aid Offices (The College Board), and Shaping the College Experience Outside the Classroom (University of Rochester Press).

Since partnering with Kathy Kurz to start the company in 1996, Jim and Kathy have consulted at over 250 institutions nationwide on over 350 projects. They are regular contributors to University Business and Jim speaks at national conferences and seminars such as the Snowmass Institute for Enrollment Management, the College Board, and NACAC, etc.

Kathy's special area of expertise is in developing strategic financial aid and retention programs, designed to enhance enrollment and net tuition revenue results. A former Associate Vice President at the University of Rochester and Director of Financial Aid at Earlham College, she pays special attention to ensuring that the solutions recommended are practical, detailed, and implementable.

Kathy contributes regularly to University Business and speaks at national conferences and seminars such as NACUBO, Academic Impressions, and CIC.

Mary joined Scannell & Kurz in April of 2009. She consults on a variety of enrollment management topics, both strategic and operational in nature – from strategic financial aid analysis and strategic enrollment planning to financial and admissions operations reviews. She previously served as Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research and Planning as well as the Dean of Enrollment at St. Bonaventure University, where her responsibilities included undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid and institutional research. Prior to that position she served 14 years as the Director of Financial Aid.

Mary holds a B.S. degree in mathematics and an M.B.A, both from St. Bonaventure University.

Jennifer Wick joined the Scannell & Kurz team in May 2011. She provides consulting on a wide range of enrollment management topics from admissions to retention. Jennifer comes to S&K from Clarkson University where she served for nine years as Director of New Student Financial Assistance. Her experience encompasses both financial aid and admissions responsibilities, specializing in balancing financial aid strategies with enrollment targets and retention concerns. She has conducted enrollment data analysis, managed regional territories, and created successful financial aid strategies for targeted demographics. In addition, Jennifer has a keen interest in retention, which includes predictive model development to identify at-risk first-year students.

Jennifer earned a B.S. and M.S. in Physics, both from Clarkson University.

Bill came to S&K from Furman University, where he most recently served as Vice President for Enrollment. His leadership in enrollment management included overseeing offices of admissions, financial aid, planning and institutional research, and student employment. During this period, Bill successfully implemented a strategic plan designed to increase enrollment, increase selectivity, and decrease financial aid expenditures. Prior to his role as Vice President for Enrollment, Bill served as the Director of Planning and Institutional Research. In that position he supported student recruitment and retention efforts with financial aid optimization studies, enrollment projections, and admissions and retention studies.

Before Furman University, Bill served in leadership positions at Rhodes College and DePauw University. He has been active in professional organizations such as the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) consortium, College Board, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges, and the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Bill earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and an M.A. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Aaron came to S&K from Trinity International University (TIU), where he most recently served as the Director of Undergraduate Admissions. While at Trinity, Aaron championed a collaborative and data-driven approach to student recruitment reaching out university-wide in an effort to grow enrollment.

Aaron has also been active in professional organizations overseeing and teaching at NACCAP’s annual "Sessions for New Admissions Counselors (SNAC)" conference as well as being a member of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), and the National Association for College Admissions Counselors (NACAC). He has also co-presented research at the annual National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ (NASPA) conferences on the role of curiosity in high achieving students.

Aaron earned a B.A. in Communications from Cedarville University and a M.S. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Dayton. He is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Higher Education Leadership through Azusa Pacific University.

Tim Schuldt came to S&K in July 2009. His responsibilities include managing and servicing the Financial Aid Strategy Tool (FAST) and the Scannell & Kurz Online Reporting Environment (SKORE), as well as providing strategic analysis for clients. Before joining the team, he was an Equity Research Intern with Credit Suisse in London, a Client Representative at Canandaigua National Bank, and a Financial Services Representative with First Investors Corporation.

Tim graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2008 with a B.S. in Mathematics, a B.A. in Economics, and a minor in Statistics.

Dan joined the S&K research team in March 2011. Prior to joining, he worked as a data analyst/contractor at Bausch & Lomb in the Global Quality Department where he was an analyst. He was responsible for interpreting large data sets and writing summary reports, as well as updating and revising existing ones.

Dan graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and concentrations in Physics and Criminal Justice.

Linda joined the research staff at S&K in April 2012. She was previously employed by Harris Interactive where she was responsible for the design through analysis phases of market research studies for clients across a range of industries. As a survey methodologist, she developed expertise in choice modeling, segmentation analysis, weighting and representativeness issues, and qualitative interviewing.

Linda earned a M.S. in Applied Statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in Biology/Management from Earlham College. She is a member of the Rochester Chapter of the American Statistical Association.

Kim joined the research staff at S&K in January 2013. She was previously employed by Austen Group, where she was responsible for econometric and predictive modeling, and curriculum and cost analyses. Her consulting work follows a 15-year career in institutional research.

Kim earned a Ph.D. in Sociology (Applied Demography & Statistics) from Bowling Green State University. Her 1997 dissertation, Estimating First-Time Enrollment for the Private, Highly Selective National University: A Market Demography Application of Logistic Regression-Based Price Sensitivity Analysis, has been presented as a half-day workshop at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research.

Shari joined the S&K research team in March of 2013. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt certified Statistician and SAS programmer with extensive experience designing experiments, developing models, and analyzing data. She worked for many years as an Engineering Statistician at ITT Excelis where she provided end-to-end statistical consulting for studies of space-based imaging systems. More recently, she worked in the Office of Institutional Research at the University of Rochester as an Information Analyst where she compiled data and performed statistical analyses on a wide variety of federal, consortia, and internal data sources.

Shari earned a M.S. in Applied Statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Kettering University.

Carol joined Scannell & Kurz in March, 2013. She began her career in higher education teaching math and statistics before transitioning into enrollment management analysis, first at Purdue and later at Miami University. Her particular interest is Markov Chain flow models. At S&K her duties include analyzing client data, creating reports, and building predictive models.

Carol earned an M.A. in Mathematics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in Statistics from Purdue University.

Rita has been the Office Manager since Scannell & Kurz opened in 1996. She is very familiar with all facets of the company and all the clients we serve. Rita supervises the administrative assistants, coordinating report production to ensure delivery in an accurate and timely manner. In addition, she is responsible for human resources functions; handles payroll, health insurance, 401k, and related issues; and manages billing and accounts receivable.

Sue provides administrative support to Rita and staff.  Sue's responsibilities include report production, Web searches, benchmarking projects, scheduling meetings, answering phones, making travel arrangements and weekly report generation and follow-up.

Stephanie joined Scannell & Kurz in July 2010. Prior to joining S&K, Stephanie was employed at IBM, with her most recent responsibilities including auditing and processing of external and internal contracts for Global Business Services. At S&K Stephanie provides administrative support, including report production, benchmarking, web searches, presentation generation, as well as reviewing reports.

Lynne joined Scannell & Kurz in June 2012. She also provides administrative support to Rita and staff. Lynne’s responsibilities include report production, Web searches, benchmarking projects, scheduling meetings, answering phones, making travel arrangements and weekly report generation.