President Hynd announced the departure of Winthrop faculty member Eduardo Prieto from his position as Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management to faculty and staff on Jan. 13.
“When I first arrived at Winthrop, I learned quickly that Winthrop’s senior leadership team is comprised of an astute, competent and enthusiastic group of professionals,” Hynd said. “They have challenged and supported me as we have persevered
together through this pandemic.”
“Those circumstances make it difficult to announce that one of our leadership team is leaving the Winthrop family. Today the University of Mississippi named Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management Eduardo Prieto the inaugural vice chancellor for enrollment management to provide leadership to 70 professionals in admissions and financial aid beginning in March of this year. Joining the Ole Miss team is a fascinating opportunity for Eduardo, but a great loss for Winthrop.”
Prieto joined the Winthrop faculty in 2014, coinciding with the creation of the Division of Access and Enrollment Management, which sought to combine the Admissions and Financial Aid offices to help students create enrollment management strategies to attain “high quality, affordable education,” according to the Winthrop University website.
Born in Oklahoma, Prieto had worked in enrollment management for over 21 years at four institutions, assisting recruitment, financial aid and budget management efforts prior to joining Winthrop University, and received a Master of Arts in communication and media studies from the University of Oklahoma in 1995, according to his LinkediIn profile.
“At Winthrop, Eduardo led a new division pairing admissions and financial aid. His team set new university records in fall 2020 and fall 2019 for number of freshman applications, recruited three of Winthrop’s nine largest classes (fall 2019, fall 2016, and fall 2015), established a new university record for highest average composite ACT score of 23 in fall 2018 (exceeded state of South Carolina overall average of 18.3), and achieved the highest Winthrop composite SAT average in the last 20 years in fall 2017 at 1084 (exceeded state of South Carolina overall average of 1064),” Hynd said.
“In transfer, out-of-state and minority recruitment Eduardo’s division set records as well, and Winthrop is fortunate he has assembled a hard-working, creative staff who work together to not only get students in the university’s door but help them on the aid front to remain enrolled and achieve their degrees.”
Prieto will continue to operate in his position as Vice President of Access and Enrollment Management until sometime in February. Hynd stated that a nationwide search will be performed to look for a suitable candidate to replace his position, and that an interim replacement would be selected sometime prior to Prieto’s departure.
“Please join me in wishing Eduardo every success and happiness in this new phase of his professional life. We will miss him and [his] wife Tracy and their dedication to the Winthrop community,” Hynd said.
Photo courtesy Winthrop University
