The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine welcomes Austin Jennings as the new assistant director of admissions and recruitment in the Office of Academic Affairs. Austin’s appointment was effective August 24. He comes to the college from the Office of the Registrar where he had worked since 2018, most recently as a degree audit specialist. In that role he worked with advisors and department heads in order to write the programming for, and ensure the functionality of, the myPurduePlan tool. Prior to that, he served as the registration and records team lead, handling the intake and initial processing of registration appeals and the coordination of the office’s student workers and interns among other responsibilities.
In his new position, Austin will manage the college’s admissions processes for the undergraduate and professional degree programs. He also will oversee the PVM Recruitment Ambassadors as well as represent the College at recruiting events.
Austin’s position is in the Office of Admissions & Recruitment, which is a fairly new unit in the college that branched off from Student Services. Located right across from Student Services in Lynn 1186, the unit heads up the admissions and recruitment efforts for the DVM Program, Veterinary Nursing Program, and the college’s two early admissions programs, which are Veterinary Scholars and VetUp! The office also facilitates college visits for prospective students. Austin is the third member of the Admissions and Recruitment team, joining Lori Stout, the director of admissions and recruitment, and Barb Cochran, administrative specialist. “As our applications have grown substantially over the last several years, we were able to grow the department and add an assistant director position,” Lori said.
Born and raised in Lafayette, Austin worked for a number of years in management positions in the restaurant industry before joining the Purdue staff. This year, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business – Human Resources from Western Governors University. Austin has a daughter who is currently attending Ivy Tech with plans to transfer to Purdue to pursue an education degree. Besides spending time with his friends and family, Austin enjoys golfing, fishing, kayaking, and watching Purdue sports. He also considers himself a self-proclaimed Star Wars nerd, and as such, is likely to find some kindred spirits in PVM!
Please help extend a warm welcome to Austin!