Alumni Council director chosen

Associate College Dean Harriet Joseph will leave the College of Arts and Sciences office October 6 to become director of the Alumni Council on Admissions, she announced yesterday. Joseph will replace former Alumni Council Director Audrey Bedford, who retired earlier this year. Joseph has been a part-time advisor to students in the College for six years, serving primarily as the athletic eligibility advisor. "I love working in the advising office," she said. "I've kept a lot of athletes in school. But I'm ready for something more challenging." As director of the Alumni Council on Admissions, Joseph will be responsible for guiding relatives of University alumni through the admissions process, according to Jennifer Wollman, assistant director of the Council. "We review all the applications of alumni children and grandchildren -- last year we read 820," Wollman said. "We also interview over half of those students." Joseph will sit in on meetings of the Admissions Office's selection committee and advocate accepting alumni children to the University, Wollman added. "Basically, we're supposed to make the process a little bit more personal," Wollman said. "With 15,000 people applying to Penn, it can get overwhelming. We can set up meetings on campus, overnights and tours." Joseph said she is excited to begin her new job. She will take command of the Council on October 9. But she admitted that she does understand everything she would like to know about the position. "It feels very good," she said. "It's kind of a validation of my abilities. But I'm not sure of how the whole thing works." She added that she applied for the job with Bedford's encouragement. "Audrey Bedford is a friend of mine, and she suggested that I submit my resume," Joseph said. Bedford had directed the Council for 10 years, and worked in Development for 15 years prior to that. Wollman said Bedford felt it was time to retire. Bedford was unavailable for comment.

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