Christopher Connor is Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at the University at Buffalo (UB), The State University of New York’s flagship and a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), where he leads university-wide strategy for enrollment growth, access, and student recruitment. His portfolio spans undergraduate and international admissions, financial aid, enrollment analytics, marketing and communications, and student enrollment services. An internationally recognized expert in enrollment management, Connor has helped position UB as a leading destination for domestic and international students while navigating significant demographic and global enrollment challenges. Under his leadership, UB has grown its entering first-year class by approximately 1,400 students in two years to more than 5,500 students, while consistently maintaining overall university enrollment above 30,000.
Connor has nearly three decades of experience in higher education and has held progressively senior leadership roles spanning enrollment management, graduate education, student systems, and institutional transformation. Prior to becoming Vice Provost, he served as Senior Assistant Dean and Chief Enrollment Officer for Graduate Education in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he led significant graduate enrollment growth and strengthened the school’s domestic and international recruitment strategy.
His practitioner research has helped advance graduate enrollment management as a distinct area of institutional strategy. Through the Defining Graduate Enrollment Management research project and related work, Connor has contributed frameworks for organizational structure, enrollment planning, recruitment strategy, and institutional coordination that have informed graduate enrollment practice in the United States and internationally.
His contributions to higher education have been recognized with professional honors at the university, system, national, and international levels, including recognition as one of The PIE’s “50 Voices of North America” in 2024 and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Connor also contributes to the international higher education community through the European Association for International Education (EAIE), where he serves as a mentor and trainer.
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