Staff UpdatesOffice of Undergraduate admissions

The mission of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is to recruit, admit, and enroll entering classes whose intellect, talent, and variety of background and perspective contribute substantially to the academic experience of each student at the University; to the broader life of the University; and to the betterment of the state and nation.

Our office is glad and grateful to announce the recruitment of new colleagues and the promotion of several veteran colleagues to new roles. We look forward to working with you and with one another to serve our students, our university, our state, and our world.

New Colleagues

Betsy Lee, Assistant Director of Admissions for Communication, earned a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication with a minor in Business Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill. She began her career as Public Relation Intern for Duke University Medical Center and shortly accepted a position at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City where she advanced from merchandising, planning, and management to Director of Corporate Communications. She is conversational in Cantonese Chinese. She fills a position previously held by Allie Ahearn, who is earning a Master of Business Administration at the University of Colorado.

Mitzy González, Assistant Director of Admissions for Visit, earned a Master of Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Public Health from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She most recently served as Co-Director of Amigas en Salud in Chapel Hill, NC, where she promoted awareness of healthy lifestyles for Latinas in the Triangle area and served as a Social Work Student Ambassador for UNC-Chapel Hill. At the University of South Florida, she facilitated leadership roles for first-year students as part of the Emerging Leaders Institute. Mitzy is fluent in Spanish. This position was previously held by Melody Levy, who will assume another role in the office.

Michael Davis, Associate Director for Recruitment, earned a Master of Science in Communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA and a B.A. in History at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Prior to his current position, he served as Director of Communications and Marketing for the Enrollment Management & Student Success Division at Drexel University. In this role, he developed strategies to fulfill Drexel’s 15-year strategic plan. While at Drexel, he also participated in the Drexel Leaders 2020 program and co-chaired the University’s I-Forum for LGBTQ Affairs. In his new role in the Admissions Office, he will oversee all aspects of recruitment, including the work of the Visit, Yield, and Global teams. This position was previously held by Andrea Felder, who now serves as Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Florida.

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Allee Olive, Assistant Director of Admissions for Visit, earned a Master of Education in School Counseling and a B.A. in Public Policy from UNC-Chapel Hill. She most recently served as a Counseling Intern with Orange High School and as a Graduate Research Assistant with the UNC School of Education. Prior to this work, she served as Development Associate for Teach for America in Eastern N.C. and as an Adviser for the Carolina College Advising Corps serving over1,200 high school students in Chatham County, NC. Allee is proficient in Spanish. She fills a position previously held by Patty Baum, who will assume a new role in the office.

María Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Admissions for Yield, earned a Master of Education in Counselor Education and Student Affairs from Clemson University and a B.A. in Sociology from N.C. State University. She most recently served as Educational Adviser for the Talent Identification Program at Duke University. Prior to this work, she served as Graduate Student Intern for Advising and Support for the Department of Athletics at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC and as Coordinator for Student Life Services at American University in Rome, Italy. María is fluent in Spanish. She fills a position previously held by Melvin McDermott who assumed a counseling position at a charter school in Los Angeles, CA.

Montez Thomas, Assistant Director of Admissions for Yield, earned a Master of Education in School Counseling and a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from UNC-Chapel Hill. For the last five years, he served as a Counselor at Chapel Hill High School, where he was named Exceptional Children’s Staff Member of the Year for two years in a row. Prior to this work, he served Exceptional Children’s Teacher at Lakewood Elementary in Durham, NC. and as an English and Journalism Teacher at Providence School in Nicholasville, KY. In this role, he developed and coordinated Operation Home Stretch, a high school dropout prevention program.

Olivia “Hayes” Tilson, Assistant Director of Admissions for Evaluation, earned a Master of Education in Professional School Counseling from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA and a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill. For the last two years, she served as Admissions Counselor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Prior to this work, she served as Counseling Intern at Morgan County High School in Madison, GA, as Student-Athlete Academic Mentor at the University of Georgia, and as College Counseling Program Assistant at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, NC. She fills a position previously held by Yolanda Coleman, who is now the Associate Director of the Levine Scholars Program at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.

Olivia Miller, Assistant Director of Admissions for Yield, earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Boston University and a B.A. in Global Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill. Prior to this position, she spent five months in Colombia teaching English to disadvantaged students. Prior to this work, she served as Enrollment Services Advisor at Boston University and tutored pre-kindergarten and elementary school ESL students in Jamaica Plain, MA. A Pogue Scholar, while at UNC she conducted research on the educational experiences of Latino immigrants in North Carolina.

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New Roles

María Véjar, Assistant Director of Admissions for Communication, earned a Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from Instituto Técnico de Estudios Aplicados in Málaga, Spain and a B.A. in Broadcast Communications from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador. She most recently served as Communications Coordinator at El Pueblo, a Latino advocacy organization in Raleigh, NC. Prior to this position, she served as a television producer for Azteca America in Naples, Fla. She fills a position previously held by Julie Tucker, who assumed a position in strategic communications at the College of William & Mary.

Barkley Barton, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions for Evaluation, earned a Master of Science in Education from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, MA and a B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Before joining our office in 2012, he served as Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. In his new role, he will lead the office’s Special Talent Admissions for Athletics, Drama, Music, Creative writing, and ROTC. He will also be the lead for merit-based scholarships and assist with the management of seasonal reading staff. He will perform some of the duties previously handled by Jared Rosenberg, who is assuming a new role in the office.

Patricia Baum, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions for Global, earned a Master of Arts in Communication Studies and a B.A. in History and Communication Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. She previously served as Assistant Director for Visit and Yield in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. In her previous role, she implemented programs and tactics to increase applications and enrollment from top students. In this newly-created role, she will develop strategies to increase applications and enrollment of top students from across the world, which comprise an increasingly larger share of the incoming class. She will also lead the evaluation of international applications and work with campus partners to ensure a smooth transition for international students.

Melody Levy, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions for Visit, earned a B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies and a Master of Education from UNC-Chapel Hill. Before joining our office as Assistant Director of Admissions for Visit, she worked in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health as a Student Services and Recruitment Coordinator. In her new role, she oversees our daily visit program, which is the gateway for over 77,000 visitors annually, offering tours, information sessions, and various programs for prospective students. She will fill a position previously held by Jazmin Garcia Smith, who has assumed a counseling position at Durham Academy.

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Jared Rosenberg, Associate Director of Admissions for Evaluation, earned a Master’s of College Student Personnel and Higher Education Administration from Miami University in Oxford, OH and a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. He has been on staff at the Admissions Office for 16 years and has previously led the Admission Office’s daily visitation program and overseen the Admissions Ambassadors. In this new role, he will collaborate with the Vice Provost, Deputy Director, other senior leaders, staff members in the Enrollment group, and partners across and beyond campus to develop and implement a detailed and comprehensive evaluation plan that helps the University achieve its broad mission as a global public research university.

Damon Toone, Associate Director of Admissions for Diversity and Professional Development, earned a B.A. in Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. After graduation, Damon worked for two Fortune 500 companies before teaching middle school and leading a Sylvan Learning Center. He joined the Admissions Office as Senior Assistant Director for Admissions in 2005. In this newly-created role, he will lead efforts by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to foster diversity in the undergraduate student body and to encourage and support the professional development of all admissions officers.