Colleen Murphy will leave Ashland University for North Carolina later this spring after serving as the vice president of marketing and enrollment management for two and a half years at AU.

Murphy will be filling a position of the same title with similar responsibilities at Greensboro College, where she will begin working in May.

“I really wasn’t looking to do something new, but this seemed like a great opportunity,” Murphy said.

“It’s also 70 degrees there today,” she added with a laugh.

Murphy has family in Virginia and her daughter is going to school in Florida, so the move will also bring her closer to family.

The primary appeal, however, is the challenges the new position will present.

One daunting factor is the size of the school.

Greensboro College currently has a student body of approximately 1,200 students, but Murphy said their president hopes to increase that by 300.

“They’re a small liberal arts college, smaller than Ashland, and they have a new president with ambitious plans,” Murphy said.

Greensboro’s president, Dr. Lawrence D. Czarda, worked at the prestigious George Mason University for 27 years prior to Greensboro, according to Murphy.

The college used to have a dean of enrollment services, who covered only undergraduate admissions, but Murphy’s new position will be at the head of the new department designed to deal with the graduate school, marketing, recruiting, retention and financial aid.

“It’s really similar to what I [have done] here, except it’ll include graduate [programs],” Murphy said. Her title at her new job will be the same, and her mission will be similar, too – building up a new office and a plan of action from scratch.

The division of marketing and enrollment management was new to AU when Colleen Murphy came to AU, and President Dr. Fred Finks’ goal was also to increase enrollment and build up the departments necessary to do so.

“I’ve accomplished a lot of what the president has asked me to accomplish,” Murphy said. “I think what [he] and the board asked me to do is to create the marketing department, develop a brand, stabilize and grow enrollment, develop a solid financial aid strategy, and start the retention efforts.”

That’s a long list, but it didn’t intimidate Murphy, who frequently emphasized the importance of having a job that challenges her.

Several of Murphy’s colleagues also noted her ability to meet a challenge, and to challenge those around her.

“Her creativity and drive to succeed are so evident to all who worked under her, and we owe her much for how she has developed the new marketing and enrollment management division here at Ashland,” Steve Hannan, director of public relations, said.

Kathy Stone, director of student success and retention, agreed.

“Colleen is a visionary leader, always striving to make a difference at Ashland University,” she said. “She is a leader that challenges those that work for her to improve and succeed.”

Murphy wasn’t quick to take credit for the work she’s done while at Ashland, however.

“The president has been extremely supportive in everything that I’ve done,” Murphy said. The university’s work with the consulting firm Noel-Levitz was also helpful for recruiting and financial aid efforts, she added.

Murphy also emphasized the importance of teamwork.

“I feel that we have an extremely strong marketing department,” Murphy said. “I’ve provided leadership, but they’ve done a lot of great work.”

She said one of the most important things she’ll remember from her time at AU is the value of having everyone involved working toward the same goal.

“When I came, Admissions was working on their own,” Murphy said. There was no consolidated marketing department, and the Office of Financial Aid had no strategy relating to enrollment or retention.

Now, under Murphy’s leadership, all of those departments have come together and learned how to help each other.

“I think my division works really well as a team…” Murphy said. “It’s important to reach out to the leadership of other areas and really make sure that you’re understanding their needs and that you’re assertively communicating your needs so that you can work together as a team. In a job like this, it’s easy to get busy and stay in your office to work. But those relationships are vital so you have to make them a priority.”

Murphy said she will miss the people she has worked with at AU the most.

“I’ve made some very good friends,” she said. “I care very deeply about people I work with.”

The feeling is mutual among her colleagues.

“I am really sorry to see Colleen leave Ashland University,” Hannan said. “I very much enjoyed working with her… But beyond [her work], she is a great person and a true friend. I really wish her the very best in her new endeavors.”

Stone said that Murphy has been a mentor to her.

“[Murphy] is a leader that respects others and listens to their opinions,” she said. “She will be sorely missed.”

Before coming to AU, Murphy worked for Harper College in Palatine, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago, for nearly 10 years. Born in Farmersville, Ill., Murphy has lived most of her life in Illinois.

“I’m very excited about moving somewhere new,” she said. “[And] I’m very excited to be a part of this team [at Greensboro]. I look forward to working with a new team, even though I’ll miss my current one.”

Murphy’s last day at Ashland University will be April 29.

She said what she is looking forward to most is the challenge – “and maybe next winter.”