Shady Side Academy has announced the appointment of Bayh Sullivan as its next director of enrollment, effective July 1, 2021. Sullivan will succeed Katie Mihm '83, who will retire in June after 22 highly successful years leading admissions and enrollment at the Academy.
As Director of Enrollment at SSA, Sullivan will lead strategic enrollment management planning and oversee student recruitment, admissions processes and records, financial aid budgeting and allocation, institutional research and data analysis relevant to enrollment, and retention and re-enrollment. She will lead a team of five admission directors and four assistants, and serve as a member of the Academy's Executive Leadership Team.
"Shady Side is an exceptional school with strong institutional values and a compelling vision for its future," said Sullivan. "As the new Director of Enrollment, I look forward to building on the Academy's proud reputation to encourage more families to explore the school on behalf of their children. I know that once they get to know SSA, they won't be able to resist the opportunity to join a school that offers both a tight-knit community and a world-class campus experience."
Sullivan brings a wealth of experience in enrollment management, institutional advancement and marketing. Currently the director of enrollment management at The Ellis School in Pittsburgh, she leads Ellis' recruitment, retention and financial aid efforts. Among other accomplishments during her tenure, she has meaningfully improved Ellis' admissions yield, raising it an average of 12%.
An emerging national figure in the field of enrollment management, Sullivan presents regularly at conferences on topics such as tuition setting, data use and analytics, and strategic school communications. She has been a featured speaker at the annual meetings of the Enrollment Management Association (EMA), Association of Independent School Admissions Professionals (AISAP), and National Coalition of Girls Schools (NCGS).
Prior to Ellis, Sullivan spent three years in New York City as a consulting and client services manager for Generation, a branding and communications agency. While at Generation, she devised multimedia marketing strategies and branding positions for a range of clients, including independent schools, colleges and universities. Sullivan has admissions experience in higher education as well, serving as an admissions counselor at Bryn Mawr College in suburban Philadelphia. Early in her career, she was the director of annual giving at Germantown Friends School, an independent day school in Philadelphia.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh and an alumna of Ellis and Bryn Mawr College, Sullivan has been an ATHENA Young Professional Awards nominee and a member of both the Riverlife Young Professionals Board and The Ellis School Alumni Board of Visitors. She recently completed a Coro: Women in Leadership Fellowship.
"Bayh's combination of warmth, creativity, humility, eloquence, and competitive spirit have earned her the admiration of the Ellis community and directors of enrollment throughout Pittsburgh," said SSA President Bart Griffith '93. "Given that more students currently attend Shady Side than at any point in our nearly 140-year history, and that in 2020 we tallied the school's largest one-year enrollment increase on record, Bayh assumes this leadership role at a moment of great strength and opportunity for SSA. And I believe she is uniquely poised and ready to help us seize and build upon this exciting momentum."
Welcome to Shady Side, Bayh!