Dr. Elise Salem
Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment Management
Dr. Salem joined LAU as a tenured full professor and Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment Management (SDEM) in July 2008.
The SDEM unit is committed to the recruitment, retention and transformation of students through student services, program development and co-curricular engagement activities. SDEM is guided by LAU’s strategic plan and by the university’s six-phrased mission, which includes the following four that speak to the heart of SDEM: a commitment to student centeredness, civic engagement, the education of the whole person, and the formation of leaders in a diverse world.
Under Dr. Salem’s direction, LAU has distinguished itself as a university deeply invested in its students as illustrated by the following highlights in her area:
- An Enrollment Management unit was created to streamline key functions that previously operated separately: Student Recruitment, Admissions, Financial Aid & Scholarships and Registrar;
- Close to $80 million were awarded by USAID in separate USP (University Scholarship Program) and HES (Higher Education Scholarship) grants to educate and engage financially needy, academically qualified students from Lebanon’s public and private schools with a new refugee component;
- Over $43 million were awarded by MEPI–Tomorrow’s Leaders (MEPI–TL) for undergraduate (TLU) and graduate (TLG) grants for top students from across the MENA region with an additional grant for Gender Scholars (TLS);
- A new unit was forged underscoring LAU’s commitment to civic engagement. Outreach and Civic Engagement (OCE) has greatly increased empowerment, leadership and volunteer opportunities for our students in Lebanon and NY with simulation programs like the MUN, MAL and MEU; OCE manages all USAID student grants;
- A new unit was created to advance LAU’s internationalization efforts. The International Services and Programs Office (ISP) manages all student study abroad and exchanges, including Erasmus+ partnerships and all MEPI–TL grants;
- Enhanced Deans of Students services on two campuses, including orientation, advising, peer tutoring, career and placement, health and counseling, student activities, elections, athletics, residence halls, and graduation;
- Revamped the Student Code of Conduct and strengthened all academic sanctions through the Student Integrity Committee;
- Campus-based units were centralized and expanded including Registrar, Financial Aid and Admissions, with the creation of a new Student Recruitment unit;
- Creation of new Student Affairs websites and increased visibility and interaction through social media for prospective and current students.
Before joining LAU, Dr. Salem was a professor of literature at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, the Assistant Dean for Academic Planning and the Associate Provost for Global Learning.
She previously taught at the University of Hawaii and earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In addition to her many articles and conference papers, Dr. Salem’s 2003 book, Constructing Lebanon: A Century of Literary Narratives, continues as a literary and cultural reference and in 2017, her definitive chapter on the Lebanese novel was published inThe Oxford Handbook of the Arab Novelistic Tradition. Finally, she is the mother of two sons, Anthony and Thomas, both Ph.D’s in literature and professors in the United States, and a daughter, Rania, who earned a master’s in international affairs and currently at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Contact:
Dr. Elise Salem
Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment Management
Lebanese American University
Tel: +961-1-786464, ext 1393, 2142, 2143
Fax: +961-1-786449