Rowan University has hired John Veilleux as its first-ever chief marketing officer (CMO) for its new Division of Marketing & Communication.

Having been a CMO and higher education marketing expert at different institutions for 25 years, Veilleux hopes to centralize Rowan’s marketing strategies and bring more students to the university.

During a nationwide search to fill the new position, the search committee sent a message to Veilleux, who was working at Central Michigan University.

“Our president was going to be leaving soon, so I was really busy and ignored the email or LinkedIn message,” said Veilleux. “And then the person called me and was like, ‘Okay, maybe I should take the call. We’ll see what they have to say.’”

Dr. Bill Freind, a Rowan professor and part of the search committee, sought out Veilleux for his expertise in marketing in higher education.

“Just phenomenal qualifications and phenomenal ideas. He’s [Veilleux] got a proven track record and I have no doubt he is going to succeed here,” said Freind.

Veilleux thought the timing was perfect to take the new job at Rowan, and since he’s started, he’s been excited to get to work. For him, the number one goal is to centralize Rowan’s marketing department.

“Marketing was happening, but maybe the enrollment office was doing a little bit, maybe a little bit was happening over here in this X office, Y office, Z office,” said Veilleux. “The President has made the decision to bring in a chief marketing officer and to really centralize these efforts across the university.”

Rowan has three specific goals for its marketing strategy: accelerating the growth of Rowan’s online programs, creating a story for Rowan’s marketing to work with, and improving Rowan’s website. All of these aim to accelerate Rowan’s growth.

Rowan is unlike other universities which are dealing with a “demographic cliff,” or a decline in college enrollment due to factors including a drop in births because of the Great Recession. Instead of a dropoff in enrollment, Rowan has been growing, welcoming its largest class yet this past fall.

Veilleux knows he wasn’t hired to fix Rowan, but to find a way to accentuate the growth already happening through marketing.

“This is a space where they’re new and I feel like I bring the expertise that they’re looking for in that online space, branding space, and marketing space,” said Veilleux.

As a new arrival to Rowan, Veilleux has found the transition pleasant, but his biggest challenge has been to come to understand the school as an organization. In order to be as effective as possible, he’s been working to find out how he fits in.

“I’m here to figure out what the heck have you [Rowan] all been doing. What has been that secret sauce and how can I be an extra ingredient that doesn’t change the taste but enhances the flavor and allows us to continue that great growth,” said Veilleux. “That’s why I’m here.”

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