Associate Director of Operations and Communications

A Maryland native, Hillen graduated from Penn State in 2010. Hillen’s career in higher education began when he joined Albright College in 2014, where he spent his first two years as both a member of the Office of Admission and an Assistant Men’s Basketball coach. In 2016 he pivoted to working full-time in admission as Albright’s Assistant Director of Admission & Coordinator of New Student Outreach. Hillen joined Franklin & Marshall College in 2019, where he is now the Office of Admission’s Associate Director of Operations and Communications. As a first generation and Pell-eligible college student, Hillen is passionate about helping prospective students and their families to navigate their respective college searches. Growing up in the diverse suburbs between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC played a major role in shaping Hillen’s philosophy on the value of immersing oneself in a community like F&M’s.

Senior Assistant Director of Admission, and Coordinator of Transfer Admission

Emily is a proud 2010 graduate from Franklin & Marshall College, where she majored in Psychology while minoring in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and conducting research in F&M’s Child Development lab. While Emily’s career in admission began as a Tour Guide at F&M, her path has taken her far and wide. After graduation Emily joined the Admissions Office at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she worked for five years. While at UMass Amherst Emily earned her M.Ed. and Ed.S. in School Counseling with a focus on grades 9-12. As part of her Master's, Emily worked in a high school counseling department in Texas for a year. Emily rejoined the F&M Office of Admission in 2016, where she now oversees such areas as transfer admission as the Coordinator of Transfer Admission. Emily is thrilled to continue working at her alma mater, and to support new generations of Diplomats in discovering their new college home.

Associate Director of International Admission

A native of snowy New Hampshire, Carly is a 2007 graduate from Franklin & Marshall College, where she earned a B.A. in Creative Writing and was awarded the Barbara Nelson Prize for Distinction in Writing. Carly’s career in higher education has seen her earning her M.Ed. while researching urban school districts in Lancaster City, and later joining the F&M Office of Admission in 2011. Shortly after joining the Office of Admission Carly took on international recruitment and application reading, later becoming the Associate Director of International Admission. Carly’s work in international admission sees her visiting about 100 countries a year as she advocates for the value of the liberal arts around the globe.

Assistant Director of Financial Aid

Ms. Robin Gorini is the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Originally from Massachusetts, Robin began her financial aid experience as a Director of an Educational Opportunity Center, a federally funded TRIO program, providing career, educational, and financial aid counseling to adults interested in pursuing a postsecondary education. Throughout her financial aid career, Robin has assisted nontraditional as well as traditional students and their parents, guiding them through the maze of the financial aid process. 

Ms. Gorini holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell, and an M.Ed. from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Assistant Director of Admissions for Access and Inclusion

Christopher Muñoz-Calene (he/him/his) is the Assistant Director of Admissions for Access and Inclusion at Clark University. His interest in the topic of access and inclusion stems from his own experience navigating the college search in the United States, study abroad, and graduate studies in Europe as a Mexican-American. At Clark, Christopher is the facilitator for FOCUS, the University’s affinity space for man-identified students of color.

Senior Assistant Director for International Admission 

Joseph Martínez is the Senior Assistant Director for International Admission at Fordham University. He is beginning his eighth year in undergraduate admission, with experiences at highly selective and selective institutions in the United States.

Associate Director for International Admissions

Ms. Sarah Schmidt is the Associate Director for International Admissions at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Over her fourteen-year career, she has overseen numerous aspects of the admission and financial aid process for both domestic and international students. Before joining Macalester in 2017, Sarah spent six years as Associate Director of Admission at Vassar College (NY), where she first gained experience in international admissions. Prior to her role at Vassar, Sarah worked in the Financial Aid Office at NYU as part of her graduate program. It was during this time that she developed a particular interest in helping students and families navigate the financial aid process.

Ms. Schmidt holds a B.A. from Hamilton College (NY), and an M.A. from New York University.

Dean of Admission

Leykia Nulan was named Dean of Admission at Mount Holyoke College and began her post on October 1, 2019. She's hit the ground running and is looking forward to having a full cycle at the College underway in a few months.

Prior to joining the Mount Holyoke community, Nulan served as  director of freshman admissions and assistant provost for diversity and enrollment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While there, she developed enrollment targets for over 100 majors in 10 schools and colleges at the university and facilitated a three percent increase in underrepresented students in one admission cycle.

Nulan previously worked at Amherst College as associate dean of admission and coordinator of diversity outreach and as associate director of student activities. She began her career in admission at Wheaton College as an assistant director and multicultural admission counselor. She has a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, where she was a Posse Scholar, and a master’s degree in higher education policy from the University of Pennsylvania.

International Recruitment Coordinator

Jess Strong has been working in international education for over 6 years.  Before working at Illinois, Jess worked at  a private liberal arts and sciences college.  She has her Bachelor’s degree from Butler University and her Master’s Degree in Higher Education Leadership from Western Illinois University.  Jess is passionate about helping global students find their perfect fit.

Associate Director of First-Year Admissions

Erin Bernard currently serves as the Associate Director of First-Year Admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her higher ed journey started with her undergraduate experience attending Trinity College in Hartford, CT and continued at Springfield College in Springfield, MA where Erin obtained a Masters Degree in Counseling. She has worked in admissions at Springfield College, Elms College and eventually landed at Umass Amherst where she has been a part of their admissions office for the past 9 years. Erin has worn many hats at Umass Amherst including traveling, reading and managing their Visitor’s Center and tour program. Her current role in the office includes overseeing the application process and enrollment goals. Through all of her different roles Erin has always made a point to continue to seek out opportunities to connect with students and families and find ways to help them navigate the application process at such an exciting and transformative time in their lives.