入学申请量持续下滑，沃顿商学院高层地震

    《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）日前发表了一篇有关沃顿商学院（Wharton）的评论文章。文章发表五天之后，沃顿商学院MBA招生及助学金事务主任安库尔•库马尔宣布辞职。

    库马尔担任这个职务仅有两年时间，她在九月底对同事表示自己将要辞职。《华尔街日报》的文章发表前两天，库马尔曾经给同事发信息，称她自己在“过去几个月，一直在纽约市寻找其他工作机会。”

    库马尔本月初发表了一篇面向沃顿商学院潜在申请者的博客，她表示自己在沃顿商学院的任期将到10月4日结束。库马尔写道：“俗话说，天下没有不散的筵席。我在这里度过了五年左右时间，现在是时候开始新的探险了。这五年也是对我的职业和个人最有价值的一段时光。”

    她宣布辞职的时机不同寻常，而且不合时宜，因为在此之前一天，沃顿商学院刚刚结束了第一轮招生。入学申请咨询公司HBSGuru.com创始人、MBA入学申请顾问桑迪•克瑞斯伯格说：“这就好比圣诞老人夏天到世界各地的购物中心，问小朋友们圣诞节想要什么，然后到12月24日平安夜这天却宣布辞职一样。”

    “辞职并不是心血来潮的决定；我不想开始一轮我无法保证能够完成的入学申请周期。这对于诸位、我的团队、学校、我们的校友以及其他重要的利益相关者们而言都是一个公平的决定。能够为我的母校服务是我无上的荣耀，能为学校招来五个出类拔萃的班级也让我倍感自豪。”

    库马尔的突然辞职意味着沃顿商学院在八年内先后有过五位招生主任。在这样一所久负盛名的商学院，这样的人员流动频率很不寻常。库马尔的前任J.J.卡特勒在学院任职两年后，于2011年离职，回到他之前工作的爱玛客公司（Aramark）担任营销总监。2005年，罗斯•马蒂内利离开沃顿商学院，前往芝加哥大学布斯商学院（University of Chicago's Booth School of Business），由汤姆斯•凯利尔接任招生主任一职。而凯利尔在三年后也选择了离开。

    沃顿商学院院长汤姆•罗伯逊在10月2日给学生和教职员工的公告中称，招生团队将在学院前就业办公室主任玛丽琳•莱布的带领下继续正常运营。玛丽琳•莱布于今年九月被提名为代理副院长，负责MBA招生、助学金和职业管理。

    虽然商学院入学申请人数在下降，但多亏库马尔的功劳，女性入学人数创下了历史记录。多年来，顶级商学院录取的女性比例始终保持在33%至36%之间。三年前，库马尔招收了一个女性占40%的班级，帮助沃顿商学院领先于其他所有顶级商学院。第二年，她更是将一年级新生的女生比例提高到45%。入学顾问公司Clear Admit的入学顾问史黛丝•奥伊勒补充说：“这是非常了不起的成就，尤其是在总申请人数减少的趋势下。” 

    Five days after a critical story on Wharton was published in The Wall Street Journal, director of MBA admissions and financial aid Ankur Kumar has resigned her job.

    Kumar, who had been in the position for just two years, apparently told staff last week that she was resigning. In a note to colleagues on Wednesday -- two days before the publication of theJournal article -- Kumar said she had been "pursuing several different opportunities in New York City in the past few months."

    In a blog post today to Wharton's prospective applicants, Kumar announced that her last day would be Oct. 4. "As they say, all good things must come to an end, and after nearly five years -- and one of the most professionally and personally rewarding experiences -- it's time for new adventures," wrote Kumar.

    The timing of her announcement is both unusual and awkward, coming only one day after Wharton's round one deadline. "It's like Santa Claus quitting on Dec. 24th after spending the summer touring shopping malls around the world asking toddlers what they wanted for Christmas," said Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com and an MBA admissions consultant.

    "This is not a decision I made impetuously; I did not want to start an application cycle that I could not commit to finishing. Nothing would be less fair to you, to my team, the school, and our alumni and other important stakeholders. It has been an absolute privilege to serve my alma mater in this role and a true honor to bring five incredible classes to the MBA program."

    Kumar's abrupt resignation means that the school will end up having five different admission directors in just eight years, a highly unusual amount of turnover at such a prominent business school. Her predecessor, J.J. Cutler, also left in 2011 after serving for two years, only to return to Aramark where he had previously worked as a marketing executive. Thomas Caleel took over the job in 2005 with the departure of Rose Martinelli, who left for the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. But Caleel left within three years, in 2008.

    In an Oct. 2 memo to students and faculty, Wharton School Dean Tom Robertson said that the admissions team will continue to operate under Maryellen Lamb, the school's former careers director, who was named deputy vice dean in September for MBA admissions, financial aid, and career management.

    To her credit, Kumar helped lead Wharton to record female enrollment, even when applications were declining. For years, the percentage of women enrolled in top-ranked business schools stubbornly remained in the 33% to 36% range. Kumar helped Wharton assume a lead over all top schools three years ago by putting together an incoming class that was 40% female. The following year, she did even better, pushing the number of first-year women to 45% of the class. "It's a pretty significant accomplishment, especially during a downward trend in application volume," added Stacey Oyler, an admissions consultant with Clear Admit.