Thirty Years of Finding and Keeping Gonzaga Students

Jolanta (Kozyra) Weber (’91, ’94, ’16) and Julie (Lopach) McCulloh (’92, ’97 M.B.A.) have inhabited the strategies of student recruitment and academic success at Gonzaga for more than three decades.

For Weber, a student job in the admission department turned into a full-time job as a sophomore, a role she kept through graduation. Thirty-eight years later, she is retiring as vice-provost of academic affairs.

“Julie started in ’93,” Weber says. “I remember because that’s when I left admissions and came to the registrar’s office.”

The two had met earlier when McCulloh accompanied a fellow student to an interview with Weber. Fast forward a couple of years when Weber served on a search committee in admissions: “I don’t know even know why we wasted our time with interviews. Julie just had this way about her that inspired good energy and we knew she would just roll up her sleeves and get to work.”

This year, McCulloh retires as vice provost for enrollment management.

Psychology in the Workplace

Both leaders had been psychology majors. Weber had plans to be a psychologist to help people individually; McCulloh was more interested in organizational psychology.

“I was fascinated by how people work together,” says McCulloh. “My mom went to work at IBM when I was in eighth grade and I was fascinated by her stories, thinking, ‘Wow, that’s how people work together?’”

Weber had initially considered taking a break from school after having her daughter, but after a short time realized she missed school, and was accepted into Arizona State’s clinical psychology program.

“She’s being humble here,” McCulloh interjects. “Arizona had a very good program and they flew her down there to meet. They really wanted her.”

Ultimately, practicums, internships and leading groups for adult children of alcoholics, among others, made Weber question the path. About that time, she heard about changes occurring at Gonzaga and decided to stay.

Studying psychology – as with any of the humanities, McCulloh and Weber agree – has great benefits.

“It’s such a helpful area of knowledge, to do anything in life but especially when you work with people,” Weber says. “I credit my studies for understanding how to use language well, without putting people on the defensive, and I’ve used that so much, especially as a supervisor.”

She continues: “You use that knowledge in more meaningful ways than in the industry, necessarily, as it translates into critical thinking and problem solving. That’s why I’m such an advocate for the liberal arts.”

McCulloh, too, applied for grad school. Putting $300 worth of application fees into the mail with her applications is a vivid memory. “I remember being at a mailbox at Gonzaga and letting go of that stack and thinking, ‘I’m never going to go to these schools.’ I just suddenly knew it wasn’t what I wanted.”

 

 

The Privilege of Higher Ed

Though neither of them envisioned staying at GU their whole careers, they agree that being in higher education provides ample opportunities to learn new skills and stay excited about work.

“It’s just this incredible gift – a luxury, a privilege and an honor,” says Weber. For her part, she has enjoyed a different function or role or had slightly different responsibilities every two years or so, all within the realm of academic administration. “I felt recognized for my efforts and then it just gave me opportunities to learn more new things.”

Similarly, McCulloh rose in the ranks and had new opportunities to tackle in admission, and more broadly, all of enrollment management.

“I love that Beth Martin (former interim academic vice president) gave me the opportunity to pull together the enrollment management team and to move it under the provost model,” says McCulloh. “I love the chance to connect with Jolanta and it’s been a joy to work with Kent Porterfield (student affairs) and to have it all be seamless.”

Enrollment, of course, has significant expectations and with those outcomes for the whole university. It is a big responsibility and one that weighed heavily on McCulloh, especially during the pandemic, technology implementations, and demographic challenges. It’s a pressure not often understood by others.

She also supervised many of the components of the Center for Global Engagement for a time, an experience she says stretched her. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have learned – and also grateful to Tina Isabelli who’s going to take it to a whole new dimension.”

The Impetus for Growth

Weber and McCulloh have seen their fair share of growth and change at Gonzaga, both in critical areas for development as the University hit a growth spurt in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

“There were multiple things happening and there was synergy to make them happen,” says McCulloh. “It’s easy to say it was basketball, because that was most public. But there was also population growth in college readiness ages and we finally had the technology that let us get on the common app system. There was also Father Spitzer who was very entrepreneurial, and there were all of us – including Thayne – with energy, just saying, ‘Ok, let’s go!’”

In her role as Institutional Research director, Weber often took calls from other school leaders across the country who wanted to know the secret of GU’s success. “People assumed we were going to say it was basketball, but we’d say, “We’re so thankful for basketball, but there were also many other institutional strategies and initiatives being implemented, including a significantly revised financial aid strategy to help us achieve higher yield in enrollment,” she says.

Hopes for Gonzaga

A couple of decades later, the two can look back at 30+ years navigating the complexities of higher ed administration and still have enthusiasm for new ways to adapt to technology and changing expectations. Watching them together, it seems the energy and passion of freshly minted grads has never really waned.

And yet, in summer 2025 both women will exit their offices in College Hall and pass the sculpture of St. Ignatius for the last time as Gonzaga administrative leaders.

What do these two legendary leaders hope for the next generation of Gonzaga administrators?

McCulloh’s hopes also surround deep care for members of the community. During winter break, she asked her team to name what’s on their minds, what’s causing worry. When she learned that many were really concerned about the impact of leadership at the federal level, like the Department of Education, she followed up with some research and anecdotes about other transitions of power.

She pointed the crew back to the GU mission statement. “The fourth paragraph talks about appreciating each other, our cultures, our language, religious traditions. It’s not Democrat or Republican, right or left, liberal or conservative. I think it’s really important to reground ourselves in this mission.”

“Jesuit philosophy can transcend religion, as a model of thinking, to use context, experience, data and contemplation to find a way forward,” says McCulloh. “It takes discipline, too, and as the days are full, it will be important to engage Jesuit practices including the examen prayer. It centers us in our mission."