![\"UConn](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/210924_162526_KS_NACAC2021NC-200x300.jpg\")
He will serve as chair-elect throughout the coming year, moving into the board chair position in September 2022.<\/p>\n
Knowing that admissions counselors\u2019 work directly affects students as they grow from young adults to professionals is at the heart of why Granger considers himself an \u201cadmissions counseling lifer,\u201d he said when he was nominated last spring<\/a> for the chair position.<\/p>\n The organization has more than 25,000 members worldwide and is one of the largest and most diverse membership associations in higher education. Granger\u2019s election is only the second time in its 84-year history that a UConn admissions director has been tapped for the top position, with the first being John Vlandis in 1982.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no greater recognition than that which comes from your peers. So, to be elected as chair-elect of the NACAC organization is such a great honor, and one I accept with great humility,\u201d Granger says.<\/p>\n He adds that disparities in access to resources for students and schools provides NACAC an opportunity to become the foremost voice in areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion at its members\u2019 institutions, and to advocate the urgent need to focus on affordability.<\/p>\n Granger, who attended college as a first-generation student of color, said one of the constants in his career has been the importance of mentoring and supporting students \u2013 particularly those from underrepresented communities.<\/p>\n That commitment is reflected in what he\u2019s accomplished during his time at UConn so far: In each of the undergraduate admissions cycles during which Granger has been director, the University has attracted record numbers of students of color as part of the incoming classes.<\/p>\n Those classes have also set records for academic achievement and are thriving at UConn despite the recent pandemic-related complications that all institutions have faced.<\/p>\n Granger also is shepherding one of UConn\u2019s most ambitious and impactful admissions initiatives, a three-year pilot test-optional process<\/a>, in which students can determine whether they wish to submit scores from standardized testing to be considered in their admissions application.<\/p>\n UConn already uses a holistic application review process in which no single piece of an application, including standardized test scores, would be the make-or-break factor considered for an offer of enrollment.<\/p>\n About three-quarters of the four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. have either adopted test-optional or test-blind approaches this year, including many that participate in the NACAC organization of which Granger is the new chair, according to a new tabulation<\/a> this fall.<\/p>\n At UConn, the current first-year class of students is the first cohort enrolled under that program, a group of highly accomplished new Huskies that also comprises the most racially and ethnically diverse class in its history so far.<\/p>\n \u201cVern\u2019s extensive experience in the field of admissions and his leadership and passion for improving access to those underserved by our institutions make him one of the most ideal people in the country to take on this role,\u201d says Nathan Fuerst, UConn\u2019s vice president for enrollment planning and management.<\/p>\n \u201cVern has a proven track record of success in growing diversity among our students at UConn and at his prior institutions,\u201d Fuerst adds. \u201cWe are proud of his accomplishments here, and proud that he will carry the banner of UConn with him at the helm of NACAC\u2019s Board of Directors.\u201d<\/p>\n Granger, a native of Ocean City, N.J., says his interest in admissions was first piqued when he was a student campus tour guide while attending the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree. He also holds a master\u2019s degree from North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n