Senior Vice Chancellor Mena’s ACE Fellowship

May 8, 2025

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,
 
I am proud to announce that the American Council on Education (ACE) has chosen Dr. Salvador Mena, our Senior Vice Chancellor for the Student Experience and leader of the Division of Student Affairs, to serve as an ACE Fellow for the 2025-26 academic year.
 
Since 1965, the ACE Fellows Program has strengthened American higher education by preparing more than 2,500 outstanding professionals for their next step in senior leadership through a rigorous, cohort-based mentorship model. More than 80 percent of participants have advanced to positions such as chief executive officer, chief academic officer, or other top-level positions.
 
During his yearlong fellowship. Dr. Mena will be placed at another higher education institution to shadow a college or university president mentor, participate in high-level administrative practices, and tackle real-world projects. He will return to Rutgers–New Brunswick with experience and knowledge that will help advance our implementation of programs that fulfill the goals of our Academic Master Plan (AMP) and its four pillars of Scholarly Leadership, Innovative Research, Student Success, and Community Engagement.
 
Effective July 1 and throughout his assignment as an ACE Fellow, the Division of Student Affairs will be led by Dr. Francesca Maresca, our Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for Health and Wellness, who will serve as Interim Vice Chancellor for the Student Experience.
 
About Senior Vice Chancellor Mena:

Dr. Mena, a member of my executive leadership team, has led the Division of Student Affairs since 2018—first as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, and since August 2023 as Senior Vice Chancellor for the Student Experience. He joined Rutgers in 2014, serving as Associate Vice Chancellor and then Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
 
Senior Vice Chancellor Mena has worked with partners across our institution to advance initiatives that support student well-being with a focus on issues such as basic needs, sexual and interpersonal violence, mental health, pedestrian safety, faith and spirituality, recreation, and health and wellness. His leadership was crucial in the development of the AMP and its student success initiatives, including Discovery Advantage, our holistic reimagining of the undergraduate student experience, and ScarletWell, our public health and prevention-focused approach to mental health and wellness.
 
Among other accomplishments that fuel the success of our students, he created Student Affairs’ Office of Graduate Student Life, Basic Needs Center, and Office of Commuter Student Life; and oversaw the establishment of the Faith and Spirituality Initiatives Program through the Offices of the Dean of Students. He initiated new capital projects, and improvements to existing student facilities, to support student engagement, advocacy, belonging, and well-being—including the Atrium food court on College Avenue; new basketball/pickleball/tennis courts on Livingston; improvements to the cultural centers and the relocation of the Recovery House, Residence Life, and mental health services to accessible new locations; and many more.
 
He also co-created Rutgers–New Brunswick’s annual Student Success Conference, which convenes faculty and student support professionals from across campus to share best practices and learn together about ways to advance student success; and worked with campuswide partners on the development of an outcomes-based transition experience for 9,000 incoming students, including our updated New Student Orientation, New Student Convocation, Welcome Week, and Student Success week.
 
About Assistant Vice Chancellor Maresca:
 
As Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for Health and Wellness, a title she has held since May 2021, Dr. Maresca guides the Division of Student Affairs in fostering an equitable and inclusive culture of wellness and leads more than 125 staff operating the Medical, Counseling, Recreation, and Health Outreach, Promotion, and Education units. She also supported Rutgers Student Health, the Division of Student Affairs, and our faculty through the implementation of Rutgers’ COVID-19 requirements and guidelines.
 
Previously, as Director of Health Outreach, Promotion, and Education (HOPE), Dr. Maresca brought the Campus Connect Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training and Mental Health First Aid to our campus; expanded HOPE’s partnership with the Bloustein School’s Public Health program; created and implemented our rapid-result HIV testing program and Peer HIV Testing initiative; and co-chaired Rutgers’ universitywide adoption of the JED Campus Initiative, a multi-year enhancement of student mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention efforts. Dr. Maresca joined the university in 2001 and has taken on progressively greater levels of leadership and responsibility throughout her Rutgers career.
 
Please join me in congratulating Senior Vice Chancellor Mena on being chosen for this exciting opportunity, and in welcoming Assistant Vice Chancellor Maresca to the Interim Vice Chancellor role she will assume on July 1.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick