Within two years, she has moved up the ladder at Northeastern University, leaving her personal mark along the journey.

Through controversy over her newly created senior vice president position, Philomena Mantella has continued to keep a positive outlook on her role as a high ranking administrator within the past year.

When President Richard Freeland announced that he would create a new position on campus, senior vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, a buzz engulfed the campus as faculty and students alike wondered what the position would do to their relationship with the president as well as how the position would affect the responsibilities of the provost.

A year later, the dust has settled and a leader has emerged. In the meantime, Mantella said she has learned a great deal about herself.

“I discovered how tenacious I can be at times, I think that is a good description,” Mantella said. “I think that is really important to help this institution achieve its aspiration and I would not be here if I did not feel it could do it, that it can be a top 100 university by 2008.”

President Freeland agrees that Mantella, or “Philly” as she is referred to on campus, is a power house in terms of leadership and will guide student affairs into the upcoming year, which will mark the end of a legacy for Vice President of Student Affairs Karen Rigg, who is retiring this summer.

“Philly is a tremendous asset to Northeastern and especially our students. Under her leadership, the quality of our enrollment management efforts from initial pre-admissions contact through matriculation and support for enrolled undergraduates has improved enormously,” Freeland said. “Now, as our new senior vice president, she is bringing her dedication and talent to the broader arena of student life, building on the fine legacy of Karen Rigg. I anticipate continuing enhancements in the quality of the student experience at Northeastern under her leadership.”

Rigg said she is confident that Mantella possesses strategic abilities that will enable her to implement and create success within enrollment management and student affairs.

As Freeland appears to be her biggest advocate, Chair of the Faculty Senate Agenda Committee Robert Lowndes may be her biggest opponent. Though he does not dislike Mantella, he was vocal last year in opposing the new position and continues to support his position today.

“[I feel] exactly the same. Basically, I felt that it cut away from the position of provost and it also created a new senior vice president and puts that person at the same level as the Provost,” Lowndes said. “I think she’s a first class person and she’s doing an excellent job and I think she would have done that as a vice president reporting to the provost as well.”

Though the Student Government Association at first opposed the senior vice president post, Mantella said she feels no animosity from SGA.

“I felt a sense of endorsement and support from students and student government. You know, I would say ask them, in terms of their view. I think it should never have been about disconnecting from the academic area. By virtue of the Provost’s continued engagement with students directly and the president’s, that is evidence that some of the worries did not play out, from my vantage point,” Mantella said. “So I see the benefits of the synergies among people who serve students broadly and deal with them out of classroom without having detracted from student input into the specific classroom learning.”

Members of SGA do not think the position has created barriers of communication, but SGA President Richard Schwabacher added that this is not the end of the road.

“I don’t think it’s gotten harder to express our thoughts to the president. I also don’t think that we will know the full extent of the outcome until the vice president for Enrollment Management becomes more solidified. I feel as though Sr. VP Mantella is still in the process of defining her role as senior vice president for enrollment management. She has welcomed the input of the SGA,” Schwabacher said, adding that Rigg will be missed. “When VP Rigg leaves, there will be no one that can fill her role. This is true because of the type of person she is, but also the role of student affairs within enrollment management is still being defined. I believe the role of the new VP will be vastly different to VP Rigg’s current roles and responsibilities.”

Overall, she said she has learned how to stay focused, be persistent and she admits she’s learned some tenacity.

Although she admits it is a complex time at Northeastern, she has dedicated the past year to team building and planning. Her biggest accomplishment, she said, was to lay down a five year plan.

“My single greatest accomplishment would be laying a foundation for a five year plan, and planning is an interesting paradigm, because it shouldn’t be about producing a piece of paper that’s nice and presents well, but should be about really rallying people around something that is the focus,” she said.

Within the plan, Mantella said that she and fellow administrators tried to step away from unit planning stating that the goal was to create the best experience for each individual student, not necessarily the best possible leadership unit on campus.

Focus groups were used to discuss important issues on campus ranging from maintenance in residence halls to financial aid that is required in order to receive a Northeastern education. Why do a number of students not graduate from Northeastern? What are Northeastern’s responsibilities before a student comes to address financing their whole education? What should be done to make sure we are not marginalizing any underrepresented groups? What should be unique about practice-oriented education?

And now, she said, is the vetting stage. Focus groups used collected data to formulate initiatives that will continue to be reviewed and refined up until October when the final plan will be presented to the committee of the board.

“I think we have found synergies in the way we work that I think are particularly important,” she said. “I think it gave us more opportunity with more views to have a better ultimate product and to think faster, dealing with student service issues.”

She added that the infamous NU shuffle is also on her radar.

“I think in one of my first interviews, I said that I don’t want NU and shuffle in the same sentence. To me, to get rid of some of that bureaucracy and give students what they want most, which is time. I think we all are busy people … it really is annoying to deal with the nonsense of business that keeps you a student and the access to it, the attitude about it, the multiple ways you can reach it, the out of off-hours access and the Internet development of services, things like that.”

Mantella said that one of the driving forces that keeps her on track and dedicated to students, is the students themselves.

“Students here at Northeastern are incredible because by their nature they are comfortable with a level of change … they have multiple kinds of interests. They are engaged in the serious issues around campus.”

But what has she learned about herself? Personal sacrifices. She has had to live away from her husband and three sons in New Jersey, in order for her oldest son to graduate from high school without having to relocate to another school.

“You always learn that part of your life that family feels. I’ve always been a person that thinks it is important to have balance in your life,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been single threaded, I don’t think, but it certainly made me realize how rich they make my life on a day to day basis.”

And on a professional level, Mantella said that she learned to feel comfortable in her own skin.

“As a woman administrator, I can remember having to feel so serious about my work and having to always put out a suit, literally and figuratively, put on a suit,” she said. “And you come to a point in your life when you realize that the true match between you and the institution and you and the students is the authentic you. If people don’t like the authentic you, then that’s too bad.”

She said that five or six years ago she reached this realization when a president she was working with said to her, “You better unbutton that tie a bit.” From that point on, she said she’s just been herself.

“My advice to young women is to just be yourself, don’t manipulate who you are in order to fit, be authentic. I don’t hide much of who I am.”

Again Freeland agreed with Mantella.

“She embodies Northeastern’s commitment to student-centeredness. We are fortunate to have her as part of our leadership.”