Joel P. Spiess, MS, serves as Chief Enrollment Operations Officer and Executive Director of Student Financial Services at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). In this role, he provides strategic, visionary leadership and oversees the leaders of five key departments: Student Financial Service Center, Office of Financial Aid Administration, Office of Student Scholarships, Registrar’s Office, and Systems & Data Analysis.
Spiess drives campus-wide efforts to align and optimize UWM’s core enrollment operations—including student financial aid, enrollment systems, and advising services—to advance student access, registration, retention, and success. He manages federal, state, institutional, philanthropic, and private aid funds with an entrepreneurial approach, stewarding approximately $200 million annually in student financial aid.
As Chief Enrollment Operations Officer, Spiess also serves as principal advisor and divisional strategist to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success (SEMSS). The SEMSS division encompasses 11 departments and roughly 160 full-time employees. His responsibilities include shaping divisional strategy, preparing leadership communications, advancing strategic initiatives, coordinating assessment, and contributing to UWM’s strategic enrollment management planning process.
From 2021 to 2025, Spiess served as Director of Student Scholarships at UWM, where he spearheaded transformative growth, increasing scholarship dollars disbursed by 50% and the number of students receiving scholarships by 33%. His strategy implementation supported consecutive first-year enrollment gains of 3.0% (2023), 9.8% (2024), and 13.5% (2025). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Scholarship Providers Association, where he is a frequent conference presenter, webinar panelist, and mentor. His innovative strategies and results have also been featured in invited presentations for higher education consulting firm EAB and other national organizations.
Spiess brings a broad background in higher education, with experience spanning admissions, student affairs, curricular affairs, academic advising, and residence life.
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