Senior Associate Dean of Institute Affairs

As senior associate dean of institute affairs, Townsend Plant has responsibility for the academic and applied areas of the institute, including faculty and curriculum, performance activities, the Preparatory, and enrollment management and student life. Partnering with the dean of the institute, Plant leads the development and implementation of a reinvigorated academic and  business model that is financially sustainable, and supports an increasingly innovative and culturally responsive curriculum with outstanding professional programs that connect the evolving needs of students with emerging opportunities in the performing arts.

Previously the inaugural associate dean for enrollment and student life, since arriving at Peabody in 2015, Plant has led unprecedented growth in enrollment, implemented an increasingly competitive financial aid and scholarship program, overseen efforts to significantly increase diversity in the student body, and collaborated with Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and faculty to implement programs and strategies to improve the student experience and student success.

Plant’s prior experience includes roles as assistant dean for summer and preparatory programs and director of admissions for the School of Music at Ithaca College, assistant provost for admissions and enrollment at Binghamton University, State University of New York, director of admissions and financial aid for the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, and director of the Summer Music Festival & Institute at Hartwick College. A national leader in enrollment management in the performing arts, he is past chair of the Independent Consortium on College Admissions in Music, a national group comprising more than 20 select music schools, and has served as a consultant in the areas of enrollment management, recruitment, marketing, and program development.

A classical guitarist, Plant graduated with Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Ithaca College and completed a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester.