Longtime staff retire from admissions

Two of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s longest-serving staff members will retire this week from the Office of Admissions.

Bob Dilks, assistant vice president of enrollment management, will retire Friday after 36 years of service to the university, most of which were in admissions.

Jill Race, data entry specialist, retired Monday after 27 years at the university, the last five of which was in admissions.

Dilks began his career in admissions right after graduating from Pitt-Bradford in 1989 and was hired in the fall initially as a traveling admissions counselor. He said, “They gave me the keys to a silver Ford Taurus and said, ‘We’ll see you at Christmas.’ Back then we traveled with paper maps and no internet or GPS.”

Throughout his tenure at Pitt-Bradford, Dilks has served in a variety of roles, such as establishing the university’s first formal alumni relations program, a stint in fundraising helping to establish several endowed scholarships and managing an on-site education program at the Federal Correctional Institution – McKean.

He served as director of adult continuing education, working throughout six counties in Pennsylvania in conjunction with the region’s community education councils, and as director of transfer and nontraditional student recruitment before being named to his current role 10 years ago.

“I really enjoyed having the opportunity to work in different areas and specializations, but my real passion has always been in admissions,” he said. 

A life-long resident of Warren, Bob plans to spend more time on home projects and in the kitchen making gourmet meals for his wife, Jennifer, family and friends.

Race also had an analog start to her career, which began in the university’s bookstore, The Panther Shop, where she started as a cashier and later became the textbook buyer.

“When I started, the line for selling books and buying them back was out the door,” she said. In time, students began buying and renting textbooks from online sources. When the university chose to have an outside vendor run the bookstore beginning five years ago, Race moved to admissions.

“Jill was a perfect fit,” Dilks said of her transition from the bookstore to admissions.

Race also plans to spend more time with her family, especially her mom, Gerry Cottillion, and husband, Ed Race. She lives in Bradford.

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