Sposetti named assistant dean for admissions and financial aid

An alumna of the University of Florida College of Dentistry and faculty member for 21 years, Venita Sposetti, D.M.D., knows both sides of student life at the college, which has prepared her for her newest position, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid.

Sposetti graduated from the college in 1979 and five years later received her general practice residency certificate from it. She also earned an education certificate from the UF College of Education. Most recently, she served as an associate chair in the department of prosthodontics and as the department’s director of preclinical and clinical programs.

“My contact both with students who have been successful in the college and those who have had difficulty has helped me develop a reasonably clear vision of what it takes to be a dentist and be happy doing just that,” Sposetti said.

The office of admissions is responsible for providing information, managing the application process and materials, and communicating with applicants to the predoctoral, advanced education, graduate and foreign trained dental programs. This office also oversees student financial aid.

As assistant dean, Sposetti will be responsible for shaping the face of the college.

“Our job in this office is to go out and recruit the most able, prepared and motivated potential students we can possibly find and then enroll them in our programs,” Sposetti said.

“We plan to utilize the Internet to provide more easily accessible and accurate information to all those interested in applying to our programs,” she said. “We have already made strides with the new version of our Web site [http://www.dental.ufl.edu].”

Sposetti looks forward to working with students and seeing their progress throughout their dental careers, she said.

“The students are the best part of doing this job,” Sposetti said. “I enjoy people and particularly am glad to be able to be helpful to folks as they pursue their dreams.”

“Managing our admissions process is a very difficult job, especially when dealing with applicants who aspire to be dentists but who do not have the necessary academic credentials. Counseling these students and their families is time consuming and demands great sensitivity,” said Frank Catalanotto, D.M.D., dean of the college.

“Nini Sposetti is carrying on the tradition of excellence and is working hard to help us recruit the best qualified candidates to our college.”