Associate Vice President for Graduate and Professional Enrollment
FLSA EMPLOYMENT CATEGORY: Salaried; Exempt; Administrative; 12 months
DEPARTMENT: Admissions
POSITION SUMMARY:
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO)/Senior Vice President, the Associate Vice President (AVP) for Graduate and Professional Enrollment (GPE) at Alma College is the senior administrator for oversight pertinent to all graduate, professional/adult, transfer, and international programs within the College. This position has primary responsibility for graduate student recruiting, admission, and enrollment management. The position oversees a staff of four admission professionals. This person works as an advocate for students and helps identify and address ways to continuously improve the student application and enrollment experience. The AVP works collaboratively with senior staff of the College, including associate provosts and provost, department chairs, graduate program directors, faculty, and staff throughout the college to achieve the College’s graduate, transfer, and international recruiting and enrollment goals.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
Specific responsibilities may include but are not limited to, the following (not in any order of priority). In collaboration with the Provost Office and the COO/Senior Vice President the AVP will:
- Provide administrative leadership related to programs and services in areas related to Graduate and Professional Enrollment (GPE) and a strong. commitment to graduate and professional education, transfer students, adult learners, online learning, and international students.
- Assists the senior academic and administrative leaders to formulate academic policies related to graduate admission and eligibility standards. Interprets and oversees day-to-day implementation of these admission policies and standards.
- Support where appropriate decentralized admission decisions at the program level by providing electronic systems, training and support for faculty, program directors and support staff.
- Monitor decentralized graduate admission decisions at the program level for timeliness, quality and adherence to College standards.
- Spearhead enrollment advances in areas across the college that ensure these populations are successfully enrolled and registered.
- Work in consultation with the Provost and in collaboration with relevant committees to ensure a College-wide perspective matures on broad institutional matters pertaining to graduate and professional education, transfer and international students.
- Ensure that all new programs are launched according to schedule, and where pertinent, support the Provost office in addressing new program accreditation requirements in a timely manner.
- Achieves College graduate, professional/adult, transfer and international enrollment goals by developing and implementing strategies to increase the number of inquiries, contacts, prospects, applications, and qualified admits.
- Oversees the design, implementation, maintenance and operation of a user-friendly online customer relationship management system (CRM) for recruiting graduate, adult, transfer, and international students.
- Works collaboratively with academic units to develop CRM communication plans and email templates customized at the program level for Alma College’s inventory of graduate and professional programs.
- Organizes Alma’s participation in graduate recruitment fairs throughout Michigan and other locations as needed.
- Visits other institutions as needed to recruit graduate, professional, transfer, and international students.
- Engages with Communication and Marketing to develop and refresh printed recruiting media.
- Works with the COO and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to develop enrollment targets for each of Alma’s graduate and professional programs in collaboration with campus business and academic leaders.
- Collaborates with the Provost Office to develop and conduct annual campus-based recruiting workshops for graduate program directors, department chairs, faculty and staff.
- Designs and implements communication plans to improve the yield of enrolled students (students admitted, but not registered).
- Supports retention efforts at the College of the graduate, professional/adult, transfer and international students such as orientations.
- Collaborates with the Advancement office to help promote graduate and professional programs in the community and to help raise funds for these programs.
- Collaborate with other academic and administrative units to ensure the proper functioning of graduate programs and active engagement in the enrollment and admissions processes of the office.
- Establish partnerships and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for strategic growth in graduate and professional education, transfer and articulation, and international.
- Direct supervisory responsibilities for: Associate Director of Graduate Recruitment, Director of International Recruitment, Assistant Director of Transfer Recruitment, and Transition Assistance Program Coordinator.
- Ensure that plans, policies, practices, procedures and programs align with college-wide strategies and College and program-specific directions.
- Nurture the development of graduate programs, new disciplines, degrees, certificates, and courses congruent with the expansion of Alma College Graduate and Professional Studies vision.
- Provide guidance and leadership in the formation and implementation of enrollment management strategies, policies, and practices to foster growth and maintain stability depending on the needs of the graduate and professional programs at the College.
- Collaborate with Communications and Marketing to develop marketing and advertising plans, educational and promotional activities, electronic and print marketing pieces that specifically promote graduate programs, generate interest, and build broad awareness for graduate and professional studies, transfer, and international.
- Oversee, along with the CFO and COO, the operating budgets associated with GPE.
- Provide oversight to any endowments, scholarships, or other restricted funds designated to the graduate and professional studies, international, or transfer enterprise.
- Serve as the Alma College representative for state or regional associations focused on these populations.
- Represent the office as needed at other College meetings/activities.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
The position requires commitment to the mission and goals of the GPE and the experience and skills necessary to accomplish them. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• At least five years of administrative experience as in a senior level enrollment-related administrative position.
• Experience or ability to understand accreditation requirements to maintain and/or establish accreditation of graduate degree programs.
• Experience conducting program evaluation and data analysis to establish data informed decision and make improvements as appropriate.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to build and work with teams across the organization including working with faculty groups, senior campus leadership and executive-level leadership personnel.
• Creative skills to meet the challenges of graduate education in an increasingly competitive and technologically diverse environment.
• Ability to motivate and manage change, energize, and lead a committed faculty and staff.
• Strong decision-making skills and the highest standards of judgment as appropriate for professional and academic leadership.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
A successful candidate should be able to demonstrate:
• Terminal master’s degree.
• Experience conducting research or equivalent activities.
• Strong commitment to and accomplishment in developing, enhancing, and sustaining a diverse student body, and to fully integrating principles of diversity and inclusion into the graduate and professional programs.
• Experience providing leadership and conducting strategic planning to develop and implement goals and program initiatives for a department.
• Ability to establish donor support and secure alternative funding sources.
• Experience providing management and administration over a program or department.
• Ability to establish donor support and secure alternative funding sources.
• Experience providing budget management that includes purchasing and record keeping in compliance with institution, state, and federal purchasing policies.
• Experience with and sensitivity to the needs of a diverse urban student population, including underrepresented populations, LGBTQIA students, financially challenged students, first generation students, veterans, and English language learner.
APPLICATION PROCESS:
Interested candidates need to submit an Alma College application, a cover letter, current resume, and the names of three professional references with e-mail addresses and telephone numbers to careers@alma.edu. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. Incomplete application files will not be considered. For an Alma College application please go to: https://www.alma.edu/live/files/3085-application-for-employment.
Alma College is a selective, baccalaureate liberal arts college committed to academic excellence and development of responsible leaders. Alma’s students thrive on challenging academic programs in a supportive, small-college environment emphasizing active, collaborative learning and close student-faculty interaction. Alma is a private Phi Beta Kappa institution located in the
center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
Alma College is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student body.
Alma College recognizes that we are all transformed when we celebrate and value the varied identities backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in our campus community. We are committed to recognizing and removing barriers to success and providing equitable access to opportunities through education and advocacy. In our increasingly diverse campus and world, we pledge to create a climate where everyone is safe and free to grow intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.