Vice President of Enrollment Management

Position Title: Dean of Enrollment Management

Reports To: The President

FLSA Status: Exempt

Division/Department: Enrollment Management

Revision Date: April 2025

The Dean of Enrollment Management reports directly to the President and serves as a member of the President's Cabinet, responsible for enrollment, enrollment marketing, enrollment communication, and strategic outreach efforts for the entire institution. The role provides leadership to the Admissions and Financial Aid Departments. The Dean of Enrollment Management will have the overall responsibility for all aspects of enrollment, including the creation and execution of a strategic and comprehensive enrollment program, from concept to reality, which creates a highly individualized process for all incoming first-year students and transfer students.

This position will be accountable for developing and implementing a comprehensive plan to achieve enrollment stability and strategic enrollment growth for the institution.

Additional responsibilities include building a strong sales (admissions) force and assisting the VP of Finance and Administration in creating an aggressively resourceful student financial services department with a focused and implementable recruitment plan. The VPEM works with other offices to develop institution-wide strategic objectives, interfaces with the Board of Trustees, and serves and/or assists with applicable board committees.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Strategic Planning and Leadership

· Support the University’s mission, vision, and strategic plan goals.

· Serves as part of the President’s Cabinet and as the primary enrollment/admissions expert and advisor to the executive levels.

· Provides strong, dynamic enrollment leadership and fosters a collegial environment encouraging scholarship, teaching, and learning excellence.

· Provides the vision to guide the College’s enrollment priorities and actions into the future.

· Maintain highly effective communication and working relationships with other executive-level cabinet members and employees of the college, keeping them informed of current activities and working collaboratively to achieve institutional priorities in a spirit of joint endeavor.

· Establish enrollment objectives based on organizational goals.

· Oversee the creation and implementation of annual operational budgets and plans for each area of supervision.

· Provide administrative oversight to each area.

· Communicate effectively with stakeholders.

· Provide direction and supervision of the units and directors.

· Direct, develop, coach, and evaluate direct reports and team members, ensuring team members are performing to set performance standards, following Mitchell policies, and supporting Mitchell’s mission, vision, and values.

Admissions

· Identifies and evaluates enrollment trends, utilizing data to advise the leadership team and determine when alternative strategies are needed to meet the College’s goals.

· Develops and executes the College’s strategic enrollment plan to ensure new student enrollment goals are met and current student retention is prioritized.

· Supports and/or leads the development of programs and initiatives to advance continuing student enrollment, retention, and completion in collaboration with Academic Advising, the Integrative Career Center, and Academic Affairs leadership.

· Leads the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of all new student enrollment initiatives to include coordination with all Enrollment Management functions, Marketing and Communications, Student Affairs, Business Services, and academic areas to track prospective students from recruitment through the admission and financial aid processes to registration for classes.

· In coordination with the Marketing Department, develops admissions literature.

· Hires and develops staff committed to those priorities.

· Ensures all divisions of Enrollment Management operate efficiently with a focus on customer service and fulfilling the College’s mission.

Student Financial Services

· Provide overall management and leadership necessary for the effective administration of the College’s Office of Financial Aid, including, but not limited to, financial aid processing and disbursement, financial counseling, database management, reporting, and auditing.

· Provide leadership and develop appropriate recommendations for implementing related technology applications to support enhanced services offered through the Financial Aid and Enrollment Management team.

· Develop and administer the college's financial aid and scholarship models and policies, office procedures, and funding programs so that recruitment and retention goals are met, as well as net tuition revenue budget targets.

· Perform institutional financial aid budget and tuition revenue forecasting and management.

· Other duties as assigned.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands and fingers, handle or feel, and talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk. The employee must occasionally lift and /or move up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus. Hand-eye coordination is necessary to operate computers.

Required Education, Experience, and Skills:

· BA/BS degree required in a related field; advanced degrees are preferred.

· A minimum of five years of senior-level experience in enrollment management, financial aid, and communications is required.

· Experience recruiting undergraduate and online populations, as well as neurodiverse students.

· Strong written and oral communication skills, interpersonal skills, and an ability to build positive and effective relationships with colleagues, students, and the external community.

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with students, faculty, and staff.

· Knowledge of and experience managing enrollment operations in small, private colleges is highly preferred.

· Higher education marketing and sales expertise is highly preferred.

· Record of leadership and service demonstrating integrity, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and achievement of goals.

· Demonstrated success in increasing student enrollment.

· Proven strong administrative and supervisory skills.

· Demonstrated experience developing communication strategies with recruits by integrating social media and other technologies.

· Demonstrated expertise and understanding in higher education financial aid.

· Demonstrated ability to manage a budget.

· Ability to effectively present information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of trustees.