Director of Online Admissions

Department: Rowan Online 

Division: Online Campus

Reports to: CEO, Rowan Online

Position Summary:

The Director of Online Admissions leads and manages the online student recruitment process for Rowan University, serving as a key member of the leadership team within Rowan Online. The Director is responsible for the recruitment and admission of students to increase enrollment in graduate, degree completion, and certificate programs, and to achieve enrollment objectives, academic program priorities, and financial targets.

In support of the mission and purpose of Rowan University, the Director of Online Admissions supervises, trains, mentors, and motivates the Rowan Online admissions staff to attain or surpass enrollment goals by providing excellent, student-centric customer service. The Director will assess current practices, and will develop new, technology-enhanced and data-driven admissions approaches.

The Director of Online Admissions will develop recruitment goals and projections and collaborate with enrollment services, faculty, and academic staff to achieve these goals, as well as provide strong leadership in benchmarking, innovation, use of technology, and continuous improvement. Understanding regional and national trends in online higher education is essential for the individual in this role, which includes responsibility for analyzing enrollment trends and forecasting enrollment demand.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Recruitment Strategy and Management

• Develop and execute a strategic recruitment plan that leverages best- and innovative practices and policies to achieve program-specific enrollment targets for online programs.

• Coordinate the planning of comprehensive, multi-year enrollment goals to achieve the academic, financial, and program objectives, in alignment with the Division’s overall strategy.

• Coordinate with the Online Operations team to address logistics to ensure all online program launch plans are being executed on schedule. 

• Develop B2B enrollment savvy admission capabilities in order to identify each partnership uniquely and knowingly interact with the student regarding their employer benefits and process.  

• Partner with Rowan’s campus-based enrollment teams to ensure all potential students find their best learning paths

• Maximize yields at all stages of the enrollment cycle.

• Develop and execute a customer service-oriented strategy for qualifying leads, communicating with prospective students, cultivating strong applicant relationships, and tracking recruitment performance from inquiry through to registration.

• Meet regularly with various constituents to report on enrollment projections and yields.

• Collaborate with the Marketing team to support development of promotion plans and materials that target specific enrollment markets to increase enrollment and overall interest in academic programs, and to attract and enroll new students.

• Research and maintain current knowledge of policy and regulations governing online, graduate, and transfer admissions.

 Enrollment Analysis, Forecasting, and Reporting

• Collaborate with Rowan Online and University data and analytics teams to define metrics to be collected, conduct analyses, and develop models providing actionable insights.

• Use data-driven models to segment applicant populations, maximize yields, identify potential growth areas for existing and planned academic programs, and provide accurate forward-looking enrollment projections.

• Collaborate with Rowan Online Operations team to optimize processes, address data integrity issues, and properly maintain student coding.

• Develop specific B2B reporting and analysis to the employer & student levels including attribution to specific recruiting events

• Develop and present accurate, insightful enrollment pipeline and budget reports to communicate enrollment progress and plans to Division leadership and constituents.

• Develop and manage scholarship strategy and tactics.

 Personnel, Budget, and Resource Management

• Coach, mentor, develop, and supervise admissions, recruitment, and enrollment management staff members, including oversight of new employee onboarding, to ensure optimal service delivery through performance management and professional development.

• Be an active and contributing member of an exceptional team by building and promoting positive professional working relationships across campus.

• In collaboration with the CEO of Rowan Online, develop and manage the admissions budget.

• Conduct assessments of all processes and technologies and develop recommendations for the implementation of related technology applications in support of enhanced services offered through admissions, recruitment and outreach, and registration.

• Plan, budget, and manage productive relationships with third-party vendors of recruitment services and technologies.

• Apply project management best practices across unit operations.

• Conduct other duties as assigned by the CEO of Rowan Global

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's Degree, Master’s preferred

• Seven to ten years of experience in university admissions, recruitment, or enrollment management.

• Strong record of successful outcomes in the development and achievement of enrollment goals.

• Substantial supervisory experience and demonstrated ability to manage and lead a high-functioning admissions and recruitment team.

• Experience developing, implementing and evaluating enrollment management strategies that support the college’s mission and market-driven program priorities.

• Strong technical, organizational, and data management skills, with experience adapting and advancing the use of technology, including customer relationship management, data analysis, and business intelligence.

• Proven ability to motivate, inspire, collaborate, drive change, and make tough decisions, with demonstrated experience effectively supervising the work and directing the actions of others

• Strong, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms

• Commitment to innovation with the ability to implement new approaches for achieving enrollment goals

• Strong experience and competence with successful budget development and management.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present dynamically to a variety of constituencies

• Demonstrated commitment and ability to work with a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, and constituents in support of campus and department mission.

• Ability to manage diverse tasks with frequent interruptions and to meet deadlines with competing demands

• Ability to build and manage productive relationships with both internal stakeholders and external vendors and partners

• Exceptional listening and comprehension skills, with strong interpersonal skills and experience working across organizational boundaries to achieve objectives.

• Experience working with Online and non-traditional students

• Understanding of compliance and regulations related to recruitment and admissions processes.

Preferred 

• Demonstrated hands-on expertise in the development, management, understanding, and maintenance of data models used for the analysis of admissions/recruitment data.

• Experience developing, implementing, and evaluating enrollment management practices that meet the unique needs of diverse audiences, including online learners, community college students, and employed, underemployed and military-connected individuals.

• Experience working with a university marketing team to develop marketing and recruitment strategies to increase lead generation for graduate and online students.

• Knowledge of the Ellucian Banner system and Slate CRM system.