Executive Director of Admissions

About the opportunity:

The Executive Director of Admissions serves as a dynamic leader and strategist within Enrollment Management, develops and implements the University's undergraduate degree-seeking student recruitment plans, and leads a team of outstanding admissions professionals to achieve recruitment goals. The Executive Director of Admissions engages and collaborates with Academic Affairs, Marketing and Communications, and other campus partners in the development and implementation of recruitment communications that align with the University's enrollment goals. The Executive Director of Admissions plays a critical role in building partnerships and pathways to enhance engagement between CWU and the Yakima and Tri-City region. The Executive Director of Admissions is the administrator tasked with the identification, development, recruitment, and management of strategies in support of all target populations, including Adult, Direct-from-High School, Online, and Transfer. The Executive Director collaborates with the Executive Director of marketing to identify, create, and implement marketing strategies. This position has direct oversight over recruitment and admissions operations. Working in collaboration with key constituents throughout the University community, the Executive Director of Admissions will effectively articulate and promote Central Washington University's mission, vision, and education programs to prospective students. We're offering a salary, depending on experience, from $102,217 - $130,326.50 annually plus the awesome CWU benefits.

About CWU:

Central Washington University (CWU) is one of three public comprehensive universities in Washington State. CWU was founded in 1891 as a "normal" school for the preparation of K-12 educators. The school became a College of Education in 1937, a state college in 1961, and a comprehensive university in 1977.

About our academics:

Offering more than 135 bachelor's and master's degrees, the university enrolls approximately 12,000 students and employs about 1,800 people. CWU's student-faculty ratio is 20:1; about 25 percent of students and 33 percent of freshmen are people of color. CWU enrolls and graduates the largest percentage of Hispanic/Latino students of any public baccalaureate institution in the state. The university holds regional accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

About the position:

As part of the Enrollment Management leadership team, the Executive Director of Admissions works collaboratively to drive admissions outcomes by routinely analyzing data to shape strategic direction, clearly identifying and defining historical University enrollment patterns while developing new-student markets, regularly reassessing effectiveness of recruitment activities and making appropriate adjustments to continuously refine strategies to reflect a proactive response to market forces and the University's needs.

The Executive Director of Admissions provides leadership in collaboration with the Executive Director of Marketing & Communication to coordinate marketing (paid ads, social media, print and digital materials), assess effectiveness, and inform the continued development and implementation of the University's comprehensive recruitment and marketing program, including market segmentation, promotional strategies, and recruitment tactics to meet the University's enrollment goals.

The Executive Director of Admissions impacts the vision, mission, and values of Central Washington University by creating a culture of welcoming and belonging and by promoting access and opportunity for all students. They engage their employees in meaningful work that fosters strong relationships, stewardship of resources, and the integration of varied perspectives. All employees are expected to support CWU's commitment to diversity and to bring and support inclusion into the university environment.

Leadership:
- Provides visionary leadership for new student enrollment by developing, executing, and assessing a strategic recruitment plan, to include but not limited to the development and execution of qualified lead generation strategies, robust communication plan and a multi-channel communication strategy, the commitment to the recruitment of diverse student populations, assessment of enrollment funnel yield activities, exceptional and comprehensive visit experience programs, maintaining market share and development of new markets, and collaboration with other departments such as academics colleges, alumni, outreach to advance recruitment efforts.
- Develops and manages a comprehensive recruitment plan and strategy that is designed to meet annual recruitment goals while collaborating with the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and key stakeholders including Academic Affairs, and Marketing and Communications. Develops annual comprehensive recruitment strategies for CWU's undergraduate markets, working collaboratively with both administrative and academic departments as well as leadership to ensure optimal enrollment.
- Develop and execute a comprehensive plan to increase enrollment from the Yakima and Tri-City regions.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with local high schools, community colleges, and community organizations to strengthen pathway between CWU and the Yakima and Tri-City regions.
- Provides enrollment funnel updates to the university stakeholders.
- Directs the operations of new student recruitment, freshmen and transfer admissions, the visitation experience, the recruitment customer relationship management (CRM) Slate, enrollment processing, and collaborates on strategic enrollment communications. Recruits, selects, hires, trains, develops, and provides leadership and direction to the undergraduate admissions team necessary to implement enrollment goals of recruiting and enrolling new freshmen and transfer students.
- Serves as a primary liaison for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to Deans/Associate Deans within academic colleges and departments. Fosters collaborative, consultative, and meaningful partnerships between the Office of Admissions and other constituents.
- Provides budget development, management, and monitoring for the Office of Admissions.
- Partners with the Office of Marketing to create an integrated and seamless enrollment and marketing plan.
- Represents the Office of Admissions and the Enrollment Management on University committees, task forces, and special assignments.
- Works with compliance officers to ensure functions within the Office of Admissions adhere to institutional policies, federal and state regulations along with meeting established enrollment best practices established by NACAC.
- Maximizes the use of technology in all operational and strategic aspects of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and remains current on emerging technologies, innovative management tools, and admissions best practices.
- Provides recommendations for tuition waiver and scholarship opportunities to support enrollment goals.
- Manages, directs, and assesses all third-party partners supporting the office of admissions.
- Provides weekly admissions updates for the key university stakeholders.
- Serves as the final approver for admissions marketing and recruitment collateral.

Budget and Finance:
- Plan and control the unit's expenditures within established budgetary constraints.
- Monitor, review and reconcile budget reports.
- Develop/present budget recommendations to the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management.
- Development and oversight of fiscal strategy for short-term and long-term fiscal goals of the unit.

Supervision:
- Actively engage in recruitment and hiring of new employees.
- Clearly define performance expectations, ensure accountability, and provide ongoing informal feedback, coaching, and mentoring. Conduct formal performance evaluations.
- Ensure employees have necessary resources to perform their job responsibilities.
- Oversee and direct the work of staff; serve as mentor, coach and leader, and resolve complaints or issues.
- Promote professional development opportunities.
- Develop and foster supportive working relationships, motivation and engagement.
- Communicate information to staff on an ongoing basis to influence staff engagement and to be a part of a larger community.
- Take corrective action in a timely manner.
- Recognize and reward employees for good performance.
- Schedule employee work hours/shifts; monitor hours worked; approve payable time and absence requests.
- Adjust leadership style as needed to achieve results.
- Recognize value of and promote a diverse workforce. Value and encourage diverse perspectives, creativity, and teamwork.

- Perform other duties as assigned.

• Master's degree in Education, Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Counseling or related field.
• Increasingly responsible experience in leading college admissions and student recruitment work.
• Experience working with budgets, performing such functions as budget projections, generating reports, balancing multiple budgets, reviewing expenditures, recognizing inconsistencies, and initiating budget transfers.
• Demonstrated ability and/or experience working with students and/or co-workers from a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and experiences.
• Competency with analyzing recruitment-related data and assessing programming activities as part of a strategic enrollment planning initiative.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with areas across the university (Institutional Effectiveness, Marketing, Academic Affairs, Housing, Financial Aid, etc.) to meet enrollment targets.
• OR applicable combination of education and/or experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the essential functions of the position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using PeopleSoft student information system, Slate CRM, and/or comparable systems.
• Life experiences that demonstrate an ability to contribute to CWU's commitment to inclusion and diversity.
• Demonstrated proficiency in a second language (Spanish preferred).
• Potential to mentor and educate staff who will serve diverse populations.
• Experience supporting executive level administrators.

Competencies

• Accountability/Dependability: Accepts responsibility for quality of own work; acknowledges and corrects mistakes. Shows up on time, meets standards, deadlines and work schedules.
• Judgement: Makes timely, informed decisions. Analyzes options and determines appropriate course of action.
• Teamwork: Promotes cooperation and mutual support to achieve goals. Encourages participation and mutual support.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Responds positively to changing business needs and responsibilities. Adapts approach and methods to achieve results; recovers quickly from setbacks and finds alternatives.
• Commitment to Diversity: Recognizes the value of diversity and helps create environment that supports and embraces diversity.

Don't meet every single requirement? At CWU we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway. This may be the job for you!

Salary: This position has a minimum annual salary of $102,217 and maximum annual salary of $158,436. The Hiring Department's expected hiring range is $102,217 - $130,326.50. In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the hiring range is based on the candidate's current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position.

Schedule/Appointment: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm (1 hour lunch)

Working Conditions: Work is performed in an indoor office setting with frequent in-person interactions. It is essential to be able to remain at a desk/computer workstation for prolonged periods of time, perform extensive data entry and other computer-related tasks and create/maintain filing systems for departmental records. Some evening or weekend work and/or occasional travel may be required.

Benefits: CWU offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical and dental insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, life and disability insurance, along with vacation and sick leave plans depending on employment classification. For additional information please visit Benefits, Perks, and Leave.

An employee of CWU may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if the employee has student loans. To learn more, visit: https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/public-service-loan-forgiveness-program.