Associate Director of Online Students Enrollment and Engagement
To lead the admissions, recruitment, and student experience for online degree programs. We are seeking an Associate Director of Online Student and Engagement who will report to and support the Executive Director of Online/Distance Learning in marketing, admissions, recruitment, and student engagement functions for JHU SAIS online degree programs. The incumbent will work collaboratively with Student Services, Advising, Admissions, Marketing, other internal groups, program faculty, and outside partners to create and maintain a cohesive, well-planned and well-communicated student experience. Requires the ability to practice independent thinking and a creative approach to addressing third party vendor relationship management, marketing, recruitment, admissions, student needs, engagement, and retention.
The successful candidate must be able to collaborate, communicate effectively, prioritize multiple tasks, take a proactive approach to work assignments, and take initiative in the anticipation of future needs of online and distance learning at SAIS as programs grow and evolve.
*This position will be located in Washington, DC with a hybrid schedule.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
Online Student Experience Management (45%)
- Serve as the first point of contact to address student attrition.
- Collaborate with faculty academic program lead and OPM Student Services team to address student needs.
- Connect students to appropriate resources.
- Follow-up with students and internal partners to ensure that all matters are resolved timely and appropriately.
- Serve as an advocate for online students within University communities.
- Build relationships and engage with program alumni to drive recruitment and career development, and networking opportunities for current and future students.
- Maintain a comprehensive calendar of co-curricular programs, training, events, services and resources that are relevant to online students.
- Coordinate and facilitate the online students’ participation in the SAIS residency and graduation events.
Online Student Admissions and Enrollment Management (40%)
- Collaborate with the Executive Director of Online Learning to identify strategies for marketing, admissions, and recruitment.
- Evaluate all existing admissions and recruitment processes to ensure seamless and effective implementation.
- Liaise with OPM vendor in ensuring implementation of the admissions and recruitment lifecycle.
- In collaboration with SLATE System Administrators, maintain and inform system integration and implementation for the admissions and recruitment processes.
- Develop queries and reports for online programs admissions and recruitment processes.
- Lead and coordinate new and annual enrollment communication plans for new and continuing student experience.
- Lead, coordinate and produce information sessions. Create and co-present information sessions in collaboration with the faculty academic program Lead. Responsible for presenting program specific recruitment and admissions information to prospective students.
- Interview student applicants, review applicant files, and recommend acceptance or denial based upon admissions criteria.
- Serve as the first point of contact for the OPM Admissions and Recruitment Teams.
- Ensure that all admissions and recruitment efforts incorporate diversity and serve the needs of target diverse populations to fill the incoming applicant pool.
- Create a weekly report and update the Executive Director on all admissions- and recruitment-related activities.
Academic Program Support (10%)
- Collaborate with Senior Instructional Design Manager in establishing and maintaining an online program cohort culture and community.
- Plan, organize and implement online program residencies for all cohorts.
- Develop and maintain tools to collect, analyze, and report data about the effectiveness of the Residency program.
- Identify internal resources to improve students’ experience; develop and execute special initiatives to enrich students’ experience in the Residency program.
Other Duties (5%)
- Collaborate with other SAIS units, such as Student Services, Advising, Admissions, Marketing and other groups on initiatives that promote and enhance student experience.
- Research and stay abreast of best practices for engaging online students and ensuring an effective and successful student experience. Provide input to the Executive Director on trends in online higher education recruitment, admissions, student engagement and aid in planning for the future development of online programs.
- May represent Online and Distance Learning department on school-wide and/or university-wide work groups and committees.
- Other duties as assigned.
Special Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Effective interpersonal and leadership skills.
- Ability to transparently collaborate and influence multiple stakeholders.
- Solution driven, detail-oriented, analytical problem-solver.
- Student-centered approach to collaborating with the various stakeholders.
- Effective organizational and time-management skills.
- Ability to manage several projects with competing deadlines at the same time.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master's or Ph.D. in education or specific field related to program.
- Five years' experience in all aspects of academic program administration. Supervisory experience preferred.
- Additional experience may substitute for education, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in online programs admissions and recruitment.
- Masters from an accredited university, preferably in the field of marketing, business, communications, and other related fields.
Classified Title: Academic Program Manager
Job Posting Title (Working Title): Associate Director of Online Students Enrollment and Engagement
Role/Level/Range: ACRP/04/ME
Starting Salary Range: $64,000 - $112,200 Annually (Commensurate with experience)
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm
Exempt Status: Exempt
Location: Hybrid/District of Columbia
Department name: Nitze Sch of Advanced Intl Stds SAIS
Personnel area: SAIS