About the Department
The Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management (AVP-EM) is a hands-on, data-driven, execution-focused leader responsible for driving enrollment growth, optimizing financial aid and scholarship resources, and strengthening student recruitment. Reporting to the Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs, the AVP-EM leads the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of enrollment operations with a clear mandate: deliver measurable enrollment results while ensuring efficient, compliant, and financially sustainable practices.
This role is not a figurehead or advisory position. The successful candidate will be deeply engaged in operational work—diagnosing performance gaps, redesigning processes, managing the enrollment funnel, and ensuring that financial aid and scholarship resources are strategically leveraged to maximize net tuition revenue and student access.
The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of significantly increasing enrollment at an institution of comparable size, demonstrate strong financial and analytical acumen, and be mission-driven with the ability to influence culture, make difficult decisions, and lead change.
Position Duties
Strategic Leadership & Enrollment Growth
- Lead and execute university-wide enrollment operations for undergraduate, transfer, adult, online, and non-traditional student populations.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive, data-driven enrollment management plan aligned with institutional goals and mission.
- Build and manage recruitment pipelines, including prospect development, inquiry management, application processing, conversion, and yield strategies.
- Partner with academic leadership, marketing, and student success units to ensure alignment across the student lifecycle.
Financial Aid, Scholarships & Revenue Optimization
- Direct financial aid strategy, including tuition discounting, leveraging, and optimization to balance access, affordability, and institutional sustainability.
- Use enrollment modeling, elasticity analysis, and ROI assessment to guide aid packaging and scholarship deployment.
- Ensure compliance with federal and state regulations governing financial aid.
- Collaborate closely with the VP for Business Affairs on aid optimization and net revenue strategy.
Data, Analytics & Performance Management
- Use dashboards, KPIs, cohort analysis, and funnel metrics to evaluate recruitment, financial aid, and student service performance.
- Initiate corrective action, reallocate resources, and adjust tactics to meet enrollment and retention goals.
- Produce actionable, real-time reporting to inform institutional decision-making.
- Present enrollment, retention, and financial aid analyses to senior leadership and campus stakeholders.
Operational Excellence & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Supervise and develop directors and staff across enrollment-related units (e.g., Admissions, Financial Aid, Scholarships, and others as appropriate).
- Ensure consistent, coordinated communication across enrollment and student success units.
- Partner with the Office of Marketing and Communications to strengthen recruitment messaging, brand visibility, and market positioning.
- Build and maintain relationships with regional schools, community organizations, and external partners to support recruitment pipelines.
Institutional Representation & Special Initiatives
- Represent the division and the university to internal and external stakeholders.
- Lead special projects and initiatives that advance institutional enrollment goals.
- Participate in recruitment events, community engagement activities, and regional partnerships.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration, Student Affairs, Public Administration, Business, or a related field.
- Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible leadership experience with direct accountability for enrollment outcomes, financial aid strategy, and/or student success initiatives.
- Demonstrated success in significantly increasing enrollment and managing complex enrollment funnels.
- Experience using data analytics, financial modeling, and ROI analysis to guide decision-making.
- Strong supervisory experience leading multifaceted teams.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.