Distance Education Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment

About Unity College:

For more than fifty years, Unity College has been preparing the next generation of environmental professionals and leaders to successfully face real-world challenges. With environmentally focused degrees, Unity College offers affordable and accessible degrees, certificates, and non-degree courses, through a variety of modalities including hybrid, in-person, hyflex, and online.

Our Mission:

Through the framework of sustainability science, Unity College provides a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Through experiential and collaborative learning, our graduates emerge as responsible citizens, environmental stewards, and visionary leaders.

Position Overview:

The Distance Education Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment assists the Executive Director of Enrollment Management in the oversight, design, delivery, and quality of student recruitment, onboarding, student support, stopout and completion initiatives for all Distance Education (DE) graduate students. This is a revenue generating position focused on the full student life cycle from recruitment to completion. In addition, the Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment is responsible for supervising New Student Enrollment Specialists/Concierges and Advisors, ensuring that term and yearly individual and team goals are being met for recruitment and retention. The Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment will also assist in ensuring that services are accessible, consistent, innovative, and supportive of all Distance Education audiences. This position reports to the Distance Education Executive Director of Enrollment Management.

• Responsible for direction and supervision of Distance Education New Student Enrollment Specialists/Concierges to provide student recruitment services including lead generation, lead nurturing, communication flow, unofficial transcript evaluation; and creating a seamless handoff to advisors after matriculation; and of Advisors to provide student support services that ensure student persistence until graduation or completion.
• Conduct performance evaluations on members of the team as assigned.
• Ensure that standardized practices for student enrollment are implemented.
• Mentor, and train all DE New Student Enrollment Specialists/Concierges and Advisors, monitor their student interactions for maximum student support, and ensure appropriate trainings, continuous improvement and professional development.
• Maintain appropriate records on all recruitment and retention activities as needed to the Executive Director of Enrollment Management and other DE leadership.
• Responsible for meeting Distance Education recruitment goals and measuring performance outcomes for individual New Student Enrollment Specialists/Concierges and Advisors.
• Full life cycle management of a pool of applicants: proactive and holistic student contact and conversion throughout the inquiry, application, and associated processes using the Unity College established Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) database and maintaining records in the Student Information System (SIS).
• Serve as primary information provider for students about the graduate admission process, including information about financial aid, billing, academics and academic support.
• Build and maintain necessary relationships with prospective students and other influencers.
• Review student applications and appeals for admission decisions for designated online programs based on agreed upon parameters.
• Utilize multiple means for communicating, i.e. texting, phone calls, emails, traditional mail, and be comfortable using effective technology to aid in the recruitment process.
• Become knowledgeable and articulate about Unity College Distance Education, its programs, market niche, strategies and procedures.
• Understand how to work with place bound, and adult learners.
• Maintain student onboarding, orientation, student services and student support materials. Assist in creating structures for student academic support and design academic support systems including tutoring, counseling, and professional skills.
• Coordinate with marketing and DE leadership to create and implement aggressive outreach strategy, drip campaigns, and application materials for Distance Education graduate programs.
• Gather course enrollment information to support course delivery assessment, graduation processes, and alumni connections.
• Direct advising, degree audit, and student academic planning processes.
• Pro-actively communicate challenges, successes, and failures with leadership.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required:

• Bachelors degree
• Two years of experience in college admissions recruiting/sales and advising preferred; ideally experience in online programs.
• Valid Maine Drivers License with a good driving record.
• Excellent initiative and organizational skills with ability to work both autonomously and in a team.
• Great time management skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability and willingness to work with students from diverse political/socioeconomic backgrounds and a wide range of physical and academic abilities.
• Good skills in word processing, spreadsheets and computerized database systems.
• Personal commitment to the environmental focus and mission of the college.
• Ability to function effectively within a matrix organizational structure, maintaining open lines of communication while being discreet, courteous and well poised.

Preferred:

• Masters degree
• Five years higher education administration experience, with experience in recruiting and/or delivering student support services, including direct online student support.

Leadership and/or supervisory experience.

Work Schedule / Availability Requirements

Work hours are specific to the requirements of this position and can include days, evenings, and weekends. Working extended hours required as needed. Must be flexible and cooperative in fulfilling responsibilities and meeting the Colleges needs. Although Unity College employees are generally scheduled to work at their specifically assigned locations, there are times when travel is necessary and employees are required from time to time to attend events, meetings or work temporary assignment at any Unity College location.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, it is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand or walk. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 lbs. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. The use of either hand for repetitive movements such as grasping, grasping and turning, and fine manipulation is required as is the ability to use the telephone for internal and external communications.

Location: Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, Maine

Just a half hour from Portland, Unity College Headquarters, Unity College Distance Education, The Technical School for Environmental Professions (opening in 2022), and the School of Environmental Business & Sustainable Ventures are based at the Pineland Farms campus. The facilities are within easy access to one of the fastest-growing cities for startups in the country.

Benefits:

Unity College offers a comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits package for its faculty and staff. Benefits for eligible employees include:

• Paid holidays
• Paid time off
• Medical
• Dental
• Short- and Long-term disability
• Life Insurance
• Flexible work benefit eligible
• Vision
• 403B

At Unity College, we dont just accept difference we celebrate it, we support it,
and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our students, and our community.
Unity College is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.