Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

Kutztown University (KU), a comprehensive public institution located in southeastern Pennsylvania, welcomes nominations and applications for the position of Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs.

The Institution: Kutztown University, a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), was founded in 1866 as Keystone State Normal School, became Kutztown State Teachers College in 1928, Kutztown State College in 1960, and achieved university status in 1983. Today, KU is a modern, comprehensive institution offering 130 undergraduate programs in the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, Business, and Education. There are also 31 graduate areas of study—including two doctoral programs—as well as ten certificate programs. An honors program, study abroad, internships, student/faculty research and experiential learning communities round out the academic experience. The University educates a diverse student body of approximately 7,700 and employs 411 faculty members and 463 staff who are dedicated to providing transformational and life-changing learning opportunities. Members of the University take pride in the strong sense of community that can be felt across campus and an institutional commitment to excellence that is reflected in consistent recognition by U.S. News and World Report as a “Best Regional University” and by The Princeton Review as “One of the Best in the Northeast.” The University offers a beautiful 289 acre award-winning campus complete with modern labs, studios, living-learning communities, dining options, and athletic/recreational facilities—a setting designed to nurture students’ intellectual and social development. Additionally, the University is a cultural and economic cornerstone of the borough of Kutztown and wider Berks County, and it enjoys an excellent relationship with the surrounding community. KU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and also boasts a dozen programmatic accreditations. For more about the University, please visit www.kutztown.edu.

The Position: Reporting to the President, the Vice President leads a well-planned, analytically supported, highly integrated, and continuously evaluated suite of initiatives, working closely with students from the pre-inquiry stage to graduation and post-graduation plans with the goal of improving enrollment and retention and creating the strongest possible student academic profile for the University. The Vice President will formulate, execute, and continuously evolve a transparent, collaborative and cutting-edge enrollment management and retention strategy that stems from and is tied to the mission, goals, and evolving strategic plan of the University. They will provide leadership for student affairs (to include Multicultural Center, Women’s and LGBTQ+ centers, and student judicial office), housing and dining services, admissions, financial aid, student orientation, health and wellness, counseling and psychological services, and other areas as assigned. They will establish and monitor annual office objectives and performance criteria for the Office of Admissions for the recruitment of new freshmen and transfer students. This includes objectives to develop outreach and admission strategies for underrepresented students with other university units involved with recruitment and retention of underrepresented undergraduate students. They will prepare and monitor divisional budgets and all resource allocations and expenditures. The Vice President will work with the Marketing division to develop, and coordinate marketing publications and implement outreach strategies for undergraduate, graduate, and international student recruitment. They will provide university offices with appropriate admissions and retention-related data in coordination with the Office of the Registrar and other related offices.

Qualifications: The new Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs will be a student-centered leader with analytical, statistical, and technological depth and a proven capacity for embedding enrollment decisions within institutional values and aspirations. They must possess a leadership record that demonstrates a strong commitment to diversity and the decision-making ability appropriate for policy formation, enrollment management planning, and identifying strategies for the future. The successful candidate will possess interpersonal skills to communicate effectively orally and in writing with a variety of constituencies to facilitate teamwork among staff and in committees and to foster collaboration with high schools and community colleges. The vice president must have a record of collaborative leadership and managerial experience. The candidate must have a clear understanding of student affairs and demonstrated the ability to positively affect student life, as well as improvement of retention, persistence, and graduation rates. They must show success in working with student groups, coordinating judicial proceedings, and effectively managing housing personnel. They will have significant experience with and knowledge of enrollment management best practices and a demonstrated record of success in achieving undergraduate enrollment projections and growth through developing and maintaining a marketing plan, implementing recruitment strategies, and leveraging student financial aid and scholarship initiatives utilizing a data-driven approach. The candidate must also have an understanding and demonstrated record of successful practices in international student recruitment. The new Vice President will demonstrate a history of progressively responsible leadership and supervisory experience with oversight of multiple functions impacting enrollment and student affairs. A terminal degree is required.

Location: Kutztown, Pennsylvania, is a quaint borough of 5,000 residents. It is located in Berks County in the heart of picturesque Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Residents of Kutztown and wider Berks County enjoy access to the natural beauty and resources of rural southeastern Pennsylvania, such as biking and hiking trails—including a section of the worldfamous Appalachian Trail—and several farmers’ markets and “agritainment” venues that offer visitors agriculture-based recreational opportunities. Berks County is home to numerous wineries and breweries as well as a diverse array of restaurants. Residents also enjoy year-round entertainment in the form of seasonal festivals and performing arts and cultural venues. Kutztown is also conveniently located between the diverse cities of Reading and Allentown, which serve as economic hubs of the region. It is also only 70 miles from Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 100 miles from New York City, 120 miles from Baltimore, and 160 miles from Washington, D.C. Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) is also only 25 minutes from campus. For more information about the region, visit www.visitpaamericana.com.

Application: Interested candidates should submit only a cover letter and resume to RPA Inc at kutztownvpemsa@rpainc.org. For a confidential discussion about this opportunity or to make a nomination, please contact Kira Heath, Search Manager, or Amanda O’Donnell, Vice President and Senior Consultant, at the email address above. To ensure full consideration, application materials must be received no later than November 28, 2022.

Kutztown University is an AA/EOE/member of the PA State System of Higher Education and actively solicits applications from women and minority candidates. Kutztown University does not discriminate in employment or educational opportunities on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status. To discuss a complaint of discrimination, please contact the University's Title IX Coordinator located in the Office of Social Equity, Old Main A-Wing, Room 02, by phone at 610-683-4700 or by e-mail at pena@kutztown.edu or the Office for Civil Rights located in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg., 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-1100, by phone at 800-421-3481 (TDD: 800-877-8339), by fax at 202- 453-6012, or by e-mail at OCR@ed.gov" OCR@ed.gov.