Executive Director, Admissions

Executive Director Of Admissions

Western Washington University is seeking its next Executive Director of Admissions! Set in Bellingham, WA, Western combines an incredible Pacific Northwest location with strong academics, an engaged student population, and a highly personalized undergraduate experience. The Executive Director will lead an Admissions organization of approximately 30 team members and a recruitment operation generating approximately 15,000 applications annually. With goals of enrolling 3,200 first-year and 1,200 transfer students, this leader will have the opportunity to advance new recruitment and transfer initiatives and help shape Western's next chapter of enrollment growth.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive.

In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, students, and external constituents.

The Office of Admissions is part of Western Washington University's Division of Academic Affairs and plays a vital role in advancing the university's enrollment goals and student success. The department leads the recruitment, admission, and enrollment of first-year, transfer, international, returning, and other undergraduate student populations, serving as the front door to the Western experience.

As part of the Division of Academic Affairs and reporting to the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, the Executive Director of Admissions leads a team of about 30 permanent staff and a large team of student staff and is charged with developing and executing Western Washington University's admissions and recruitment strategies. This role demands strong leadership, exceptional communication skills, technological fluency, a deep dedication to excellence in higher education, and a commitment to student success and development.

Leadership of Recruitment and Admissions (40%):

• Practices sound modeling, assessment, and strategic planning to support the university's vision, mission, and strategic goals
• In collaboration with university partners, builds recruitment plans, develops timelines, and executes admissions and recruitment plans
• Stays current with national and regional trends in university admissions and in high schools
• Serves as a key contributor to enrollment management planning for the university
• Develops strategies and plans to recruit new students in a changing enrollment landscape, with attention to changes in high school graduation volumes, community college enrollment levels, and shifts in student demographics and geography, among other factors
• Researches industry practices and implements procedures consistent with best practices
• Reviews applications for admission often providing decisions on the most complex files
• Oversees the design of processes to ensure the clear, efficient tracking of application review from beginning to end
• Serves as the final authority on appeals of admission and scholarship decisions
• Works with Enrollment Management and others to establish the scholarship model for recruitment
• Identifies and implements effective awarding strategies for Admissions scholarships and tuition waivers in collaboration with the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Admissions and Financial Aid colleagues
• Collaborates with Enrollment Management colleagues in aligning the work of the Admissions Office in supporting campus enrollment goals, including increasing access and diversity
• Researches, assesses, and prioritizes the university's positioning on College Search platforms
• Guides and provides expertise in the development of…