Executive Director, Admissions

Executive Director, Admissions

The Executive Director of Admissions, SGA, serves as the strategic lead for graduate and professional admissions across all campuses, reporting to the Chief Admissions Officer. This role is responsible for designing and executing data-driven recruitment strategies that support institutional enrollment goals while upholding the highest standards of graduate and professional admissions. The Executive Director oversees admissions teams, budgets, and outreach initiatives;

builds relationships with faculty, alumni, and external partners; and leverages technology and market data to guide decision-making. Success in this position requires proven experience leading admissions strategy, not just processing, along with the ability to motivate high-performing teams and innovate in a competitive higher education environment.

Reporting to the Chief Admissions Officer, the Executive Director of Admissions provides strategic leadership for recruitment and admissions, ensuring all initiatives advance institutional goals in a competitive enrollment environment. The successful incumbent will perform the following duties, with or without reasonable accommodations:

• Enrollment Planning & Compliance
  • In collaboration with the Chief Admissions Officer, develops and implements the vision for the Office of Admissions in meeting recruitment and enrollment challenges across all programs and campuses.
  • Inspires staff through leadership to think creatively, adopt best practices and embrace continuous improvement. Addresses performance challenges and problems with a proactive approach. Mentors Admissions staff to optimize process development and output.
  • Collaborates with University administration, college deans, faculty, students, and external organizations and institutions in setting appropriate enrollment goals and implementing a holistic recruitment strategy to fulfill them.
  • In collaboration with departmental staff, designs, implements, and evaluates a comprehensive, data-driven strategic recruitment plan.
  • In concert with the Director of Communications and Operations, plans and supervises recruitment and application processing operations including: marketing/target analysis; prospect-enrollment pipeline development; application review and follow-up; college outreach; on and off-campus recruitment events; student ambassador programs and campus visit programs; and development of print and electronic admission materials, counseling, web content and social media.
  • Annually reviews all admissions policies and procedures with the Chief Admissions Officer and Admissions leadership on each campus to ensure compliance with accreditation and state/federal reporting requirements.
• Administration and Professional Development
  • Facilitates organizational development and change management to maintain a progressive and efficient recruitment and admission operation.
  • In concert with departmental leadership and Human Resources, identifies areas for staff development and implements programming, interventions and activities focused on improvement.
  • Participates in professional organizations and professional development activities to ensure admission practices are contemporary.
  • Represents Admissions at administrative meetings as assigned by the CAO.
• Relationship Building
  • Annually, assesses, revises, and implements admission policies through a holistic process that collaborates with administration, program faculty and Admissions staff.
  • Provides updates and facilitates training on admissions, marketing, and recruitment activities and tools to University staff, faculty, and administration.
  • Work with student service departments such as Registrar and Institutional Research to gather and provide data for planning and assessment.
  • Works collaboratively with the Director of Admissions Communications and the marketing department (MARCOM) who design effective print, email, text, and social media platforms to recruit a new class of students.
  • Lead process for developing application review procedures, including admission decisions and appeals.
  • Establishes and maintains relationships with advisors/contacts at…