Director of Strategic Recruitment and Outreach

At VCU, we provide UNcommon learning, research, creativity, service and discovery - the hallmarks of the VCU experience. A premier, urban, public research university nationally recognized as one of the best employers for diversity, VCU is a great place to work. It is a place of opportunity, where your success is supported and your career can thrive. VCU offers employees a generous leave package, career paths for advancement, competitive pay, and an opportunity to do mission-driven work.

Summary:

This position will lead student outreach, project management, and strategic recruitment activities for the VCU School of Education. This includes building strategic recruitment initiatives that engage new markets and attract students to the School of Education academic programs based on goals, data, and VCU and SOE strategic plans and implementing and managing the continual improvement of a customer relations management (CRM) prospective student engagement system to communicate, analyze and increase applications and applicant yield. This position will develop and lead recruitment initiatives that increase enrollment of historically marginalized students by removing barriers to educational access in alignment with the VCU SOE strategic plan, vision, mission, and values. Further, this position will establish relationships with schools/partners in targeted geographic areas and partner with executive leadership, department heads, and program coordinators to identify potentially specialized cohort initiatives.

This position will implement a centralized short and long-term strategic graduate and undergraduate student recruitment plan in collaboration with the school’s senior leadership and faculty/administrative stakeholders. This includes facilitating partnerships with the VCU Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success team, and tracking application, admission, and enrollment-related data to develop, implement, and improve prospective student services and support practices that align with industry best practices. This position will supervise, train, and evaluate the Office for Strategic Recruitment team, which includes full-time professional staff and student workers. Further, this position will engage in relevant research endeavors and/or deliver leadership presentations at higher educational conferences related to operational excellence within enrollment management.

Required Duties:

• Build strategic recruitment initiatives that engage new markets and attract students to the School of Education academic programs based on goals, data, and VCU and SOE strategic plans;
• Implement and manage the continual improvement of a customer relations management (CRM) prospective student engagement system to communicate, analyze, and increase applications and applicant yield;
• Exercise independent judgment to pivot and adjust recruitment strategies throughout the year based on external market/audience shifts and innovations in the field of enrollment management;
• Coordinates and conducts open houses, information sessions, interviews, and student success sessions with prospective students and their parents to provide information about the School, admissions processes, and university policies and procedures;
• Ensure representation of the School of Education at recruitment fairs, university-level prospective student events, and community-related events appropriate for recruiting prospective students;
• Support international, out-of-state, and specialized community recruitment initiatives led by the Dean and in coordination with the School of Education’s affiliate centers and institutes;
• Develop and lead recruitment initiatives that increase enrollment through the removal of barriers to educational access in alignment with the VCU SOE strategic plan, vision, mission, and values;
• Establish relationships with schools/partners in targeted geographic areas and partner with executive leadership, department heads, and program coordinators to identify potentially specialized cohort initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
• Implement a centralized short and long-term strategic graduate and undergraduate student recruitment plan in collaboration with the school’s senior leadership and faculty/administrative stakeholders;
• Develop a comprehensive recruitment and partnership outreach plan and goals to support the recruitment and initial enrollment of high-quality candidates from a broad range of backgrounds and diverse populations
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to identify, analyze, and continually improve policy and practices that impact access to academic programs for historically marginalized prospective students
• Track application, admission, and enrollment-related data to develop, implement, and improve prospective student services and support practices that align with industry best practices
• Collaborate with the Office of Data Analytics to collect and analyze necessary data to educate and inform critical internal and external stakeholders to create a culture of data-driven decision-making within the context of student-centered best practices in recruitment
• Collaborate with executive leadership, departments, faculty, and the Director for Licensure, Accreditation, and Clinical Experiences in aligning student recruitment goals and strategies that meet CAEP standards;
• Collaborate with the Office of Communications to develop appropriate marketing materials for program promotion and continual improvement of school branding;
• Collaborate with VCU Office of Admissions, VCU Graduate School, VCU Military Student Services, VCU Global Education Office, VCU Graduate Studies, SOE Student Services, and other internal and external offices with responsibilities related to admissions;
• Manage the Office for Strategic Recruitment and regularly report status updates to the executive leadership team.
• Supervise and evaluate the strategic recruitment staff, including the hiring, training, and development of student workers who support ongoing prospective student events, engagement, and relevant research.