Career Center

In partnership with the Vice President, the director will oversee the strategic direction of the admission office and be an exceptional team leader, a collaborative campus and community partner, and an experienced enrollment management professional with an understanding of national and international trends and markets. They will coordinate strategic initiatives, student recruitment, and the selection processes. This position is involved in all the components of the admission program, including recruitment travel, interviewing, evaluating applications, and public speaking.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
The essential duties and responsibilities for the Director of Admission include the following:

Strategic Leadership

• Plan and implement innovative and prudent admission practices, policies, and initiatives, as well as new approaches to enrollment goals, technology, publications, communications, and partnerships across campus.
• Provide wisdom and information regarding changing demographics and the highly competitive landscape, building effective recruitment and engagement activities.
• Evaluate and analyze current admission operations and data.
• Recommend admission programming changes and provide leadership in the development and implementation of programs, standards, and goals for the Admission Office.
• Oversee the consideration of domestic and international applications, including first-year and transfer applicants, each year for enrollment of 420 new students.
• Maintain and manage an application reading load and travel territory.
• Sustain and enhance Centre’s excellence in liberal arts education; communicate the goals and value of the liberal arts in today’s environment to a wide range of audiences, sharing the spirit of Centre’s culture of intellectual engagement with prospective families, secondary-school counselors, community-based organizations, and other college partners.
• Develop further systematic ways to assess, improve, and renew programs, benchmarking them against best practices.

Partnership, Collaboration and Communication

• When required, represent the vice president on campus with many constituencies including the Board of Trustees, off campus with professional and educational groups, and in the press.
• Attend and contribute to national and regional meetings of professional organizations such as the National Association for College Admission Counseling, The College Board, and state and regional organizations.
• Act as a liaison to campus partners including advancement, financial aid, career and professional development, and athletics departments as well as the Registrar’s Office and Dean of Students Office on admission matters.
• In partnership with the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communication, plan, develop and revise publications and communications outreach for prospective students.

Commitment to Diversity at Centre

• Demonstrate keen interest and experience in assuming a leadership role on campus in assisting the college to reach goals related to enhancing the diversity of the student population.
• Introduce students to a campus that values diversity, respect, collective engagement, accountability, and personal growth in a community of extraordinary talent.
• Demonstrate a sincere commitment to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive community and a willingness to continue to foster personal learning within the office.
• Inform internal and external constituencies about selective admission policies that also maintain a commitment to educational access for a diverse population of students.

• Demonstrates an appreciation of and commitment to further an inclusive culture for those of diverse backgrounds such as ability, age, class, ethnicity, faith, gender, neurodiversity, race and sexual orientation.  

Supervision

• Directly supervise an ambitious and hardworking team of admission professionals.   
• Organize workflow and ensure that employees understand their responsibilities.
• Ensure staff have professional development plans in place and develop training opportunities.
• Communicate key issues and information to staff members and student workers.
• Effectively provide fair, constructive, and timely feedback and coaching to staff to drive performance and work toward established goals.

Qualifications, Skills and Characteristics
The successful candidate must have a bachelor’s degree, with an advanced degree preferred.  Additionally, this role requires a minimum of seven years of progressively responsible admission experience.

The Director must demonstrate the following qualifications, skills, and abilities.

• Experience supervising, managing, developing, and motivating a diverse team of admission officers and administrative support staff.
• Familiarity with and support of the mission of a selective liberal arts college along with the ability to speak persuasively about the value of the liberal arts in today’s context.
• Ability to evaluate applicants within a holistic review process, chair admission committees, and make appropriate admission decisions.
• Strong verbal, written, technical, fiscal, interpersonal, and collaborative skills.
• Ability to work jointly with the administration and faculty in promoting the mission of the College.
• Confident leadership in matters regarding staff, training, budget, operations, and project assignments.
• Expertise in current national best practices and experience with strategic planning and implementation efforts, including those that relate to the use of technology, improving publications and communications, and enhancing the visitor experience.
• Knowledge of current trends and issues in the national landscape of admission and financial aid.
• Excellent communication skills with a wide range of audiences including students, parents, and counselors and the ability to adeptly manage both external and internal relationships.
• Exceptional analytical and planning skills and, importantly, a sense of humor.
• Ability to work under pressure, balancing problem solving and time-management skills; competency in prioritizing among the multiple and often competing needs of an active office.
• Exceptional organizational, and superior judgment skills to complete work with accuracy and attention to detail.
• An excellent understanding of the power of technology in admission work, including a knowledge of and experience maximizing a CRM; (familiarity with Slate Technolutions preferred).

About Centre College

Centre College, a selective liberal arts and sciences college in Danville, Ky., 30 miles southwest of Lexington, is seeking a collaborative, dynamic, and strategic Director of Admission. This experienced leader will bring a history of demonstrated success in undergraduate recruitment, a commitment to diversity, and an appreciation of the liberal arts. Reporting to the Vice President of Enrollment Management, the Director of Admission will lead and manage the daily operations of the Office of Admission. The director will serve as a senior advisor to the vice president on all admission matters and help to guide planning and implementation efforts for the recruitment and admission of a diverse and academically exceptional class.

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