Career Center

Founded in 1847, Earlham College, a selective, private national liberal arts college located in Richmond, IN, is seeking a proven Vice President for Enrollment Management. The successful candidate for this Vice Presidency will promote the culture and community that are distinctly Earlham and lead the efforts of enrolling bright and inquisitive students who are driven to make a difference in the world.

THE POSITION
The Vice President for Enrollment Management will be a significant strategic partner on President Anne M. Houtman’s senior leadership team. The VPEM will be expected to embrace Earlham’s strong culture of global awareness and engagement, social justice, inclusion, and creating a passion for life-long learning, while contributing to ongoing planning and institutional growth. The new VPEM will provide dynamic management and oversight of the offices of admissions and financial aid, offering a strategy for balancing the recruitment of students poised to succeed at Earlham while maintaining a healthy net revenue stream. Guided by a comprehensive knowledge of national and international demographic trends, current admissions and financial aid practices, and a sophisticated understanding of data analytics, the VPEM will communicate with transparency and integrity, and work within the guidelines of consensus as it is practiced by the Earlham community. The VPEM should possess experience in the liberal arts and a strong understanding of the global impact of an Earlham education.  The vice president will also demonstrate a record of past success in higher education enrollment.

Entire Position Announcement:  https://nessearches.com/vpem-earlham/

TO APPLY
NES, a national search firm specializing in enrollment management leadership positions, is assisting Earlham College in seeking their next Vice President of Enrollment Management. For more information or to nominate someone for this position, contact Robin Reynders (robin.reynders@nessearches.com), Laura Robinson (laura.robinson@nessearches.com) or Mary Napier (mary.napier@nessearches.com) for a confidential conversation. Interested candidates should submit a résumé along with a cover letter expressing interest in this position and explaining how, exactly, their experience and skills match the qualities outlined in this position announcement. Additionally, candidates should provide the names and contact information of five professional references; references will not be contacted without permission. All application materials should be submitted electronically to earlham@nessearches.com. For best consideration, submit materials by June 22, 2023. The anticipated start date is Summer/Fall, 2023.

Earlham College continues to build a community that reflects the gender and racial diversity of the society at large, and, therefore, we are particularly interested in inviting and encouraging applications from African Americans, other ethnic minorities, and women.  Earlham also is eager to solicit applications from members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

Earlham College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Earlham utilizes E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility for all newly hired employees within the United States.

QUALIFICATIONS and QUALITIES
Earlham seeks a Vice President for Enrollment Management who is excited about the opportunity to join a community with a strong culture of global awareness and engagement, social justice, inclusion, and creating a passion for life-long learning. The successful candidate will possess exceptional communication skills, analytical ability, creativity, innovative ideas, and a record of success in shaping the academic and diversity profile of entering classes. Experience in the areas of enrollment marketing, financial aid, and recruitment technology is expected, as is knowledge of today’s and future students.

The ideal candidate must also have the ability to be a strategic partner with a capable leadership team, establish strong relationships with internal and external constituencies, promote change and ingenuity, lead enrollment to new levels of success, and appreciate an ambitious and inspiring environment. A bachelor's degree is required, with an advanced degree strongly preferred; along with significant, progressive experience in higher education enrollment management.  In addition, the vice president must possess:

Proven effectiveness and experience in enrollment: Demonstrated ability to develop and implement successful admissions and financial aid strategies and initiatives; knowledge of undergraduate and graduate admissions and financial aid to ensure achievement of recruitment goals and compliance with state and federal regulations and procedures; ability to imagine and implement an effective strategic enrollment plan; experience in international recruitment and recruitment for diversity and inclusion; proven ability to recruit students who persist to graduation; an ability to serve as an agent of change; evidence of success in boldly recruiting students using a scrappy mindset; and familiarity and appreciation of Division III athletics.

Staff leadership and management: Ability to set clear goals and inspire staff around enrollment opportunities and challenges; commitment to staff development and team building; a mentoring mindset to effectively nurture staff while holding high standards and accountability; proven track record of staff development and diversifying staff; and a sense of humor and an interest in creating a stable, healthy, lighthearted place to work.

Collaboration, savviness, and relationship building: Collaborative nature with an ability to engage and mobilize the recruitment effort across all campus constituencies; deftness to navigate an environment with competing priorities; ability to build meaningful partnerships with external constituents important to recruitment, such as high school counselors, community-based organizations, and private vendors; and readiness to be an active and engaged contributor to the College's senior leadership team — someone who feels as comfortable contributing to conversations about the academic enterprise, student life or advancement as they do about matters directly related to enrollment management.

Sophisticated understanding of enrollment: Capacity to lead and manage the complex relationship between marketing and recruitment strategies, enrollment goals, yield, and financial aid; deep understanding of the infrastructure and operational underpinnings of an admissions and financial aid unit; knowledge of all aspects of recruitment, trends, and territory management; deftness to navigate an environment with competing priorities and thorough understanding of the balance of enrollment and discounting to meet enrollment goals and maximize net tuition revenue.

Commitment to Earlham's values: Collaborative and inclusive leadership style; an appreciation for the concept of consensus; an understanding of and commitment to Earlham’s Principles and Practices; passion for and understanding of the value of the liberal arts in general and Earlham in particular; courage of convictions and commitment to excellence; and a willingness to be an active participant in campus and community life.

Commitment to diversity and inclusion: Proven experience in and a personal commitment to increasing student diversity and the diversity of staff in admissions and financial aid; ability to lead diversity efforts in recruitment with sophistication and intentionality; exceptional cultural competence and sensitivity to diverse cultures and underrepresented populations that leads to recruiting a student population that is diverse in race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, physical ability, and religion remains a top priority for Earlham College. 

Creativity and an agent of change: Action-oriented with the ability to see or set trends; willingness to take calculated risks and invest resources strategically; creative and innovative approaches to proven methods of recruitment.

Communication skills: Engaging, charismatic and transparent communication skills; confidence in presenting information to a variety of constituents to include students, parents, counselors, faculty, staff, alumni, the President’s Cabinet and Board of Trustee members.

Strong technical skills: Ability to use data to guide decision-making; strong analytical skills, creativity, and resourcefulness; experience with predictive modeling, enterprise systems, and current and emerging technology; and demonstrated experience using data to identify and assess effectiveness of admissions and financial aid policies and practices.

Personal qualities: An inquisitive mind with the habits of a lifelong learner; natural collaborator who derives pleasure from being part of a team; personal presence that is energetic, active and inclusive; operates with high standards and a strong work ethic; courageous and self-confident, willing to respectfully challenge and be challenged.