Special Instructions to Applicants:

All interested applicants should attach a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities. 

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice’s culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name — RICE — Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:

Reporting to the Executive Director of Admission, the Deputy Director of Admission will be a key leader in the admissions office with oversight of access initiatives. The Deputy Director will manage access efforts within the admission office and is responsible for developing, executing, and managing a comprehensive strategic plan to advance access as part of the enrollment division’s goals to enroll and aid a highly talented undergraduate class. In pursuit of these objectives, the Deputy Director will lead a unit charged with working closely with enrollment staff, university partners, and external stakeholders to advance access and build institutional excellence. The team will also identify key opportunities within the enrollment cycle to highlight aspects of the undergraduate experience to prospective students and educators.

The Deputy Director will have highly developed skills in process and project management, team management and oversight, strategic planning, budget management, measurement, accountability, admissions practices and policies, and constituent communications. The Deputy Director will be a seasoned admission professional with a deep understanding of the college admission field, including holistic application evaluation (preferably committee-based evaluation), targeted recruitment strategies, educational trends in secondary and post-secondary education, and admission policies and theories in a highly selective admission environment. The Deputy Director will serve as a thought partner and leader within the enrollment division and supervise a team of admission officers to ensure their development as professionals, including aligning projects, initiatives, and processes with the goals of the division and priorities of the university.

The Deputy Director will engage with constituents within the Rice community and key external partners. This individual will be expected to represent Rice at professional conferences as a thought leader to share best practices within the field. They will manage a specific recruitment territory and engage in all aspects of recruitment, evaluation, selection, yield, measurement, and planning to ensure the development of a geographic pipeline to Rice.

Ideal Candidate Statement:

The ideal candidate for the Deputy Director of Admission, Access & Institutional Excellence will have 6+ years of admission experience with an emphasis on the recruitment of a diverse student population.

Workplace Requirements:

This position is offered as a hybrid role, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration after a probationary period. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.
Travel required.

Hiring Range: $80,000 - $87,500 annually, dependent on experience and qualifications. Full-time, exempt.
*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime. 

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
  • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted
• 4+ years’ experience in admission
• Valid driver’s license

Skills:

• Strong analytical skills and familiarity with enrollment reporting
• Familiarity with the multiple work areas of a modern admissions office, including CRM systems, reporting and analytics, recruitment, evaluation and selection, marketing (including social media), access and inclusion, on-campus programming, staff training, budget management, and staff development
• Strong process and project management skills required; proven ability to develop these skills in staff members so they can manage work areas independently with appropriate levels of management input
• Experience developing and implementing innovative solutions and processes to respond to the ever-changing field of admission and the information consumption habits of the undergraduate prospective student market
• Demonstrated ability to use admission and enrollment data to make data-driven decisions, measure and assess progress toward strategic goals, present data, and revise practices as needed
• Demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and develop partnerships with key internal and external constituents and stakeholders
• Ability to communicate effectively with a diverse group of stakeholders, including students, families, school counselors, community-based organizations, university partners, and others
• Strong staff management skills
• Ability to delegate projects and processes with an appropriate level of oversight
• High level of proficiency in Google and MS Office suites
• Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation, and customer service skills
• Ability to exercise independent judgment

Preferences:

• 6+ years of experience in admissions
• Experience with committee-based evaluation is highly desired
• Knowledge of Rice University and/or experience in a higher education environment is desired
• Familiarity with the evaluation and selection process in a selective admission environment is required
• Demonstrated ability to lead staff through change management
• Proficiency with Slate by Technolutions
• Demonstrated leadership, communication, marketing, planning, and public speaking skills highly desired

Essential Functions:

• Serves as a key member of the admission leadership team, working with the Executive Director of Admission to develop strategies and initiatives to achieve the goals of the division aligned with the priorities of the university
• Supervises, manages, and develops a team of highly skilled admission professionals, including the development of process and project management skills, year-over-year planning, budget management, measurement and accountability, and admissions practices and policies
• Manages access initiatives within admission and develops long-term plans and strategies, together with the team, to meet the objectives of that work; identifies means for measuring success and articulating the effectiveness of the team’s initiatives
• Serves as primary liaison to the QuestBridge program and leads QuestBridge-related initiatives in the office
• Manages access recruitment activities, including community-based organization engagement, student on-campus and virtual programming, and assisting in the development of access-related communications
• Collaborates within the enrollment division and with university partners on access-related initiatives
• Serves as a thought leader within the division and in the field on best practices for college admission, recruitment, selection, accountability, and measurement
• Manages a budget and seeks to propose increased efficiency and effectiveness in the use of staff and financial resources
• Ensures compliance with federal and state laws concerning college admission and FERPA

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact Rice University’s Disability Resource Center at 713-348-5841 or adarice@rice.edu for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at jobs@rice.edu. Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.

About Rice University

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Connections working at Rice University