Online Graduate Enrollment Lead

American University•Washington, DC

5d•$70,000 - $75,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Online Graduate Enrollment Lead is a new and integral position in the Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) at the School of Public Affairs (SPA). The primary purview of the position is to support the development and execution of a comprehensive, data-driven, online recruitment strategy, manage the application, admissions, and merit aid allocation, conduct timely yield events and initiatives and lead as well as contribute to reporting for SPA’s Master of Public Administration and Policy (MPAP) and MS in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security (CTHS) degrees. The incumbent will be required to establish and prioritize a high-touch, personalized, and mission-aligned enrollment lifecycle experience for all interested students (prospect to enrollee). The Online Graduate Enrollment Lead will serve as the CRM lead. They will be responsible for making full use of the campus’ Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, Salesforce (SF), as well as the Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) to support the online enrollment cycle. In addition to the CRM’s management of the application, admissions, and merit aid processes, the incumbent is charged with the implementation and use of a Virtual Agent, a technology capability in SF that will function as a "digital team member" enhancing response time and driving operational efficacy. The SFMC will be leveraged for the release of communications, establishing communication workflows, as well as creating dedicated degree journeys for SPA’s online programs. With a supervisory line to the School’s Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment, the Online Graduate Enrollment Lead will leverage established strategy, processes, and reporting tools, when applicable, in the OGA and will work closely with the associated staff in aligning online operations as well as administration. The Online Graduate Enrollment Lead’s purview also requires close and detailed work with SPA’s online Faculty Program Directors, OGA team members, online advisor(s), SPA Communications & Marketing, Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGPS), Office of Information Technology (OIT), and, most importantly, valued online prospective students. As an important part of the OGA, the Online Graduate Enrollment Lead will also, on occasion, be requested to contribute to operational projects and/or reporting as well as participate in (and, as pertinent, lead) major recruitment events (online and on campus), virtual sessions, relevant School, campus, and team meetings, as well as required and desired professional development initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in public affairs/policy, education, mathematics, statistics, computer science, economics, science, social science, business, or a related field required.
3 - 5 years of relevant experience providing analytical support or working in a higher education/admission setting.
Technical and strong Excel proficiency required.
Experience with Customer Relationship Management platforms and, specifically, dashboard and reporting capabilities.
Ability to formulate inquiries and analysis to inform and advance an enrollment operation.
Ability to work collaboratively with campus-level graduate enrollment professionals and technical support.
Ability to prioritize tasks and manage competing priorities on deadline.
Ability to learn and successfully use new software programs as needed.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
Attention to detail and to manage confidential student information/data.
Excellent customer service and critical thinking skills.
Excellent communication skills (written and oral).

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in education, mathematics, statistics, computer science, economics, science, social science, business, or a related field preferred.

Responsibilities

Leveraging expertise in online student recruitment to create and execute a data-driven strategic recruitment plan, developing targeted initiatives that drive high-quality inquiries and applications. The recruitment plan should be grounded by landscape research and market analysis to identify relevant trends to ensure the programs’ competitive and unique positioning in the market at large as well as around SPA’s top-ranked, comparable on-campus degree offerings.
In collaboration with SPA Communications & Marketing, develop a complementary, sophisticated multi-channel communication plan designed to nurture a diverse, high-quality cohort of online students for the MPAP and CTHSP degrees. The internal communication plan should leverage the SFMC and, as much as viable for the online market segment, align with SPA’s communication strategy for the School’s on-campus programs.
Designing, implementing, and leading, as relevant, virtual information sessions (i.e., recruitment, application coaching, Post-Admission Workshops), establishing regular "Live Chat" opportunities that allow prospective students to interact with faculty and current students, and instituting relevant yield events (i.e., virtual topical sessions, Admit Day and/or Open Houses).
In consultation and collaboration with the Assistant Dean and Online Program Directors, administers the faculty-driven admissions and merit award processes for SPA’s online graduate programs.
Leads the cultivation and timely processing of graduate applications and rendering of decisions for SPA’s online programs. This includes establishing recurring initiatives to support applicants in completing applications and prioritizing responsiveness to address questions and concerns from online applicants, as well as faculty directors and related staff regarding the SPA online program application/admissions processes.
Updates and maintains the School’s online admission committee lists and relevant, degree-specific admission criteria.
Serves as a primary point of contact for the online faculty program directors in matters related to admissions processes and policies.
Conducts admission interviews for online applicants as requested.
Supports the online graduate program merit aid process by releasing award-specific communications as well as tracking, reporting, auditing, and loading awards for all new/incoming online graduate students for each entry term.
Leads, contributes, and provides analysis of online graduate enrollment data. This requires leveraging the university enterprise system (Microstrategy Business Intelligence (BI)) and the campus’ CRM, Salesforce.
Supports the current, weekly BI reporting in the OGA, lead responses to ad hoc online data requests, and contribute to OGA’s monthly Graduate Enrollment Report as well as the annual, comprehensive analytics report(s) to/for School- and University-based stakeholders.
Serves as the CRM Lead for SPA’s online graduate programs, working closely with the OGA’s Associate Director of Graduate Admissions & Enrollment Analytics, Office of Information Technology (OIT), Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGPS), and other CRM Leads, as needed, across the AU campus.
Troubleshooting system issues, testing post-production upgrades and/or updates, training, as needed, of SPA faculty, staff, and student workers associated with SPA’s online programs, and serving as the primary point of contact for users (including online prospective students as they interface with the application portal).
Serves as the CRM expert as it relates to online graduate program enrollment processes including application and admission management, view and dashboard development, advanced queries, workflow implementation and modification, and reporting.
Coordinates with OGA’s Associate Director of Graduate Admissions and Enrollment Analytics in adhering to University/School data security and confidentiality policies and in maintaining the CRM access and users list.
Manages the designated Graduate Student Ambassador(s) and Virtual Agent prioritizing work that supports online recruitment, admissions, and yield activities. The work will include forward-facing communications, telephone and email campaigns, and “Chats” (email, telephone, and virtual), as well as various research projects, and other pertinent initiatives.
Supports OGA operational initiatives, events, and projects as relevant and as capacity allows.
Other Duties as Assigned