Registrar and Assistant Vice President of Enr

Merrimack College•North Andover, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Registrar and Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Services provides strategic leadership, operational oversight, and continuous process improvement for core student enrollment services at Merrimack College. This role leads the Office of the Registrar and has direct supervisory responsibility for the Director of Financial Aid and the Director of Student Accounts, creating a unified service model that supports recruitment conversion, enrollment, retention, and reenrollment. The position is responsible for the integrity, accuracy, security, compliance, and service effectiveness of academic records, registration, financial aid administration, billing and payment operations, and student-facing enrollment processes. The AVP serves as a cross-functional leader who aligns policy, systems, service delivery, and data practices across the student lifecycle to ensure an efficient and student-centered enrollment experience. This role works in close partnership with Enrollment, Academic Affairs, Finance, Student Affairs, Information Technology, and Institutional Research to improve operational effectiveness, remove barriers to student persistence, and support institutional enrollment and retention goals. The AVP also serves as the primary functional leader for Jenzabar J1 across the assigned enrollment services areas.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred.
Seven to ten years of progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education enrollment services, registrar operations, student financial services, financial aid, or a closely related area.
Demonstrated success supervising and developing professional staff and leading cross-functional administrative operations.
Strong knowledge of Registrar operations, academic records administration, FERPA, and higher education compliance frameworks.
Working knowledge of financial aid administration and student accounts operations, including the interdependencies among aid, billing, registration, persistence, and reenrollment.
Demonstrated experience with student information systems; significant experience with Jenzabar J1 strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience creating efficient workflows, redesigning business processes, and implementing automation to improve service quality, compliance, and operational performance.
Some experience evaluating or leveraging AI and other technology-enabled solutions in student services, operations, or administrative processing, with sound judgment regarding privacy, ethics, and regulatory requirements.
Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data, improve processes, and manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
Excellent communication, collaboration, and change-management skills, with the ability to work effectively with students, families, faculty, academic leaders, and administrative partners.
High degree of judgment, discretion, and professionalism in handling confidential student, financial, and academic information.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a private higher education environment.
Experience overseeing multiple student-facing administrative functions within an integrated enrollment or student financial services model.
Experience leading technology-enabled transformation, including workflow optimization, process automation, or AI-supported service delivery in higher education administration.
Familiarity with accreditation reporting, National Student Clearinghouse reporting, veteran certification, and collaboration with institutional research and finance offices.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for the Office of the Registrar, Financial Aid, and Student Accounts, ensuring coordinated, high-quality service that supports student enrollment, reenrollment, persistence, and degree completion.
Oversee all Registrar functions, including course registration, academic scheduling, grading, transcript processing, enrollment verification, transfer articulation, degree audit, graduation clearance, degree conferral, and academic records management.
Lead Financial Aid operations through the Director of Financial Aid, ensuring compliant administration of federal, state, and institutional aid programs; timely awarding and disbursement; sound reconciliation practices; and accurate student counseling and communication.
Lead Student Accounts operations through the Director of Student Accounts, ensuring timely billing, payment processing, refund administration, account reconciliation, collections coordination, and student-centered support related to balances and payment options.
Create and maintain an integrated enrollment services model that improves handoffs among Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, and the Registrar and reduces friction in the student experience from matriculation through graduation.
Develop, document, and maintain policies, procedures, and service standards related to registration, grading, withdrawals, academic standing, records retention, financial aid compliance, billing, refunds, and student account resolution.
Ensure compliance with FERPA and all applicable federal, state, and institutional regulations, including but not limited to Title IV requirements, academic records privacy standards, external reporting obligations, and audit readiness.
Serve as the institutional authority on academic records compliance and as a senior enrollment services leader for issues involving student data governance, records security, access controls, and coordinated resolution of complex student cases.
Serve as the functional lead for Jenzabar J1 across academic records, registration, financial aid interfaces, student accounts processes, and related workflow, reporting, and data integrity functions.
Partner with Information Technology to optimize system configuration, streamline workflows, implement enhancements, maintain data integrity, and resolve system-related issues affecting enrollment services.
Lead the design and continuous improvement of efficient workflows, automated processes, and service delivery models across enrollment services to reduce manual effort, improve turnaround times, strengthen accuracy, and enhance the student experience.
Promote appropriate adoption of emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, to support student services, communications, document and records processing, and operational decision-making in ways that improve effectiveness while maintaining compliance, privacy, and sound institutional controls.
Partner with the Provost's Office and academic departments to maintain the academic calendar, schedule of classes, curriculum updates, classroom assignments, and related academic operations.
Monitor service performance, processing timelines, and key metrics across enrollment services and use data to improve efficiency, compliance, student satisfaction, and retention outcomes.
Support institutional planning by providing accurate and actionable reporting on enrollment, retention, reenrollment, financial aid activity, receivables, graduation progress, and related student lifecycle metrics.
Maintain strong internal controls and prepare for internal and external audits related to academic records, financial aid administration, student accounts, cash handling, reconciliations, and compliance processes.
Lead, coach, and develop professional staff across the assigned areas, fostering accountability, collaboration, strong customer service, and a culture of continuous improvement.
Collaborate with campus partners to resolve escalated student matters that intersect academic standing, financial eligibility, billing, payment, registration status, or continuation at the College.
Participate in institutional committees and planning efforts related to enrollment strategy, retention, compliance, academic operations, and student success.
Provide occasional evening or weekend leadership support during peak periods, including registration, aid packaging cycles, billing deadlines, move-in, and commencement.