Description
It is a transformational time at the University of Colorado as CU continuously strengthens its reputation as driver of innovation, with digital education playing a key role in the future of the university. The Office of Digital Education reports to the President of the University of Colorado System and was created in early 2018 to accelerate the growth of CU Online and digital education initiatives more broadly. The investment by the four campuses in online, combined with recent commitments by the University of Colorado Board of Regents, make this a rare and exciting opportunity.

Position Summary
Reporting to the Head of ODE, the Head of Enrollment & Retention Services is responsible for leading and advancing recruitment, enrollment, and retention services for the University of Colorado (CU) Online managed programs across all four campuses, including providing superior quality services throughout the inquiry and student life cycle. This role is responsible for overseeing five function areas:

• Contact Center – receive all inquiries and schedule and oversee outreach efforts [NOTE: Currently an outsourced service]
• Recruitment Center – receive qualified inquiries from the Contact Center and present the value of a degree at the appropriate campus along with distinguishing the difference between a CU degree and those from other competitive institutions
• Enrollment Center – receive applicants from the Recruitment Center and support the student through their onboarding process including a series of collaborative steps in partners with the campus of that degree
• Retention Center – receive on-boarded students from the Enrollment Center and support those students through their degree pursuit until graduation
• Help Desk – provide around the clock support for all online students and faculty for any questions or inquiries they may have [NOTE: Does not currently exist]

This role oversees the group and teams that report to the Associate Director of Recruitment and the Sr. Director of Student Success.  In addition, she/he is responsible for managing outsourced services that currently include the contact center and may also include other services along the student life cycle as she/he and her/his team deem necessary.  This role plans and conducts effective and ongoing team training while inspecting and measuring performance and creating measurable baseline expectations for all team members and units.

This position reports to the Head of ODE and is exempt from the State of Colorado Classified Staff System.

Duties and Responsibilities
Duties and responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:

• In collaboration with CU campuses, design and develop the annual enrollment and retention strategy for CU online programs.
• Implement and monitor CU online strategic enrollment and retention management plan by preparing and using statistical reports and analyses, enrollment forecasting, monitoring admission and marketing activity in critical markets.
• Strong understanding of lead generation, conversion rates, melt rates, and other data points to determine return on investments.
• Create organizational design for scale of recruitment teams, in-sourced and out-sourced.
• Manage resources through scheduling, budgeting and staffing – foster team collaboration and action, ensuring services offered through recruitment and retention activities are on target and in alignment with the strategic enrollment and retention management plan.
• Provide comprehensive statistical and data-informed analyses necessary to make sound online program policy decisions.
• Monitoring and assessing data to evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment and retention efforts, including potential student communication, and other emerging technologies that enhance yield with potential students.
• Formulate recruitment and retention strategies, plans, and goals for assigned campuses for online program enrollment based on demographic analyses, market research, and other admission data.
• Work collaboratively with other departments regarding customer relationship management (CRM) communication campaigns, plans, workflows, and related CRM tasks to achieve enrollment goals.
• Provides leadership in the implementation and operations of major enrollment and retention software.
• Ensure financial aid optimization, alignment of enrollment management initiatives with funding practices, and compliance with all federal and state regulations related to aid funding.
• Assemble regular meetings with senior campus leaders to evaluate CU Online enrollment and retention results and goals, assess future enrollment projections, and collaboratively determine needed changes to ensure enrollment targets are met.
• Manage relationship and evaluate performance of help desk vendor.
• Provide strategic directive and oversight of the recruitment/qualify & transfer vendor.
• Supervise enrollment, retention, help desk, and any outside vendor required.  

Who we are: System Administration, which also houses the Office of the President, is located in the uptown neighborhood of Denver with a few smaller offices located on the campuses.  This position can be remote until July 2021.  Many of our departments support the educational and research missions of the four University of Colorado campuses, but System Administration is not considered a campus. We provide diverse opportunities for professional development, innovation, and collaboration with talented staff and faculty.  Learn more about CU System Administration.

The University of Colorado has been proactive in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can visit our COVID-19 webpage for more information.

What we offer:

Salary: The salary range has been established at $105,000 - $195,000, with the expected hiring range at $150,000 - $180,000.

The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.

The above salary range (or hiring range) represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Benefits: The University of Colorado offers an excellent benefits package including:

• Medical: Multiple plan options
• Dental: Multiple plan options
• Additional Insurance: Disability, Life, Vision and Wellness
• Retirement 401(a) Plan: Employer contributes 10% of your gross pay
• Paid Time Off: Accruals over the year
  • Vacation Days: 22
  • Sick Days: 15
  • Holiday Days: 10
• Tuition Benefit: System employees have the benefit on all campuses 
• ECO Pass: RTD Bus and light rail service
• Additional Perks & Programs: Click here to access a few more Perks and Programs

Click here to access our Total Compensation Calculator to see what your total rewards could be at CU. This position is a University Staff position.

Additional taxable fringe benefits may be available.

More information on benefits programs, including eligibility, is available at www.cu.edu/employee-services/.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
To be successful in this position, candidates will need the following:

• Highly action and results oriented; drives change; and self-directed with strong entrepreneurial interests.
• Driven to meet and exceed the metrics of enrollment success and return on investment.
• Ability to develop recruitment and admission initiatives to ensure student access and success.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Outstanding organization and prioritization abilities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced creative environment with changing priorities.
• Demonstrated critical thinking skills, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and team-building skills
• Ability to influence partners and stakeholders and lead initiatives
• Creative, agile, adaptive, and innovative mindset with a design thinking/solutioning approach
• Enthusiasm and ability to navigate in a start-up environment that intends to scale
• Exceptional attention to detail, quality assurance, accuracy, and timely deliverables
• Commitment to cultivating a culture of collaboration, trust, innovation, and authenticity. Ability to self-reflect and enthusiasm to grow and learn
• Demonstrated commitment and leadership ability to advance diversity and inclusion

Qualifications
Please ensure your resume includes any and all relevant experience to be accurately assessed against these qualifications.  You must meet all minimum requirements listed at the time of application to be considered for this role.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education, or equivalent professional experience (professional experience may be substituted for the educational requirement on a year-for-year basis)
• Ten (10) years’ professional experience in enrollment management within higher education.
• Seven (7) years’ experience in managerial or supervisor role, which includes managing personnel, developing/mentoring direct reports, and completing performance reviews to ensure continuous improvement, high performance, and employee retention.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Masters or Doctorate degree from an accredited intuition of higher education in a field closely related to the work performed.
• Thirteen (13) years’ professional experience in enrollment management, as indicate above. Preference will be given to candidates with seven (7) or more years of this experience being in online enrollment management, specifically.
• Nine (9) years’ experience in a managerial role, as indicated above.
• Experience with Salesforce and other current and emerging technology related to recruitment and retention.
• Experience with managing external contact centers/recruitment operations.
• Proven track record of developing and executing a vision and a strategy for enrollment and retention planning that results in achievement of enrollment targets across all student populations.

Job Category: Executive
Primary Location: Denver
Schedule: Full-time
Posting Date: May 14, 2021
Unposting Date: Ongoing