Executive Director of Transfer Recruitment and Admission

DePaul University, the nation’s largest Catholic university serving nearly 22,000 students from around the city of Chicago and the world, invites applications for the position of Executive Director of Transfer Recruitment and Admission.  Reporting to the Vice President of Enrollment Management, Soumitra Ghosh, the Executive Director will weave together the units of Transfer Engagement, the Transfer Articulation Center (TrAC) and Transfer Recruitment in a newly envisioned role.  The Executive Director’s primary goal is to provide leadership, short- and long-term strategy, and execution excellence in order to deepen and broaden the university’s capacity to recruit and enroll transfer students consistent with DePaul University’s overall enrollment objectives. The Executive Director of Transfer Recruitment and Admission will join a talented cohort of divisional leaders, adding their capacity to serve as a continuous innovator and guide their team accordingly.

The Opportunity

 

The Executive Director will work directly with the VP of Enrollment Management, in active collaboration with college office deans, associate deans and program directors, and the senior enrollment management team to shape the integration and implementation of annual and multi-year strategies related to transfer student recruitment, application review, transfer articulation practices, while building and strengthening partnerships with community colleges in the Chicagoland area, and across the country.  Further, they will have the opportunity to help shape DePaul’s unique offerings in the evolving market of degree alternatives (e.g., micro-credentials, certificates, etc.) in support of transfer enrollment objectives for the university. As a visible leader in a student-focused, and forward-thinking institution, they will have the lead role in envisioning and establishing best-in-class policies, processes, and values in support of successful higher education journey for transfer students.   The essential responsibilities for the Executive Director are as follows:

• Lead the Office of Transfer Recruitment and Admission, both in its strategic direction and its complex daily operations using exceptional leadership and supervisory skills. This responsibility calls for admissions and office policy development and implementation; management of financial resources; professional development; performance management; and staff supervision. The Executive Director will further develop and support a strong team that is recruitment-centric, optimistic, empowered, responsive, innovative, results-oriented, and student-centered with a customer service focus.
• Make data-informed enrollment projections and strategic recruitment and admissions decisions by routinely analyzing data to shape strategic directions and make appropriate (sometimes weekly/daily) adjustments; regularly assess the effectiveness of recruitment activities and continuously refine goals and strategies to reflect a proactive approach.
• Cultivate the development of new strategic partnerships and programmatic opportunities with local, regional and national community college feeder institutions as well as other potential new partners. Foster and grow vast, current relationships already in place.
• Ensure DePaul has an expedient and effective application processing and transfer credit articulation plan, optimizing technology for greater efficiencies on behalf of prospective students. Understand technological innovations and lead the process of harnessing emerging technologies, leveraging technology investments and transfer tools that can support the processes within admissions and enrollment to attract, admit, enroll, and best serve students.
• In addition to working collaboratively with all Enrollment Management functional units, form collaborative relationship with additional functional units across of the university that are critical to successful enrollment of transfer students, including Academic Advising; University Marketing and Communications; New Student and Family Engagement; the Career Center; and academic colleges and departments.

Desired Skills and Characteristics

The successful candidate should possess five to seven years of experience in higher education, preferably working with the transfer student market. Candidates should have experience managing and leading staff, along with demonstrated success in strategic planning, project management, creative problem solving, and data analytics. A bachelor's degree is required and a master’s degree is preferred.

In addition, the selected candidate should illustrate their knowledge of the following:

• Demonstrated outstanding written, verbal, presentation and interpersonal communication skills; proactive communicator who brings vision, clarity and transparency.
• Knowledge of communications and marketing; noted success in developing targeted outreach and communication plans to educate, advise, and increase awareness for the transfer and adult populations.
• Familiarity with recruitment systems, as well as student information systems, (experience with Slate and PeopleSoft preferred); ability to deploy technology to improve customer service.
• Knowledge of current enrollment trends and market realities and ability to interpret the landscape in light of DePaul’s academic offerings and policies for transfer and adult students.
• A deep appreciation for the urban, Vincentian and Catholic mission of DePaul, its history, and how it relates to prospective transfer and adult students; ability to represent and embody the mission and culture of DePaul University.
• Ability to leverage data effectively to develop and implement initiatives that meet targeted enrollment goals.
• Proven experience to mentor and advocate for staff and necessary resources; ability to inspire, motivate, and coordinate a hard-working team in reaching enrollment goals.
• Commitment to a diverse student body and a sincere commitment to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.
• Willingness to enhance partnerships with internal stakeholders, especially through effective collaboration.
• Creation of academic partnerships and coordination of outreach efforts with other institutions in order to drive greater overall transfer and articulation, student enrollment, and success.
• Commitment to best practices as it relates to state and federal policies, articulation policies and processes.

 

THE UNIVERSITY

DePaul University provides exceptional academics and experiences to prepare students for a changing world. With nearly 22,000 students across more than 300 academic programs, DePaul has two campus locations in Chicago. Students richly benefit from the city’s many opportunities. In turn, DePaul is one of the forces that shapes Chicago’s future. The university was founded in 1898 by the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians), a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to following the ideals of St. Vincent de Paul. DePaul is among the nation’s top universities for diversity because of its long tradition of providing a high-quality education to students from a broad range of backgrounds. Today, DePaul is the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest and the largest Catholic university in the nation.

History

At DePaul University, teaching and service have been priorities since its founding in 1898. Originally established as St. Vincent’s College, DePaul started on a five-acre plot in Lincoln Park with 70 students, mainly the sons and grandsons of Irish and German immigrants. Vincentians primarily taught the students who commuted to school from urban neighborhoods on Chicago’s north side.

Nearly 125 years later, the university has evolved from its humble beginnings as the “little school under the El” to enroll nearly 22,000 students. Today, DePaul is not only the largest Catholic university in the country, it is also the largest private university with a primary mission of teaching and service.

 

Mission

DePaul University has been an institution that consistently serves first-generation and low-income students. Currently, first-generation students represent 33 percent of the freshman class. These students will strive to be the first in their families to complete a college education. DePaul enrolls more Pell recipients than 92 percent of other colleges and universities in the U.S and graduates them at a higher rate than other universities with a similar number of Pell students. The Vincentian mission to serve the public good and give people of all ethnicities and backgrounds the opportunity to receive a college education remains at the heart of the university.

 

DePaul Today

In the past two decades, DePaul continued to rise to new levels of academic achievement and national recognition. The university has ten colleges and schools located across two major campuses: Lincoln Park Campus and the Loop Campus. Approximately 2,400 students live on the 40-acre Lincoln Park Campus, which is home to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the College of Science and Health, the College of Education, the School of Music, The Theatre School, the DePaul Art Museum and the John T. Richardson Library. A few miles south of Lincoln Park, DePaul’s Loop Campus is only steps away from Chicago’s financial district and major media outlets. Housed in five adjacent buildings clustered around the corner of Jackson Boulevard and State Street, the campus is home to the Driehaus College of Business, College of Communication, College of Computing and Digital Media, College of Law and the School for Continuing and Professional Studies.

The university has constructed, purchased or completely renovated 18 buildings in 18 years. In 2013, DePaul acquired a new building for the College of Education and constructed new state-of-the-art facilities for The Theatre School. The Wintrust Arena, the new home for DePaul basketball and events center for the City of Chicago, opened just south of the Loop Campus in 2017. Most recently, DePaul completed construction on the School of Music’s Holtschneider Performance Center. The new 185,000 square-foot facility opened in fall 2018, offering a world-class space for educating the next generation of musicians and music professionals. DePaul is a tuition-dependent institution that relies upon an ability to generate favorable operating results to finance its activities. For fiscal year 2020, student tuition and fees accounted for 82% of core revenues to the institution, while core tuition and fees revenue per FTE was just over $23,000.

 

Academic Excellence

DePaul is a teaching university, and faculty scholarship is the foundation. Excellent and innovative teaching stems from academic research, and students may select from more than 300 graduate and undergraduate programs. Faculty members, who often still work as consultants, researchers, entrepreneurs and artists, bring their expertise to the classroom.

When students graduate, they join a network of more than 200,000 alumni. Within six months of graduation, 90 percent of undergraduate and 92 percent of graduate degree recipients were successfully employed or continuing their education.

There are significant markers designating the success of DePaul students and graduates including:

• The Fulbright Program listed DePaul among the top producers of award recipients in the country.
• The U.S. News & World Report ranked DePaul among the 2020 best colleges in the world and a best value school.
• The Peace Corps ranked DePaul among the top volunteer-producing colleges and universities.
• Princeton Review ranked DePaul’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program #13 in the country in 2019.
• College Magazine ranked DePaul among the top 10 best schools for animation.
• The Hollywood Reporter ranked The Theatre School’s undergraduate acting program #24 in the country.
• The U.S. News & World Report ranked the College of Law’s Health Law program #23 in the country.

Colleges and Schools

DePaul’s schools and colleges adhere to the highest standard of academic rigor and innovation.  These include:

Driehaus College of Business

College of Communication

College of Computing and Digital Media

College of Education

College of Law

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

College of Science and Health

School of Music

School for Continuing and Professional Studies

The Theatre School

 

For additional information about the university, connect to https://www.depaul.edu/.

 

University Leadership

On May 10, 2022, DePaul University announced Dr. Robert L. Manuel will serve as its 13th president.  Manuel will succeed Dr. Gabriel Esteban, who has served as president since 2017 and announced his decision to step down last summer. Under Esteban’s leadership DePaul developed its current strategic plan, “Grounded in Mission: The Plan for DePaul 2024”  that calls for deepening the university’s commitment to its Catholic, Vincentian, and urban mission; ensuring an inclusive campus environment; preparing all students for global citizenship and success; expanding access to high-quality, affordable academic programs; elevating academic excellence and embracing a culture of creativity and discovery; and employing bold approaches to ensure DePaul’s continued fiscal strength for future generations.

Location

DePaul University students, faculty and staff benefit from countless museums, performance venues, recreational activities, restaurants and shopping along the shores of Lake Michigan in the city of Chicago.

Academically and professionally, DePaul’s connection to Chicago has always been strong. As part of the university’s strategic plan, a series of alliances between the university and organizations across Chicago have made this connection even stronger, as well as enhanced academic and research opportunities for students and faculty.

• An alliance with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science provides pathways for DePaul students to complete professional degree programs. Faculty at both institutions also collaborate on research.

• DePaul and Rush University Medical Center have a history of working together on research projects.

• Cinespace Chicago Film Studio provides students with film and television production experience, learning alongside network television and Hollywood motion picture professionals filming in the city.

• A collaboration between The Second City and DePaul’s School of Cinematic Arts offers comprehensive degree programs in comedy filmmaking.

• As a member of the business incubators 1871 and 2112, DePaul students have access to Chicago’s thriving technology startup community.

• The Wintrust Arena, home to DePaul basketball, is a public-private partnership between DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.

• DePaul and the Catholic Theological Union have an educational alliance, involving faculty exchanges, co-sponsored educational events and scholarship support.

• DePaul works with Chicago Public Schools to offer mentorship, conduct studies and teacher training opportunities.

• DePaul has an academic partnership with DePaul College Prep, a Catholic high school on the northside of Chicago.

 

TO APPLY OR NOMINATE

Napier Executive Search is assisting DePaul University with the search for the Executive Director of Transfer Recruitment and Admission.  To arrange for a confidential conversation or nominate a well-qualified candidate, contact Laura Robinson (laura.robinson@napiersearch.com), Suzi Nam (suzi.nam@napiersearch.com), or Mary Napier (mary.napier@napiersearch.com).  Candidates who plan to apply should send a resume, a detailed letter outlining interest in DePaul University and emphasizing their track record of enrollment success, and contact information for three professional references by email to depaul@napiersearch.com by August 22, 2022, for best consideration.  All applications and nominations will be considered confidential, and notice will be given before references are contacted.

 

DePaul University is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local EEO laws.