Assistant Director, Pre-College Admissions

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $75,000 - $85,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director of Admissions, the Assistant Director, Pre-College Admissions (AD) is responsible for the supervision of the High School Admissions Officers and Specialists, the management of the workload for Pre-College program admissions, and ensuring that admissions activities and processes are high quality, and support the mission of the Pre-College programs. The incumbent oversees the cycle planning, testing, and launch of the Pre-College Program applications and enrollment processes each term, as well as the back-end operations and admissions reporting throughout the year. The AD manages the inflow of a high quantity of applications with a diverse range of application criteria using multiple application management system tools to ensure efficiency and accuracy at all points along the application timeline. The AD maintains the integrity of student records and manages all backend requests to make changes to the application or application flow.

The Assistant Director manages admissions data reporting that provides the basis for recruitment strategy, enrollment projections, programming decisions, and the division of work for the admissions team. All efforts performed by the AD will contribute to the Pre-College Programs goal of yielding and retaining increasing numbers of highly qualified students for a growing portfolio of programs by building and facilitating a seamless application, enrollment, and reporting process.

Responsibilities

Slate Operations

• Create all build specifications for all Pre-College Programs' application specifications including application policy language, material requirements, and enrollment confirmation forms
• Strategically test application functionality prior to application launches
• Build and maintain backend operations for day-to-day Slate operations, including forms, events, emails, and queries
• Liaise with Slate administrator to provide all documentation required for application build and to make changes to application and enrollment processes while the application is live
• Communicate any potential systems issues to Admissions Leadership and proactively assist with troubleshooting those issues; serve as primary point of contact for Pre-College Admissions applicant issue troubleshooting
• Assess application process and application turnaround time and implement methods to improve application and streamline workflows where appropriate

Data analysis and reporting

• Lead regular admissions pipeline meetings and provide feedback on applicant quality and relevant insights gathered during the application review process
• Collaborate with internal department heads to determine their reporting needs for each unique program, and build Slate query specifications accordingly
• Create weekly application pipeline reporting and distribute as needed to relevant parties including admissions team members, program and student life staff, marketing and departmental leadership
• Analyze and provide visual representations of pipeline data for Admissions Officers to plan and implement data-driven recruitment strategies
• Build reporting for leadership on end-of-year and year-to-year enrollments, targets, and demographics, and provide a visual representation of the week-to-week Admissions workload based on admissions, phone, and email volume
• Conduct regular audits of application data across all systems currently in use to facilitate the admissions process
• Maintain a clean application database, with special attention to re-enrollments, cleaning of duplicate records, cloning of applications when required, and Slate to SIS feeds

Admissions Support and Supervision

• Hire, train and supervise temporary Pre-College Program Enrollment Coaches
• Hire, train, manage, and provide recurrent training for a team of Admissions Officers and Specialists
• Provide strategic leadership for the team, creating opportunities for mentorship and professional development, and conduct quarterly performance evaluations, identifying areas of strength and opportunities for improvement for direct reports
• Coordinate daily workflow and task needs with the Assistant Director of Recruitment and collaborate to ensure work is equitably distributed across the team and in a manner that ensures team and school goals are achieved
• Regularly review application data to ensure the pipeline is moving as desired and partner with the Assistant Director of Recruitment to devise and implement strategies and tactics to increase conversion and enrollments across the portfolio
• Assist with recruitment as needed
• Supervise all aspects of past participant engagement, including but not exclusive to, utilizing them as a tool for feedback and program development and recruitment efforts
• Assist with events such as pre-orientation, orientation, and program workshops
• Review applications flagged for fraud or escalated by an Admissions Officer for a second review, and render final decisions on applications submitted via partnerships, initiatives, or collaborations with external organizations
• Support Admissions Officers during the busy season to ensure that applications are complete with all materials and ready for evaluation, and conduct the initial application review
• Communicate with relevant team members to ensure that all applications are reviewed and decisions are rendered within the time frames communicated to applicants
• Address escalated phone and email inquiries specific to technical issues with application or enrollment processes
• Perform a thorough review of submitted statements and recommendation letters, evaluating for quality and potential fraud, flagging documents and applications in the system as appropriate
• Communicate with relevant team members to ensure that all applications are reviewed and decisions are rendered within the time-frames communicated to applicants
• Serve as a point of contact for collaborating organizations regarding application processing and provide high-touch support to their enrolling students and applicants with escalations
• Maintain application processing documentation and operational process flows, and provide training for existing and new team members on application processing, SIS and Slate work
• May be responsible for supervising the work of one (1) or more employees

PERFORMS OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED OR REQUESTED

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent related experience required
• 3 years related experience
• A resume and cover letter with salary requirements must be submitted to be considered for the position

Other Requirements

• Background in high school or higher education admissions or field where compliance and adherence to standards is critical
• Demonstrated experience using a relational database, online application system and/or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, ideally in a higher education setting
• Familiarity with SIS, Slate, or other systems, applications and software used by the University and the School, or with similar software
• Proven track record identifying and implementing improvements to streamline and/or automate complex processes
• Proven ability to oversee successful cross-functional projects with multiple stakeholders and ensure high quality on-time output from contributors
• Experience overseeing the workload management and performance of team members
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail, strong organization and time management skills, and the ability to perform routine and non-routine work with changing priorities
• Demonstrated ability to problem-solving and move a project from ideation through to execution
• Proven ability to use judgment to make difficult decisions independently, and with a high risk of consequences
• Proven ability to work effectively within a collaborative team setting
• Ability to handle confidential information in a mature, professional manner
• Adaptability and flexibility in working in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel required
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends during peak application periods
• Familiarity with high school programs

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.