Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions and Operations

Department: Schar School Policy and Government

Classification: Education Support Spec 3

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Arlington, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Pay Band: 04

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The Schar School of Policy and Government's objective is to prepare our students for high-level decision making in a complex and technological world.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Director of Graduate Recruitment and Admissions, the Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions and Operations supports efforts to enhance the school’s reputation as a preeminent school for policy, government, and international affairs. This position combines efforts across recruitment, admissions and operations providing opportunities for growth and strong support for professional development. The Assistant Director engages with prospective students, works with them throughout the admissions process, and ensures that the admissions and admissions operations processes are managed effectively.

Responsibilities:

Admissions Processing/Operations

• Develops and maintains appropriate tracking system for assigned candidate pipeline, documenting and resolving issues in Salesforce/TargetX;
• Effectively uses Salesforce/TargetX, Microstrategy, Banner, PatriotWeb, and other university-supported software to develop, run, and analyze admissions related reports;
• Monitors data and follows up with candidates where necessary;
• Establishes knowledge of Schar School and Mason-wide admissions and enrollment requirements and processes;
• Adheres to processes and procedures in University systems and with candidates;
• Serves as the primary team member for Schar School admission letter generation and admissions decision notification utilizing advanced Microsoft Excel, Word and mail-merge skills;
• Coordinates the Schar School master’s and certificate financial award tracking system and posting of awards to student accounts to including workflows with GMU Foundation, Financial Aid Office, Schar School Budget/Finance Office and the Registrar’s Office;
• Develops and maintains a strong working relationship with central admissions processing team to ensure quality control in the application submission and completion process;
• Escalates concerns and technical errors where appropriate to relevant teams;
• Collaborates with the Director of Graduate Admissions on admissions annual updates including tracking, testing and implementation;
• Liaises with central admissions and student services to identify, communicate, and collect documentation to clear admitted students from admissions audit holds, escalating cases requiring temporary waivers to the Director of Graduate Admissions where appropriate; 
• Addresses logistical challenges to ensure the admissions process is running smoothly, coordinating with central admissions where required; and
• Exercises sound judgment when unexpected situations arise. 

Engagement of Applicants Through the Enrollment Funnel

• Serves as the first point of contact for inquires including monitoring phone, personal and general email boxes, Zoom, and in-person engagement with prospective students as well as logs the appropriate documentation in the Salesforce/TargetX Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system;
• Serves as a primary point of contact for a set of Schar School graduate programs from inquiry to enrollment, utilizing Salesforce/TargetX;
• Attends recruitment and admissions events both on-campus, virtually, and regionally as requested;
• Communicates with prospective students through phone, email, virtual meeting (Zoom/Teams), and in-person appointments;
• Develops and executes virtual and in-person sessions that engage the larger prospective student audience that include but are not limited to: information sessions, drop-in hours, tours, class visits, faculty-led information sessions, career services sessions, and other events that showcase Schar School programs and unique features;
• Monitors candidate application status to encourage application submission and review application submissions for missing materials to ensure timely completion for committee review, including developing and running reports to analyze data;
• Supports admitted students post-admissions decision and liaises with faculty and other stakeholders to ensure the admitted student is engaged effectively and timely;
• Utilizes Salesforce/TargetX Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to effectively follow the application lifecycle of a candidate and communicates with applicants to ensure they are successfully moving from application start to application complete;
• Identifies new populations for recruitment outreach, and develops targeted engagement plans that include population specific events and communications such as dedicated email campaigns, open-houses, lunch and learns, class visits, tours, or other high-touch opportunities; and
• Attends local, regional and national graduate recruitment events on behalf of the Schar School. 

Event Management 

• Serves as the primary point of contact/Admissions event manager for select Admissions signature events including Open Houses, Admitted Student Receptions, and inter-department events;
• Coordinates with appropriate University staff to execute the event;
• Engages faculty and other relevant stakeholders for participation in events where needed;
• Prepares dynamic event materials including power points, speaker notes, flyers/print materials, and give-outs;
• Ensures events are published to the website and advertised to prospective and admitted students via email, social media and any other relevant locations;
• Tracks data and success metrics pre- and post-events; and
• Monitors budgets for supplies, catering, rooms, and other expenses; submits invoices and reimbursement requests timely. 

Organizational Support 

• Responds to immediate administrative needs and resolves emergent issues related to Graduate Admissions events, customer service issues, and general office requests;
• Oversees hourly workers including hiring, training, project management, and direct supervision of tasks;
• Builds relationships with current students, faculty, and staff to have a comprehensive understanding of the Schar School as well as identifies ways to improve operations and opportunities for collaboration; and
• Supports the Director of Graduate Recruitment and Admissions in frequently building and pulling reports on admissions data, drafting correspondence to senior leadership, and developing strategic plans. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field;
• Previous experience (typically 1-3 years) in marketing, recruitment, higher education, sales, business development, operations, or other related fields;
• Must have the knowledge, skills, and aptitudes to support the five broad functions of the positions;
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of higher education;
• Previous knowledge serving a variety of stakeholders and possess the ability to work independently professional demeanor and a respect for information security;
• Skill to provide high level and professional written and verbal customer service to internal and external stakeholders;
• Qualitative and technical skills required to develop and manage events, recruitment plans, and work effectively with colleagues internal to the Schar School, across campus, and with external partners;
• Ability to work with qualitative and quantitative data and utilize technology systems;
• Ability to independently solve administrative problems;
• Attention to detail;
• Advanced proficiency of Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, and the ability to utilize Zoom and other virtual meeting platforms in a professional environment; and
• Ability to utilize databases and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field;
• Considerable experience (generally 2-4 years) in graduate or undergraduate admissions preferred;
• Experience using CRM/databases such as Salesforce/TargetX, as well as tools such as Qualtrics, Canva, and Calendly; 
• Demonstrated experience in developing reports, analyzing data, and making strategic recommendations in a higher education recruitment and admissions context;
• Demonstrated knowledge of graduate recruitment and admissions;
• Knowledge of higher education marketing and communications plans;
• Ability to contribute to event planning for small and larger scale events; and
• Interest in public policy and international affairs related material preferred.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions and Operations at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a Cover Letter/Letter of Intent with Resume for review.

Posting Open Date: July 29, 2024

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  August 19, 2024

Open Until Filled?:  Yes