Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo.
Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public masters-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.
Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Westerns greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.
About the Department
The Admissions Department supports Westerns mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.
The mission of WWUs Office of Admissions is to identify, attract, admit, and help enroll todays brightest scholars and most promising future leaders. We will counsel and evaluate prospective students as individuals with unique strengths, needs, and paths as we build an increasingly diverse, talented, and dynamic student body.
About the Position
As part of the Division of Academic Affairs and reporting to the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, the Executive Director of Admissions leads a team of about 30 permanent staff and a large team of student staff and is charged with developing and executing Western Washington Universitys admissions and recruitment strategies. This role demands strong leadership, exceptional communication skills, technological fluency, a deep dedication to excellence in higher education, and a commitment to student success and development.
The Executive Director is an integral part of the Enrollment Management Unit and a critical player in developing enrollment strategies for the university. In addition to leading the admissions team and being an effective manager, this leader will foster meaningful relationships across campus and in the community, always with a student-centered approach. The Executive Director will lead recruitment efforts in alignment with the universitys vision and strategic plan, working in partnership with campus stakeholders to attract and enroll a diverse and talented undergraduate student body-including first-year, transfer, international, visiting/non-matriculating, returning, and dual enrolled-for the Bellingham campus and other WWU locations.
In addition to leading an efficient and effective admissions and recruitment operation, the Executive Director will be a collaborative leader and a diplomatic communicator who excels at bringing stakeholders together to support effective and data-driven decision-making in the search, outreach, recruitment, and yield of new students.
Key Responsibilities
Duties / Responsibilities
Leadership of Recruitment and Admissions: Practices sound modeling, assessment, and strategic planning to support the universitys vision, mission, and strategic goals; In collaboration with university partners, builds recruitment plans, develops timelines, and executes admissions and recruitment plans; Stays current with national and regional trends in university admissions and in high schools; Serves as a key contributor to enrollment management planning for the university; Develops strategies and plans to recruit new students in a changing enrollment landscape, with attention to changes in high school graduation volumes, community college enrollment levels, and shifts in student demographics and geography, among other factors; Researches industry practices and implements procedures consistent with best practices; Reviews applications for admission-often providing decisions on the most complex files; Oversees the design of processes to ensure the clear, efficient tracking of application review from beginning to end; Serves as the final authority on appeals of admission and scholarship decisions; Works with Enrollment Management and others to establish the scholarship model for recruitment; Identifies and implements effective awarding strategies for Admissions scholarships and tuition waivers in collaboration with the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Admissions and Financial Aid colleagues; Collaborates with Enrollment Management colleagues in aligning the work of the Admissions Office in supporting campus enrollment goals, including increasing access and diversity; Researches, assesses, and prioritizes the universitys positioning on College Search platforms; and Guides and provides expertise in the development of communications strategies for admissions and as a part of enrollment management efforts (print, media, and web content), ensuring that they are clear, accessible, inclusive, and represent the university well.
Management of Staff: Models, supports, and holds others accountable to the universitys values of integrity, dedication, excellence, creativity, and teamwork; Provides overall direction and supervision of staff with very different job responsibilities and skillsets, while demonstrating effective leadership in training, motivating, and counseling; Works with a variety of stakeholders to assess change readiness and provides direct support and coaching through transitions; Sets strong example and sets standards for excellent customer service; Ensures the training of new employees and provides leadership and management best practices to develop a strong sense of teamwork, equity, and investment among the admissions team; Sets clear performance expectations and holds employees accountable; Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, coaching, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked for at least 3 direct reports within the department; and Communicates regularly with leadership team and all staff about issues impacting operations.
Represent the Team and the University: Serves as spokesperson for admissions at recruitment events (on campus and off) as well as at other events; Represents the office professionally and effectively among university and external constituents; Serves on campus and external committees, boards, and/or task forces; Establishes and maintains strong collegial relationships with students, families, faculty, administrators, and community members; Actively participates in professional meetings, conferences, and workshops; Meets and communicates regularly with colleagues in similar positions/roles at other institutions; Consults with deans, directors, staff and faculty throughout campus on matters relating to admissions and recruitment; Serves as the campus point of contact for admissions related matters; Serves as a resource for all academic departments; Routinely makes admissions presentations and participates in events related to admissions; and Performs other duties as assigned by the Vice Provost for Enrollment Management.
Reporting and Data Analysis: Approves all reporting on admissions to external organizations and/or national surveys prior to submission; Compiles and distributes year-end reports on trends and patterns in recruitment as well as outcomes; Leads annual assessment and strategic planning efforts for the office; Develops strategies to track key performance indicators through the admissions cycle; Anticipates problems where data/trends provide indications of issues and develops mitigation plans; Routinely reports on progress to goals and on admissions activities to the Vice Provost and others; Prepares reports for leadership, Board of Trustees, high schools, community partners, and others; Analyzes data for long range and short range planning; Understands and utilizes systems effectively to optimize the work of the team; Analyzes data to determine effectiveness of outreach and marketing efforts and makes informed adjustments; and Formulates and applies research in developing admissions policies and procedures that promote recruitment, retention, and student success.
Compliance, Policy, and Budget: Monitors statutory, regulatory, and policy changes affecting recruitment and admissions in higher education; Develops plans for implementation of changes to