| About the University |
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 master's-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. Western's 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.
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| About the Department |
The Enrollment Management Unit supports Western's 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 Enrollment Management is to build a diverse, vibrant, and inclusive campus community. We are committed to providing access, affordability, and essential services that support all students in their quest to succeed at Western Washington University and beyond. We strive to serve our community with excellence, integrity, innovation, and compassion. We work on behalf of prospective students, current students, and their families through each phase of the enrollment process: the college search, admission, financial aid and scholarships, orientation, registration, and on to graduation.
Enrollment Management includes Undergraduate Admission, Financial Aid, Orientation and Transition, the Registrar’s Office, and Veteran’s Services.
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| About the Position |
The Vice Provost for Enrollment Management (VPEM) serves as the University's chief enrollment officer and has executive responsibility for the development, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of a comprehensive, data-informed Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) plan. The VPEM provides strategic leadership for establishing institutional enrollment goals and priorities related to recruitment, retention, and student success in alignment with the University's mission, strategic plan, and commitment to student achievement. The VPEM is accountable for recruitment outcomes and enrollment goals and collaborates with academic and administrative leaders across the institution to advance retention and student success objectives. The Vice Provost provides innovative leadership to advance recruitment strategies, financial aid optimization, enrollment forecasting, and the policies, systems, and services that enable student success. The position leads the Enrollment Management division, including the offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, Registrar, Veterans Services, and Orientation and Transition.
Working collaboratively across academic and administrative units, the Vice Provost advises senior leadership on enrollment trends, student demand, financial aid strategy, tuition revenue implications, and long-term enrollment sustainability. The Vice Provost serves as a member of the Provost's leadership team, contributing to institutional decision-making and the advancement of university priorities related to long-term enrollment and student success.
Position Duties and Responsibilities
85% - General Administration & Strategic Leadership
- Build, implement, and continuously assess a comprehensive, data-informed Strategic Enrollment Management plan that brings together stakeholders across the university to advance shared enrollment and student success goals.
- Ensure alignment of the Strategic Enrollment Management plan with the University Strategic plan and senior leadership priorities.
- Regularly review progress toward goals stated in the Strategic Enrollment Management plan and ensure senior leadership and respective stakeholders remain consistently informed.
- Lead the Enrollment Management division, providing strategic direction, policy oversight, and direct supervision to the Executive Director of Admissions, Executive Director of Financial Aid, University Registrar, Director of Veterans Services, and Director of Orientation and Transition.
- Ensure effective management of personnel, technology, and operational workflows within the division.
- Lead institutional enrollment forecasting, predictive modeling, and market analysis to establish enrollment targets, inform academic planning, support tuition revenue projections, and identify emerging enrollment opportunities across undergraduate, graduate, online, transfer, international, and other student populations.
- Establish and ensure flexibility and adaptability to changing or evolving conditions in dynamic higher education environments.
- Partner with colleges, deans, faculty leadership, and shared governance bodies to develop and implement enrollment and student success strategies that align academic capacity, student demand, and institutional priorities.
- Explore, implement, and optimize technologies and systems that support enrollment operations, student engagement, service delivery, and data-informed decision-making.
- Oversee divisional and departmental operating budgets and ensure alignment of resources with institutional priorities.
- Foster a culture of data-informed decision-making within the Enrollment Management division and across the university by leveraging analytics, assessment, forecasting, and continuous improvement practices to guide strategy, resource allocation, and institutional planning.
- Lead the development and implementation of financial aid leveraging and scholarship allocation strategies that advance institutional goals related to net tuition revenue, access, affordability, enrollment, and student success.
- Collaborate with University leaders in the development of operational enrollment management plans that meet or exceed strategic goals.
- Advise the Provost, President, Board of Trustees, and other University leaders on enrollment trends, demographic changes, market conditions, student demand, financial aid strategy, and enrollment-related risks and opportunities.
- Serve as a member of the Provost's leadership team and participate in University committees, planning efforts, and governance processes related to enrollment management, academic planning, budgeting, and student success.
- Collaborate with the Vice Provost for Outreach and Continuing Education, who provides institutional leadership for K-12, dual-enrollment, and community and technical college partnerships, to align outreach, pathway development, recruitment, transfer, and enrollment strategies in support of University goals.
- Represent the University in public forums, professional organizations, and external engagement activities related to enrollment management, student access, financial aid, and higher education enrollment trends, in coordination with University leadership and communications professionals as appropriate.
- Collaborate with University Marketing and Communications to develop, execute, and assess enrollment communications, lead development and cultivation, digital engagement strategies, recruitment marketing initiatives, and current student communications to support institutional enrollment objectives.
- Collaborate with campus partners to develop and assess recruitment strategies and prospective student engagement initiatives that support institutional enrollment objectives.
- Provide executive oversight for divisional policies, operational effectiveness, organizational structure, systems, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Partner with academic and student affairs leaders to improve student retention, persistence, progression, and graduation outcomes.
- Review and authorize programmatic, structural, and operational policy changes recommended by direct reports.
15% - Personnel Management & Divisional Advocacy
- Provide mentorship, leadership development, coaching, and performance management for direct reports and divisional leaders.
- Conduct annual performance evaluations, establish unit-level goals, and ensure accountability, professional development, and continuous improvement across entire division.
- Advance equitable enrollment and student success outcomes through evidence-based strategies that expand educational access and reduce barriers for historically underserved student populations.
- Foster an organizational culture characterized by concise, effective communications, collaboration, innovation, inclusion, accountability, and excellence in service to students and the University community.
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| Required Qualifications |
- Master's degree from an accredited institution.
- A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education enrollment management, strategic planning, and data-informed decision-making.
- Demonstrated success leading initiatives that achieve enrollment goals and improve recruitment outcomes.
- Demonstrated successful experience establishing, achieving, assessing, and refining complex strategic enrollment goals.
- Demonstrated experience with enrollment forecasting, strategic planning, and the use of data analytics to inform institutional decision-making.
- Proven track record of budget development, fiscal management, return-on-investment analysis and resource allocation within a complex organizational environment.
- Knowledge of federal and state regulations and professional standards related to admissions, student records, FERPA, and Title IV financial aid administration.
- Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships across academic and administrative units and to work effectively within a shared governance environment.
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and student success through leadership, policy development, and practice.
- Exceptional interpersonal, communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills, with a demonstrated ability to engage effectively with diverse constituencies.
- High degree of integrity, sound judgment, and professionalism.
- Experience leading the strategic deployment and optimization of technology platforms, including CRM systems, student information systems, predictive analytics tools, and related enrollment technologies.
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