Vice President for Enrollment Management

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Job description

Ada, OH

Position Title
Executive

Position Type
Administrative Staff

Classification
1

Job Summary

The Vice President for Enrollment Management will provide visible, positive, and approachable leadership to an office of 15 professional staff, including four direct reports. The VPEM is responsible for leading the University’s enrollment strategy, encompassing student recruitment, admissions, financial aid, and enrollment planning. Working collaboratively, the Vice President drives initiatives to meet or exceed enrollment targets, achieve net tuition revenue goals, and enhance the quality and breadth of applicant pools. Through collaborative partnerships across the University, especially with the Vice President for Financial Affairs (VPFA), the Provost, and the Athletic Director, the VPEM ensures a coordinated, data-driven approach to recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from varied backgrounds.

Scope

The Vice President for Enrollment Management serves as a key member of the President’s Cabinet, reporting directly to the President. This senior leadership role provides strategic oversight and direction for all enrollment management operations, ensuring alignment with the University’s mission, financial objectives, and commitment to building an academically strong and multi-talented student body.

Principal Responsibilities

The principal duties and essential responsibilities for the Vice President for Enrollment Management include the following:

  • Enrollment Goals: Achieve University-wide enrollment targets across identified academic programs to meet the University’s net tuition revenue goals.
  • Strategic Enrollment Management: Analyze trends, best practices, and data-driven approaches to develop and implement strategies that enhance enrollment outcomes and financial goals.
  • Collaborative Recruitment and Retention: Partner with colleagues across the University to create and execute a cohesive strategic plan for recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from a broad range of backgrounds.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage predictive modeling, financial aid strategies, and pricing forecast, and in consultation with the VPFA, propose and implement initiatives that align operational budgets with measurable enrollment outcomes.
  • Financial Planning Support: Provide data and insights to support institutional financial planning based on shared enrollment projections and goals.
  • Financial Aid Leadership: Oversee the development and implementation of student-centered, regulation-compliant, financial aid policies and procedures to ensure accessibility and affordability.
  • Team Leadership and Development: Provide strategic leadership, oversight, and professional development to admissions and financial aid staff, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
  • Institutional Strategy: Collaborate with the President and executive leadership team to evaluate existing programs and develop forward-thinking enrollment strategies and goals.
  • Cross-Divisional Collaboration: Work closely with leadership across academics, athletics, marketing and brand strategy, performing arts, and other key areas to optimize the University’s recruitment and marketing efforts.
  • Compliance Oversight: Ensure robust monitoring systems are in place to maintain compliance with all federal and state regulations governing admissions, financial aid, and student data.

Required Skills

  • Proven expertise in enrollment management, with comprehensive knowledge of student recruitment, marketing, and financial aid strategies.
  • Highly successful enrollment manager with a demonstrated history of success in building enrollments among a range of student populations: undergraduate, transfer, international, and adult students. Experience in enrollment management in professional programs is a bonus.
  • Experienced in the collaborative development of an institutional strategic enrollment plan, short term initiatives, and supporting tactics with the ability to effectively communicate plans, benchmarks, analysis, and outcomes across an invested campus community.
  • Ability to navigate the complexities of a multi-college environment and to foster collaboration across diverse stakeholders.
  • Seasoned leader with a firm grasp on contemporary integrated marketing strategies, ability to build maintaining partnerships and pipelines, and a willingness to foster change along with positive relationships.
  • Strategically deft, with the ability to analyze, interpret, and present relevant information in a manner that supports decision making, educates, and engages collaborators.
  • Proficiency in financial aid leveraging, predictive modeling, net tuition revenue analysis, and pricing strategies.
  • Strong analytical capacity with the ability to produce forward-looking, transparent strategic plans and budgets that link expenditures to outcomes; the capacity to assess the effectiveness of how recruitment and financial aid funds are employed to achieve enrollment goals; an eagerness to engage in a continuous dialogue about enrollment and other areas with the president and senior leadership.
  • Exceptional leadership and executive-level experience, with a track record of fostering productive, collaborative teams.
  • Superior oral and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively engage varied audiences.
  • A genuine interest in forming a team with the president, senior leadership, and academic partners; a confident and personal presence that is active and inclusive; an ability to observe, listen, learn, and clarify needs while engendering trust among various constituencies; possessing sound judgment, and a demonstrated skill working with diverse cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.
  • A sincere and personal commitment to the mission of and vision for Ohio Northern University, a willingness to persevere, and a desire to build authentic and long-term relationships with colleagues, students, and alumni.

Minimum Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree is required and an advanced degree strongly preferred. A record of success in enrollment management and in higher education with increasing responsibility and significant experience in managerial and leadership roles is required.

EEO Statement

ONU is an equal employment opportunity employer. Accordingly, no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, transgender status, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all areas of employment including recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, discipline, separation and other terms, condition and privileges of employment.

College Description

Founded in 1871, Ohio Northern University has consistently reflected founder Henry Solomon Lehr’s vision of “providing a community of learning, rich with opportunities for intellectual and personal development.” The University has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1899, instilling core values into its teaching while offering and assuring religious freedom on campus.

The University’s mission is to provide a high-quality learning environment that prepares students for success in their careers; service to their communities, the nation, and the world; and a lifetime of personal growth inspired by the higher values of truth, beauty, and goodness. The distinctive academic program includes mutually supportive professional education and liberal arts components that integrate practice with theory, complemented by excellent co-curricular offerings that enrich the Northern student experience. To fulfill the mission, faculty and staff engage with students so they learn to think critically, creatively, and entrepreneurially, communicate effectively, gain practical experience, solve problems collaboratively, and act as ethical and responsible members of a global community.

Numerous college rankings and ratings consistently give Ohio Northern high marks. Most notably, in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Regional Colleges Midwest list, ONU ranked No. 1 in the Best Value Schools category; in the overall rankings, Ohio Northern placed No. 2 in the Midwest and No. 1 in Ohio. In addition, the U.S. News and World Reports ranks its undergraduate engineering program No. 12 in the nation (non doctorate) and No. 1 in Ohio.

Mission

Ohio Northern University integrates the liberal arts with professional programs to foster critical and creative thinking including real-world application. We cultivate knowledge, character, and purpose in students to prepare them to build successful careers and improve the world.

Vision

Ohio Northern University’s vision is to be among the best private, comprehensive universities in the nation, known for programs of excellence and distinction and recognized for effectively integrating arts and sciences disciplines, professional studies, high impact learning, and civic engagement.

LOCATION

ONU is situated in rural northwest Ohio in the historic village of Ada (population 5,544), which has a small-town atmosphere that complements the friendly environment found on campus. While Ada’s tree-lined downtown has many shops and restaurants, nearby towns like Findlay and Lima provide expanded opportunities for shopping, dining, and culture. Located in agriculturally rich Hardin County, Ohio Northern is within easy reach of Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, while offering the tranquility of small-town life. Ohio Northern is consistently ranked nationally among the Top 50 “Best Small-Town Colleges” by BestColleges.com.

The attractive 342-acre campus features 60 plus residential and academic buildings, arts and athletic facilities, and plenty of open space, including the Green Monster, Ohio Northern’s 2.5-mile jogging path. More than $100 million in capital projects over the last several years have helped maintain the beauty and functionality of the campus. Campus highlights include: the newest campus addition, the $30 million, 105,000-square-foot, LEED certified James Lehr Kennedy Engineering Building, housing classrooms, labs, offices, a maker space, machine shop, and collaboration spaces; the Freed Center for the Performing Arts, showcasing dozens of theatre, dance, speaker, and musical events each year; and The Inn at Ohio Northern University, open to guests of the University, as well as the public, offering more than 70 deluxe guest rooms, luxurious amenities, and flexible meeting spaces.

Appointment Length
12-months

Closing Date
09/23/2025

How to apply

NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Ohio Northern in identifying the University’s next Vice President for Enrollment Management. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Suzi Nam ([email protected]) or Laura Robinson ([email protected]). All conversations will remain confidential unless otherwise stated and agreed. Interested candidates should submit a resume and a letter of interest describing their unique qualifications for the Vice President for Enrollment Management position at Ohio Northern University. Candidates should also provide the names and contact information of at least five professional references. For confidentiality, references will not be contacted without permission. For best consideration, all application materials should be submitted electronically to [email protected] by September 23, 2025. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is January of 2026.

Full Position Announcement: https://nessearches.com/onu-vpem/

Founded in 1871, Ohio Northern University is a selective, private, comprehensive university, comprising five colleges (Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law) with nationally ranked arts, sciences and professional programs.