Director of Admissions and Recruitment

Description

Job ID

AF9411-0801-1870

Position Classification

FT Administrator

Position Summary

The Director of Admissions & Recruitment is responsible for all operations and management of admissions, recruitment, and pre-matriculation programming for the School of Optometry. The Director of Admissions & Recruitment completes all tasks related to optometry admissions, including the full range of highly selective recruitment and selection activities from application to matriculation. A typical annual admissions cycle attracts over 300 applicants, resulting in over 150 on-campus interviews, and over 100 offers of admission. The University of Detroit Mercy School of Optometry annually enrolls a class of 44 Optometry students in a most selective admissions environment (representing estimated $1.9mil tuition revenue). This administrative position is directly supervised by the Associate Dean, Student Services & Enrollment Management with additional supervision by the Executive Associate Dean & Dean, School of Optometry. In addition to annual management of the recruitment and admissions process for Optometry program admissions, this position also has responsibility for achieving School of Optometry goals for admission set forth by Faculty Assembly, the Office of the Dean, and University leadership. These responsibilities include the development of a long-range recruitment plan, short-term recruitment activities for attracting desirable candidates for admission, admissions advising, oversight of the operations of the Optometry Admissions Committee, and coordination with the Offices of Student Engagement & Belonging, Academic Administration and the Dean to meet admissions goals for the OD program. Reporting to the Office of Student Services & Enrollment Management, the Director of Admissions & Recruitment position requires a high degree of autonomy and responsibility, a strong work-ethic, and an ability to develop a rapport with individuals within and outside of the institution. There is significant travel involved for recruitment activities at various points of the admissions cycle. The Director of Admissions & Recruitment is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with pre-optometry organizations, undergraduate institutions, pre-professional education programs, pre-health and pre-optometry advisors, and others in an effort to manage enrollment each year.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Analyze optometry applications, prioritize applicant review based upon annual goals, and assign status of applicants in order of their suitability for admission. Coordinate the review and processing of 300-400 OptomCAS applications annually. Responsible for guiding and directing all activities of the Optometry Admissions Committee (faculty and administrators) each admissions cycle.
 

2. Responsible for generating interest in the University of Detroit Mercy School of Optometry program and converting inquiries to applicants to enrolled students. Provide academic counseling for applicants on admissions policies and procedures; offer guidance through the admissions process, including academic counseling on prerequisite courses, course work selection, and application status. Generate new academic partnerships to increase applications and yield. Develop and implement a comprehensive K-16 recruitment strategy.
 

3. Recruit ideal candidates nationally for the Doctor of Optometry program in alignment with goals set by the Office of the Dean and Office of Student Services & Enrollment Management. Coordinate campus visits and build relationships with undergraduate pre-optometry clubs and academic advisors in the health sciences. Represent the School of Optometry at graduate school fairs, health profession fairs, and professional organization meetings; organize on- and off-campus information sessions. Targeted recruitment of students from HURE groups (Historically Underrepresented Race and Ethnicity). This includes campus visits to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to speak with pre-health advisors and pre-optometry student organizations.
 

4. Manage social media accounts for the School of Optometry in coordination with Marketing & Communications (MarCom). Establish and maintain admissions & recruitment focused Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn to communicate with pre-health students, pre-optometry programs, undergraduate health professions advisors, and prospective students. Create and implement an annual social media communications plan to maximize exposure, generate program, interest, and develop leads for admissions. Complete training (Cascade & social media) with MarCom as dir