Vice President for Enrollment

Vice President for Enrollment
SEARCH PROFILE
Concordia College invites nominations for and expressions of interest in the
position of Vice President for Enrollment. The new Vice President will join an
energetic and collegial leadership team, led by President William Craft, and will
serve on the President’s Cabinet, while carrying direct responsibility for admissions,
financial aid, and retention programs.
Concordia College is moving into a time of significant transition concurrent
with complex and disruptive change in all of higher education. In response to
programmatic strengths and 21st century imperatives and a commitment to
innovation and adaptation, the College is currently undertaking an imaginative
revision of its educational offerings guided by a bold and ambitious 2012-2017
strategic plan, Whole Self, Whole Life, Whole World (see Appendix). A seasoned
enrollment professional can expect to lead an enrollment team in sharpening the
strategic focus and operation of the enrollment division to assure effectiveness in an
ever more diverse and competitive student marketplace, to more effectively market
Concordia’s many distinctive programs, and to fully engage the energy of the total
campus community in the enrollment effort.
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Vice President for Enrollment
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The Leadership Challenge
The Vice President for Enrollment position offers an exciting
array of leadership opportunities and challenges for a missionoriented enrollment professional and educational leader. The
person filling this position will work closely with President Craft
and the College’s senior leadership, as well as the broad college
community, including the Board of Regents, faculty, staff,
students, and volunteers in refining an admissions program that
will meet Concordia’s student enrollment and retention goals.
More specific opportunities and challenges include the
following:
LEADING AND REFINING THE ADMISSIONS PROGRAM:
Supported by a long record of success in the region, the
new Vice President will lead from a position of strength in
sharpening the strategic focus and operation of the program to
assure effectiveness in a rapidly changing and diverse student
marketplace. The goal will be a cutting-edge admissions effort
that integrates and balances the best practices of high touch
relationship building, with the latest high tech strategies
that support effective admissions work, positive enrollment
outcomes, and strong student retention.
LINKING CAMPUS AND THE STUDENT MARKETPLACE:
As a member of the President’s senior staff, the Vice President
will be looked to as one of the College’s key educational
leaders. In this capacity, the Vice President will be positioned
to play a very important role as the campus community seeks
to fully understand the diverse student marketplace, and as the
mission, program, and activities of the college are presented
to prospective students and other public audiences. This role
carries with it the expectation that the Vice President will be
an active, engaged member of the campus community, as well
as a regular participant in the off-campus work that is part of
admissions and related outreach programs.
LEVERAGING CONCORDIA’S DISTINCTIVE STRENGTHS:
Coupled with an attractive and well-maintained campus,
Concordia College has long offered students a strong and clear
mission, and a myriad of strong and effective programs, both
academic and co-curricular, that provide the foundation for a
Concordia education. In addition, over the years, the College
has developed a number of distinctive (even unique) programs,
such as the pre-collegiate Concordia Language Villages, which
is part of a nationally recognized Global Learning program, and,
more recently, the Offutt School of Business. The anticipated
total renovation of science facilities will further strengthen
Concordia’s appeal. Currently, the Concordia faculty is
developing an integrative learning experience for students as
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Vice President for Enrollment
SEARCH PROFILE
well as a career readiness initiative. There is a widely shared
belief that these Concordia points of distinction, and others,
can be used more fully and effectively in attracting attention
and interest from traditional as well as new student markets.
ENGAGING THE CAMPUS: The Concordia campus
community, including members of the Board of Regents and
key volunteers, are well aware of the importance and the
challenge of marketing the College effectively, and annually
meeting student enrollment and retention goals. Even more
importantly, they stand ready to help – and they want to
be involved! Their strong commitment offers the new Vice
President a wonderful moment within which to build a collegewide focus on marketing, outreach and student recruitment.
Creative leadership in this area represents both a challenge, and
a remarkable opportunity for program development.
FRAMING THE MESSAGE AND TELLING THE STORY:
The admissions/marketing challenge is, in many respects, a
communications challenge. So it is expected that the new
Vice President will work closely with the Senior Director of
Communications and Marketing, as well as leaders across the
campus, in shaping and fine tuning the Concordia message. It is
further assumed that this work will be informed and influenced
by regular market research and field experience. Working from
this foundation, the Vice President will play a key role in telling
the story as he/she speaks frequently on behalf of the College,
hosts meetings with prospective students and their families, and
works with colleagues and staff, in admissions and across the
campus. In all of these ways and more, the Vice President will
be an important public face of Concordia College.
Concordia Distinctions
• Within six months of commencement, 98% of graduates
respond that they are employed, in grad school, or serving
with organizations such as the Peace Corps.
• Each year about 500 students participate in cooperative
education, internship, practicum or experiential learning
opportunities.
• Concordia students scored at the 90th percentile in the nation
in the Collegiate Learning Assessment of critical thinking and
writing skills.
• For a decade, Concordia has ranked in the top 13% of all
colleges in the U.S. – regardless of size – in the number of
graduates who go on to earn doctorates.
• Concordia students are 10 times more likely to have a study
abroad experience than other college students in the U.S. A
global focus through the Concordia experience led to the
college being the first school in Minnesota honored with the
Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization
by NAFSA.
•Concordia Language Villages creates responsible global
citizens by providing world-renowned, one-of-a-kind,
pre-collegiate language and culture immersion education
experiences in 15 languages to 11,000 participants annually.
• Concordia students who apply to medical school have an
88% chance of acceptance – double the national average.
• Concordia students who apply to law school have an 89%
chance of acceptance – exceeding the national average by
nearly 20%.
• By the time Concordia students graduate, 33% have engaged
in significant undergraduate research with faculty in the
natural and social sciences, humanities, and fine arts.
• In 2013-14, Concordia received $1.5 million in academic
grants and contracts.
• Concordia is a leader in interfaith cooperation and education
and has received national recognition for its interfaith
cooperation statement. Students involved in Better Together
present regularly at the U.S. President’s Interfaith and
Community Service Campus Challenge conference.
• Concordia shares the highest rank among Lutheran colleges
in the percent of grads who are pastors in the ELCA.
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Vice President for Enrollment
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Desired Leadership Attributes
The ideal Vice President will be:
A SEASONED ENROLLMENT PROFESSIONAL who
understands enrollment planning and organization, effective
search strategy, the application of social media, the use of a
CRM system to manage the admissions funnel communication
flow, and tuition discounting to achieve enrollment goals, while
being well versed in contemporary administrative strategies
and committed to the development of personal relationships.
A COLLABORATIVE MANAGER AND STRATEGIST with a
track record of effective enrollment talent acquisition and team
building, successful experience in territory management to
achieve results, and the ability to support, challenge, motivate,
and ensure accountability among those responsible for meeting
Concordia’s enrollment goals.
A RELATIONSHIP BUILDER who engages people with ease
and comfort while exhibiting high personal integrity and
ethical standards, has experience in partnering with those
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leading institutional retention efforts, and shows a record of
success working with faculty and staff partners, alumni and
friends of the campus to enhance recruitment.
A PROBLEM SOLVER AND DECISION MAKER with the
ability to conduct essential enrollment research, and after
careful analysis and consulting to make decisions firmly and
expeditiously with appropriate follow through.
A SKILLED AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR who is
able to give clear and articulate expressions to the many student
value-added experiences provided by Concordia as a global
liberal arts college of the church.
A TEAM PLAYER WITH ANALYTICAL SKILLS who is able
to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty, is resilient following
disappointment, and brings a sense of humor to the tasks at
hand.
Candidates must have a B.A. (graduate degree preferred)
with at least five years of increasingly responsible enrollment
management and leadership experience.
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Vice President for Enrollment
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The College attracts academic achievers who seek to challenge
their intellect and expand their critical thinking skills. Currently
nearly 2,400 students from 34 states and 31 countries attend
Concordia. Among first-year students in 2014, 30 percent were
in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class and
23 percent have ACT scores above 28. The first- to secondyear retention rate is 83 percent.
Concordia College has 175 full-time and 70 part-time faculty,
87 percent of whom hold the highest degree in their field from
many of the world’s top graduate universities.
About the College
Founded in 1891 by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants who
valued education and their religious heritage, the College is
committed to its historical mission:
To influence the affairs of the world by sending into society thoughtful
and informed men and women dedicated to the Christian life.
Concordia, a liberal arts college of the ELCA, is an inclusive
community, welcoming women and men of different
backgrounds, religions, and aspirations to join an academic
community where the life of faith and pursuit of learning occur
in dynamic interaction. There is complete freedom to search
for truth, with nothing off limits for inquiry and critique. The
Lutheran theological tradition emphasizes that we are all called
to serve our neighbor and care for creation. Thus, Concordia
strives to equip students for vocation: to use their talents for the
sake of the world.
Concordia awards Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music
degrees, as well as a Master of Education in World Language
Instruction. The curriculum has more than 60 majors and 12
pre-professional programs offered in 20 academic departments
and the Offutt School of Business. Several majors also lead to
professional licensure, including elementary and secondary
education, healthcare administration, long-term care
administration, nursing, dietetics, and social work.
CONCORDIA COLLEGE | Founded 1891
The Concordia experience provides opportunities for students
to join faculty in research, perform in world-class music
ensembles, compete on a nationally ranked forensics team, play
on championship-caliber sports teams, and make their mark
in theater, student government, or more than 100 clubs and
organizations.
A member of the NCAA Division III and highly competitive
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the college
sponsors 11 women’s and 11 men’s varsity sports. A perennial
conference title contender in multiple sports, Cobber athletics
has also produced 15 Academic All-Americans and eight NCAA
Postgraduate Scholars since 2004.
Concordia’s 120-acre campus includes modern and wellmaintained facilities that use a variety of instructional
technologies. The College has a $38 million campus center, the
centerpiece of a $100 million capital campaign completed in
2007. A state-of-the-art facility opened in January 2013 to house
the Offutt School of Business, a distinctive approach to business
that will further differentiate Concordia College. Upgrades on
the outdoor athletic complex have recently been completed.
In summer 2016, Concordia anticipates breaking ground on its
largest capital project to date. The College will be renovating
its science facilities to accommodate what is needed to deliver
a transformational science education in the 21st century –
specialized equipment, high functioning labs and innovative
teaching spaces. This new home for students and faculty will
support a community of scientists who together – novice
alongside pro – learn science by doing science. The facility is
expected to be ready for classes in fall 2017.
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Vice President for Enrollment
SEARCH PROFILE
The College has constructed architecturally authentic year-round
educational facilities on 875 acres of college-owned property
on Turtle River Lake in northern Minnesota for the Concordia
Language Villages, Concordia’s internationally recognized
language and cultural immersion program that began in 1961.
Youth ages 7-18 and adults of all language experience levels
can choose from options in 15 world languages. The Language
Villages also works with the corporate community to provide
residential language and cultural sessions for employees and has
contracted with the Department of Defense to train personnel in
Arabic, Russian, and French (ConcordiaLanguageVillages.org).
commitment to ethical deliberation, steeped in the values of
the liberal arts, and on the importance of building community
(ConcordiaCollege.edu/sustainability).
The College’s commitment to sustainability, locally and
globally, is reflected in its construction and use of resources
on campus. Concordia’s sustainability vision is interwoven
with the commitment to global learning, rooted in an abiding
Separated by the Red River, Fargo-Moorhead is a metropolitan
area with a population of over 210,000 with 30,000 students
attending three colleges and universities, which cooperate
through Tri-College University. The metropolitan area is known
for its vibrant arts community, a highly educated workforce,
a robust business environment, and excellent pre-K-12 and
higher education opportunities. Fargo-Moorhead is culturally
diverse; nearly 40 different first languages are represented by
the students in the K-12 schools.
Concordia benefits from the contributions of an active and
engaged Board of Regents and 32,000 alumni in important
positions in business, government, education, and service
throughout the world.
Moorhead, Minnesota
Fargo-Moorhead is among the Forbes Top 10 “Best Places for
Business and Careers” and “Top College Towns for Jobs.” The
community serves as the corporate headquarters for Phoenix
International, American Crystal Sugar, Bell State Bank and Trust,
Scheels, Bobcat, and RDO Equipment. Case New Holland,
NAVTEQ, Microsoft Corporation, and Sanford Health, the
nation’s largest non-profit integrated rural health care system,
also have a significant presence in the community.
Fargo-Moorhead has a vibrant entrepreneurial community that
fosters innovators addressing the most pressing challenges of
our time.
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Vice President for Enrollment
SEARCH PROFILE
The Process of Candidacy
Nominations and expressions of interest may be submitted
electronically to:
Linda Brown, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer
Chair, Vice President for Enrollment Search Committee
ConcordiaVPE@agbsearch.com
Candidates are asked to submit electronically in MS Word or
Adobe PDF: (1) a letter of interest reflecting on the leadership
attributes noted above, (2) a resume, and (3) the names, email
addresses, and telephone numbers of five references. References
will not be contacted without first securing the permission of
the candidate. To receive full consideration, materials should be
received on or before Friday, December 12, 2014.
CONCORDIA COLLEGE | Founded 1891
This search is being assisted by:
Richard L. Torgerson, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant, AGB Search
(563) 380-4919 (cell)
rlt@agbsearch.com
Loren Anderson, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant, AGB Search
(253) 223-3566 (cell)
lja@agbsearch.com
Additional information about the College may be found at:
ConcordiaCollege.edu
Concordia College is an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action
Employer and encourages the candidacies of women and
persons of color.
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APPENDIX
The Strategic Plan
Concordia College is a global liberal arts college of the church,
a college dedicated to preparing students to be responsibly
engaged in the world. In support of this work, the Board of
Regents adopted the 2012-2017 Strategic Plan, Whole Self, Whole
Life, Whole World.
The Strategic Plan is a living, active document which sets a
mission-driven and innovative direction for the college that
depends upon the entire Concordia community’s imagination,
experience, and energy.
The plan declares clearly that Concordia will offer students
an education of the whole self, for the whole of life, for the
sake of the whole world. The College believes deeply that
the liberal arts matter and, in fact, are necessary in an era of
economic anxiety, population change, global competition, and
technological innovation.
The goal is to build competence, creativity, and character
among our students: to prepare Concordia graduates to influence the
affairs of the world by sending into society thoughtful and informed men and
women dedicated to the Christian life.
Highlights from the Strategic Plan include an integrative
learning model, a career readiness initiative and new programs
that will draw new students to the college.
Integrative Learning: A key strength of Concordia is its
history of blending liberal arts with applied learning and its
commitment to collaborative learning with college faculty and
staff. To better accommodate these goals, the College is reimagining a residential liberal arts education that goes beyond
the accumulation of course credits. The Faculty Senate voted in
October to design a 4-4-1 academic year.
The College connects theoretical elements of the curriculum
with the complex situations, problems, and questions students
will encounter in the world. The College facilitates intensive
contact between students and experiences in the workplace,
in international settings, and in research settings. Deeply
woven in this initiative is intentional and pervasive attention
to vocational discernment and career development. This starts
with incoming freshmen and builds throughout a student’s
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time at Concordia. Upon graduation students should have
reflected deeply upon their vocation, prepared themselves with
highly competitive skill development, and developed a good
understanding of how their careers will benefit society while
providing personal satisfaction.
Career Initiative: The College has developed the framework
for an innovative career readiness initiative. The initiative
is grounded in the Lutheran concept of vocation, establishes
pathways to career readiness for all students and is built on the
principles of exploration, reflection, clarification, and transition.
The initiative’s goals are to create connections with faculty
and staff, to expand external opportunities for internships, to
enhance opportunities for students to interact with alumni, and
to prepare students for post-graduation success.
New Students/New Programs: In a time of enrollment
challenges, the College is exploring ways to reach new kinds
of students with programs that extend Concordia’s mission
and draw on its strengths. A working group of faculty and
staff has identified recommendations for short-term and longterm opportunities. These opportunities include working more
closely in recruiting transfer students and offering accelerated
programs, graduate programs, and non-baccalaureate
programming. Work is in progress to accredit the new Master of
Science in Dietetics Leadership, which builds on the strengths
of the College’s accredited undergraduate dietetics program.
Faith and Learning: Concordia abides in valuing its
founding, heritage, and missional expressions as a college
within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Here,
intellect and faith are recognized to be mutually active and
needful partners among faculty, staff, and students. In spring
of 2014, the campus community engaged in a formalized
action-research study of worship, faith, and spiritual practices.
Discoveries from this study inform and clarify the College’s
vocation amidst a contemporary context that is increasingly
diverse, complex, and multifaceted. Because of dedication to
prepare global citizens who will foster wholeness and hope,
cultivate peace through understanding, and serve the world
together, Concordia has a growing commitment to practice
intra-religious and inter-religious cooperation for the benefit
of all.
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