Enrollment Advisor

Department: School of Professional Studies
Salary/Grade: EXS/5

Target hiring range for this position will be between $54,000 to $57,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Job Summary:

The enrollment advisors are the primary prospective student contact for all Northwestern SPS programs from the moment of lead acquisition to the point of enrollment in classes.

• Build relationships with prospective students to ensure that they apply to the right program based on their past experience and future goals.
• Some time may be spent building relationships with prospective students and community colleges (staff & faculty) in the Chicagoland area.
• Help prospective students navigate the application and admissions process, by working hand-in-hand with an enrollment admissions operations coordinator.
• Responsible for weekly and monthly targets by program (lead conversion, applicants, intent to enroll and enrolled).

Please note: Candidate should be able to sit and speak on the phone 85% of the time. Occasional evening and weekend hours are expected.

Specific Responsibilities:

Enrollment Advising

• Act as the primary point of contact for all inbound prospective students (leads) for NU SPS programs.
• Communicate with prospective students via a high volume of outbound and inbound calls, emails, in-person meetings and event attendance regarding professional graduate academic programs.
• Record interaction with prospective and current students in a timely, accurate and thorough manner in the school's constituent relationship management (CRM) system.
• Generate student enrollments by advising prospective students on how academic program offerings can meet their educational and career goals.
• Segment prospect pool into fit categories, using a pre-defined lead-to-prospect quality index.
• Assist qualified prospects with application for admission. Collaborate with operations team to ensure that applications and materials are received and processed in a timely manner. Work with operations team to ensure that issues or problems with applications or materials are addressed in a timely fashion.
• Provide and actively participate in daily status updates.
• Meet weekly, monthly and quarterly activity goals.
• Maintain the highest level of program-specific knowledge.

Admission Counseling

• After admissions decisions have been issued by enrollment operations team, communicate decisions to prospective students.
• Work with prospective students to obtain an intent to enroll decision and provide necessary counsel and follow-up contact as appropriate.
• In collaboration with enrollment operations, provide denial counsel as necessary and, if appropriate, next steps for strengthening academic record or better programmatic fits.
• Work with Student Services to ensure that newly admitted students with a positive intent to enroll response begin classes.

Coordination, Reporting and Planning

• Coordinate and collaborate with the SPS Enrollment Operations, Student Services, Distance Education, Registration and Marketing teams to provide excellent customer service and support prospects and students at the highest level.
• Provide regularized and ad-hoc summary and detailed reports to Senior Enrollment Adviser.

Subject Area Expert

• Act as subject area expert for specified SPS programs. Work with Senior Enrollment Adviser, marketing and academics teams obtain an ongoing and deep knowledge of subject areas related to programs and disseminate that information to team.
• Stay-up-to-date on developments in the assigned subject area(s) through collaboration with partners at SPS and external research in order to enhance conversations with prospective students and enhance the quality of advising.
• Serve on cross-functional committees as a representative of the enrollment advising teams, as appropriate.

Professional Awareness and Engagement

• Represent SPS and enrollment management at select state, regional and national meetings, conferences and programs as budget allows.
• Provide model leadership, participation, guidance and information when serving on university-wide and School academic and operational committees

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• College degree, or working toward the completion of an undergraduate degree

• 2 years of work experience

• Previous experience working in continuing education, for-profit education, distance education, telemarketing, selective admissions/recruitment, education marketing or alumni/development affairs

• Ability to easily develop contacts and strong working relationships with students and staff

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Strong communication and customer service skills

• Engaging telephone presence

• Ability to work in a performance-driven and results-oriented recruitment environment

• Strong organization and time management skills

• Open to frequent coaching and feedback to enhance job performance

• Strong professional writing skills

• Strong aptitude with computer applications

• Ability to effectively multi-task

• Strong decision-making skills

• Ability to work independently, with good judgment and attention to detail

• Ability to take initiative

Preferred Qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree

• 3-5 years of work experience in higher education

• Previous work experience in professional graduate programs

• Previous experience working with adult learners

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Familiarity with professional graduate programs
• Familiarity working with domestic and international audiences
• Familiarity with descriptive statistics
• Familiarity with manipulating and presenting data

Benefits:

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parental leave; tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.