Assistant or Associate Director for Admissions Communications

Alma College; Alma (MI); On-site; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Alma College in Michigan seeks an Assistant/Associate Director to lead communications for admissions and financial aid. You will craft student outreach across print, email, text, and digital media, collaborating with the Communications and Marketing office and the Senior Director of Admissions.

The role combines content creation with strategic planning and stakeholder coordination. You will manage multiple large projects, develop annual admissions communications, and ensure timely, accurate

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Communication, Marketing or Higher Education Administration or equivalent.
• Two years of experience in higher education recruitment, e-recruiting, marketing, or communication.
• Familiarity with a CRM system.
• Be proactive with significant writing and communication experience.
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple deadlines.
• Highly organized and detail oriented.
• Skilled at multitasking.
• Ability to work within a team and independently.
• Able to maintain confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Lead student recruitment communications initiatives from idea to completion with urgency.
• Oversee admissions communications, including publications, campaigns, and materials.
• Develop day-to-day content for prospective students via CRM, in collaboration with leadership.
• Create segmented communications plans for admissions funnel and key influencers.
• Write and coordinate targeted domestic and international communications to students and counselors.
• Coordinate on-demand print communication with external vendor.
• Edit and develop content for letters, emails, invitations, scripts, ads, brochures, and presentations.
• Coordinate College chatbot and communications with Enrollment Systems team.
• Develop and implement financial aid messaging for prospective and current students.
• Create and maintain presentations for Admissions and Financial Aid teams.
• Manage vendor delivery of recruitment materials and ensure materials are available.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills

Strong writing

Communication

CRM familiarity

Organizational skills

Multitasking

Deadline management

Confidentiality

Education

Bachelor’s degree in English

Bachelor’s degree in Communication

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

CRM system

Job description

POSITION SUMMARY

The Assistant/Associate Director, in collaboration with the Communications and Marketing office and Senior Director of Admissions, will lead in the development, implementation, and execution of communications to support recruitment efforts. Communications include student recruitment communications, including print, email, text, presentation and other electronic. The Assistant/Associate Director will also develop communications and messaging for the Financial Aid Office, to both new and current students. The Assistant/Associate Director will take a direct role in content creation. Media used will be a broad variety of print, electronic, video, photo, email and text. This position will help coordinate undergraduate and graduate recruitment communications, as well as financial aid messaging and communication. The position will attend Communications and Marketing planning meetings and collaborate extensively with the office in developing and disseminating communications. Salary and title commensurate with experience, skills, and abilities.

Supervision Received/Exercised: This position reports to the Senior Director of Enrollment Systems and Operations and has no supervisory responsibilities.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Lead student recruitment communications initiatives from idea onto completion with a sense of urgency, working primarily independently and collaboratively to execute strategic communications. This role will:
  • Independently manage timelines on multiple large-scale projects
  • Research, review and develop content from a variety of sources
• Oversee, develop and implement annual Admissions communications, including publications, email and text campaigns, academic materials, and promotional materials(swag), in close collaboration with the Communications and Marketing office
• Develop, schedule and implement the day-to-day content for prospective students and supporters via the Customer Relationship Management (CRM)A system, in collaboration with the Senior Director for Enrollment Systems and Operations
• Create and execute segmented communication plans that target all phases of the admissions funnel for prospective students and for key influencers
• Write, edit and coordinate targeted domestic and international communications and recruiting messages to prospective students, and high school and community college counselors
• Manage and coordinate variable content printing for on-demand print communication that includes writing, photo selection and partnering with an external vendor on printing
• Assist undergraduate and graduate admissions staff in editing and developing content for letters, emails, program invitations, tele-counseling phone scripts, advertisements, brochures, presentations, as well as managing communication and publication plans related to print, web, and recruitment events for various student audiences
• Coordinate the College chatbot in collaboration with the Senior Director for Enrollment Systems and Operations
• Develop and implement financial aid messaging and communications to both prospective and current students, in collaboration with the Director of Financial Aid
• Create, edit and maintain presentations for use by the Admissions and Financial Aid teams
• Create and implement special communication initiatives
• Manage the vendor delivery of Admissions recruitment materials and coordinate with the Assistant Director of Enrollment Systems and Operations to ensure needed materials are always available
• Other duties as assigned

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Communication, Marketing or Higher Education Administration or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience
• Two years of experience in higher education recruitment, e-recruiting, marketing, or communication
• Familiarity with a CRM system
• Be proactive and have significant experience in writing and communication
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment and manage multiple project deadlines simultaneously
• Highly organized and detail oriented
• Skilled at multitasking
• Ability to work within a team and independently
• Able to maintain confidentiality

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in Communication, Higher Education Administration, Marketing or closely related field
• Experience in project management
• Experience working with undergraduate students and/or admissions/recruitment programs

Alma College is classified as a selective Baccalaureate College: Diverse Fields by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Alma is committed to academic excellence and the development of responsible leaders; our students thrive on challenging academic programs in a supportive, small-college environment emphasizing active, collaborative learning and close student-faculty interaction. Alma is a private Phi Beta Kappa institution located in the center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

Alma College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff, and student body.

Alma College recognizes that we are all transformed when we celebrate and value the varied identities, backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in our campus community. We are committed to recognizing and removing barriers to success and providing equitable access to opportunities through education and advocacy. In our increasingly diverse campus and world, we pledge to create a climate where everyone is safe and free to grow intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.