BSG From the Boardroom

Position: Vice President of Marketing and Enrollment

Management

Reports to: President

Location: Manchester, NH

“Southern New Hampshire University trains intellectually and culturally enriched individuals to be successful in their careers and contribute to their communities. SNHU's educational philosophy challenges students' intellectual potential and prepares them for professional lives in an ever-changing and increasingly interconnected world. It provides a supportive and close-knit learning community, delivering engaging instruction in a flexible variety of formats. Students develop the knowledge to understand a complex world, the skills to act effectively within that world and the wisdom to make good choices. They do so within a community of teachers, staff and peers that is encouraged to add its scholarly, creative and pedagogical contributions to the larger social good.”

THE COLLEGE

Founded in 1932 as the New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science, Southern New Hampshire University was granted its degree-granting charter in 1963 and conferred its first bachelor’s degrees three years later. The college became a nonprofit institution under a board of trustees in September 1968; in 1969 its name was shortened to New Hampshire College.
Throughout the next three decades the college continued to grow through the addition of its Schools of Business, Community Economic Development, Education, Liberal Arts, and Professional and Continuing Education. During the ‘90s the college opened off-campus centers to better serve adult learners. Programs now are offered in Laconia, Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth and Salem, N.H., and in Brunswick, Maine, as well as internationally through such schools as SIT in Malaysia.
A recent article in the Boston Globe describes SNHU’s efforts to lower the cost of high-quality education by offering a “low-frills”’ alternative to the campus-based experience.
SNHU Students Forgo Frills to Save Thousands
Today SNHU boasts a full- and part-time student enrollment of more than 6000 and a full-time faculty of 130; 40 degree-granting programs; a 300-acre campus on the Merrimack River; one of the largest and most dynamic online offerings in New England; and programs as diverse as culinary arts, public economic development, and language education. Students come from more than 23 states and 35 countries, with 80 percent of undergraduates living on campus.

SNHU programs are accredited by:

• Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration
• American Culinary Federation Educational Institute
• Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs
• European Council for Business Education
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission
• New Hampshire State Department of Education for Teacher Certification
• North American Society for Sport Management

But these are only facts. The real story of SNHU lies in its unique position among New England colleges. Listen to President Paul LeBlanc as he discusses the college.
Paul LeBlanc discusses Southern New Hampshire Univeristy

THE POSITION

Reporting to the President, the Vice President of Marketing and Enrollment Management will take overall responsibility for the strategic development, implementation, and tracking of the college’s activities in student acquisition, enrollment, and retention.

This position represents a key leadership opportunity as SNHU continues to maintain a solid undergraduate day enrollment and expand its graduate, Ph. D., online, and continuing education market enrollments. The Vice President will oversee the work of eight or more departments and will serve on the President’s Executive Council while continuing to aid the University’s 75+ years of commitment to quality education in a supportive environment.

The University's strategic plan calls for aggressive growth in its non-traditional programs, especially its leading and successful online program.  The VPEM will be asked to play a particularly important role in bringing the best operational and recruitment practices from the for-profit sector, especially on-line recruitment with real-time data driven strategies, call center support, and a strong "sales" orientation.

He or she will oversee a staff of marketing and admissions managers and be responsible for all elements of the successful integration and synchronization of the enrollment process, including setting the organization's student acquisition strategies, execution, and analysis of all lead generation marketing campaigns, and achieving a high level of student matriculation and retention.

Specific responsibilities and expectations include the following—

• Manage the market research and campaign execution process for all of the college's online initiatives in student acquisition, enrollment, and retention
• Create a "plan of action"--a template or process that can be followed for all marketing and enrollment programs, and a strategy summary for each online marketing and enrollment campaign
• Manage a staff of eight direct reports to achieve expected lead generation, enrollment, and retention results for the college's programs
• Create an effective, accountable process for converting leads into enrolled students and for retaining enrolled students
• Manage the Admissions process through the undergraduate, graduate, and international admissions directors to meet or exceed application and registration conversion performance objectives
• Meet/exceed enrollment objectives while controlling marketing and admissions costs
• Direct the strategic development of the SNHU website to integrate the latest technologies, deliver consistent brand image, reach targeted demographics, and improve both the market position of the college and students’ experience
• Conceptualize, develop, and implement online marketing programs geared to students with the ability to prove ROI
• Increase site traffic through marketing opportunities and strategic partnerships, optimization (SEO and media), and affiliate programs
• Compare results of current campaigns to previous campaigns and track term-over-term results; constantly leverage success with one campaign to build the next
• Facilitate seamless execution between the Marketing and Admissions departments
• Hire outstanding performers and build a gold standard enrollment organization
• Bring a sincere openness to relocation to Manchester, New Hampshire, without compelling practical obstacles to making this move in a timely fashion
• Have an MBA or other Master’s degree; a PhD would be a plus

THE CAREER OPPORTUNITY

To an experienced executive with relevant postsecondary marketing and online experience, this opportunity offers several attractive features:

• The opportunity to join a small executive team and have “a seat at the table” as the university charts its future
• The opportunity to drive enrollment growth through the introduction of innovative methods of student acquisition
• The opportunity to work in a fast-growth, high-paced environment with a track record of success
• The opportunity to manage a division of the university that currently numbers more than 30, and to develop executive skills that open up future career opportunities
• The opportunity to live in a thriving, small city environment, and one within an hour of mountains, lakes, beaches, and Boston

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate currently is VP of Enrollment Management, Marketing, Online Marketing, or Marketing and Enrollment for a for-profit (ideal) or not-for-profit college or university with a record of outstanding enrollment growth and student retention and a strong orientation toward non-traditional students (online, continuing education, international, military, and others).
Less optimally, the individual could be in charge of student/customer conversion and retention for (1) a   for-profit K-12 school or (2) some other complex, consumer-focused, intangible service such as health care, day care, financial services, or travel.

S/he should have demonstrated experience in researching and segmenting markets, then creating direct-marketing and enrollment campaigns that not only acquire students but also generate continuous revenues from each student (or other consumer) through retention programs and high-quality service.

Critical to a candidate’s background is a thorough understanding of the process and metrics of acquiring and keeping customers (ideally students) online. This means in-depth knowledge and a stellar track record in market research, online marketing, product management, and CRM software application.

Specifically, this individual has--

• been successful in marketing online education to non-traditional students, including adults, and managing the entire enrollment process from lead generation to retention
• a deep understanding of the latest approaches to lead/inquiry generation, including online marketing, data mining, lead scoring, web optimization, and trademark protection
• strong system and process thinking—the ability to optimize, streamline (especially for students), and improve the student life cycle experience from inquiry through registration to retention
• a data-driven bias towards goal setting, tracking, and accountability
• the ability to train and inspire an admissions team (admissions reps, financial aid, processing, and others) to set and meet aggressive enrollment goals
• deep knowledge of the non-traditional or adult student market
• experience in aggressively growing an organization with an entrepreneurial sensibility
• experience in market research and the ability to identify opportunities for new and/or revised programs
• forward thinking, with a demonstrated ability to assess risks and benefits of innovative enrollment strategies across broad range of market segments (traditional, non-traditional, military, corporate, and others)
• the ability to understand and leverage admissions, financial aid, marketing, advising, faculty interaction, research, and student affairs to coordinate an integrated recruitment and retention process and culture throughout the university
• strong financial and budgeting skills

The new Vice President will have a proven record of successful recruitment outcomes and be able to demonstrate a track record of unique and strategic initiatives as well as a record of leadership characterized by collegiality and integrity.Culturally and temperamentally, the ideal candidate is a team player who believes that individual success flows from the overall success of the organization.
This involves a range of personal attributes-- flexibility and adaptability; a great work ethic; leadership with minimal supervision; an ability to analyze and evaluate one’s own (and other’s) performance and to develop plans to improve performance; excellent presentation skills; willingness to take responsibility for both success and failure—a thick skin; self-confidence and a
positive attitude about self, company, and marketplace; consistent, effective prospecting skills—knowing how to reach decision maker; effective listening and questioning; sincerity, trust, believability and warmth; and a strong desire for success.

SIGNIFICANT LINKS TO COMPANY INFORMATION

SNHU Continues Pursuit of Online Learning in China (Boston Globe)

SNHU Highlighted in Higher Ed and Economy Story

COMPENSATION

Compensation will include salary and bonus in line with the individual’s experience and with his or her peers at SNHU.

TRAVEL

Travel is unlikely to be more than 10 percent.