Website: www.snhu.ed
“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.”
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.
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
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—
To an experienced executive with relevant postsecondary marketing and online experience, this opportunity offers several attractive features:
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--
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.
Compensation will include salary and bonus in line with the individual’s experience and with his or her peers at SNHU.
Travel is unlikely to be more than 10 percent.