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Director of Pre-College ProgramsOverview
As part of a mission-driven institution, University College (UC) at Tufts University strives to make education accessible to all, fostering learning and engagement across a wide spectrum of audiences. UC is committed to expanding access to Tufts and transforming the lives of diverse learners across generations through innovative and high-quality educational opportunities, career acceleration, and community connections. Since our school's establishment in 2018, UC has experienced rapid growth and is planning significant expansion, including a variety of new professional non-credit credentials, high school programs, and new degrees, all while broadening access to Tufts’ exceptional educational offerings. UC currently offers a variety of educational content through Tufts Pre-College Programs, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the new Center for Professional and Workforce Impact. Operating in a dynamic environment, UC is positioned to become a leading presence in the greater Boston area in the next 5 years. Visit universitycollege.tufts.edu to learn more.
This position will support the Tufts Pre-College Programs team within University College. Their mission is to provide high school students with access to Tufts-quality education, enriching their academic journey while fostering early engagement with the Tufts academic community. Tufts Pre-College Program offerings are dynamic and continually evolving, offering residential, commuter, and virtual options, across a variety of subject areas. Current offerings include short, intensive programs in the spring and summer, as well as hallmark courses, and accelerator seminars designed to give high school students an immersive college experience both academically and socially. All programs are developed and taught by Tufts faculty and staff and are supported by the dedicated University College Pre-College team.
The Director of Pre-College Programs owns and implements the strategy for serving students through pre-college programs and other educational offerings at Tufts University. Designed to reflect the distinctive strengths of Tufts and supported by market research into the competitive landscape, University College (UC) Pre-College Programs introduce students to new fields of interest and study while allowing them to sample the college experience before embarking on their own college and career journey. The programs include commuter, residential, and virtual modalities, summer sessions, spring, fall, and winter terms, and courses during the academic year. The Director is responsible for collaborating closely with UC’s leadership team, school-level leadership and directors, faculty, administrators, support units across the university, and external stakeholders.
What You'll Do
The Director is responsible for overseeing the 20+ programs (serving 1,500+ students) and working with stakeholders across the university to identify strategic opportunities to design and implement new programs that will further grow enrollment by responding to the needs of pre-college students. The Director is responsible for meeting enrollment and financial goals, for overseeing all program-related hiring, for developing and managing the overall budget for the pre-college team and for the individual programs, for employing analytics and tracking mechanisms to report on performance, facilitating complex operations with external vendors (residential life, health insurance, etc) and matrixed internal units, and for constantly iterating to improve performance.
Working with Associate Directors, Assistant Director for Residential Operations, and Program Administrators, who are direct reports, the Director oversees daily operations of the team and its programs and designs and implements workflow process for student recruitment and enrollment. The Director works with the UC Partnership Development Director to help to source partnerships with organizations that provide scholarships in support of UC’s accessibility and diversity goals. The Director works with the rest of University College as a team player, is ready to help where needed, solves problems, and works toward the greater good of the University as a whole. The Director must have the ability to manage and evaluate competing priorities and to execute the day-to-day operations while working collaboratively across the school and larger university to advance broader strategic goals. The Director gets things done, has an all-hands-on-deck mentality, and is comfortable having clear performance targets and being measured against them on a regular basis.
Essential Functions:
• Own the development and operation of pre-college programs that help students identify with and prepare for a transformative college experience while meeting established financial and academic goals of the schools and University College. Ideate and develop strategies for new and innovative courses and programs that drive enrollment growth. • Own and meet the net revenue and enrollment targets for all programs. Develop and implement marketing and enrollment management plans to meet goals in partnership with the UC Marketing team. Develop and implement operating plans to ensure high-quality experiences for program participants. Lead the development of budgets and other functional planning scenarios (e.g., hiring) to meet net revenue targets and use analytics to report on and improve performance. • Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with academic departments, faculty, student life staff, advisors, and administrative units. Work collaboratively with the rest of the University College leadership and staff. • Lead systems integration efforts (using Slate, Destiny One/EE, SIS and financial systems) for Pre-College operations within University systems, working with internal departments and external partners. • Manage efforts in collaboration with Registrar/Bursar to manage financial processing and process improvement. • Coordinate with UC Marketing team to manage Pre-College website and marketing systems integrations and reporting - including collaborations with marketing vendors and Tufts internal teams. • Source, develop, negotiate, and establish contract with external Pre-College Residential Life vendor. Oversee management of relationship with vendor, including year-round planning, after action reviews, and strategic planning. • Oversee coordination efforts for Tufts Conference and Events Services, Pre-College residential life vendor, and all other Tufts operational departments associated with residential life, supporting planning and implementation of daily residential operations for on-campus programs. • Strategically request, work with, understand, and draw implications from data to assess and refine programs through continuous improvement processes. • Be an effective manager of direct and indirect reports, as well as the individual program contacts and other support staff.
What We're Looking For
Please include a cover letter with your application for this position.
Basic Requirements:
• Masters’s degree and 7-10 years’ experience in educational program leadership, development, and operations, including 5+ years in a leadership-level role, and including direct staff supervision. • Demonstrated success related to business and financial skills, project and program management skills, facility with enrollment system and technology management and configuration, relationship management skills, communication skills, and engaging with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Higher education or Pre-College Programming experience.
Pay Range
