Senior Associate Director for Campus Visits & First Year Experience

Job Description

Job Description

The Senior Associate Director for Campus Visits and First Year Experience is a senior member of the enrollment and student experience leadership team responsible for the development, and execution of a comprehensive campus visit and event experience for prospective students and families and is responsible for the coordination of orientation and first-year programs. This role provides leadership for the daily operations of the campus visit program, supervises professional enrollment staff and student ambassadors, and ensures an innovative, welcoming, and high-impact experience across all recruitment and matriculation touchpoints. The Senior Associate Director leads the planning and delivery of on campus and virtual recruitment programming for all prospective, admitted, and enrolled students, oversees front line campus experience operations in Alumni Hall and other event locations, and uses institutional data and assessment to continually enhance the visitor experience. This position also leads the institution's ZeeMee social engagement platform strategy to strengthen digital engagement and yield throughout the enrollment funnel. 

Salary: $65,000-$70,000 annually

Essential Job Functions/Primary Responsibilities:
Leadership & Supervisrion:

• Provide direct supervision, mentoring, and professional development for enrollment staff members assigned to campus visits, events, and campus experience operations.
• Recruit, hire, train, schedule, and supervise all student ambassadors and front desk student staff; provide ongoing coaching, performance evaluation, and leadership development opportunities.
• Oversee staffing plans and daily coverage for the front desk and lobby operations to ensure a consistently high-quality visitor experience.
• Oversee cross-campus communication for visit programming, ensuring timely and consistent information is shared with campus constituents to support a seamless and welcoming guest experience.
• Attend all Student Experience team meetings.

Campus Visits & Events Strategy:

• Develop, coordinate, and implement an annual calendar of on-campus and virtual recruitment events including Open Houses, Accepted Student Days, counselor programs, and specialty visit programs.
• Partner with Deans, faculty, Student Experience units, and enrollment colleagues each year to assess prior cycles, recommend improvements, and design future programming aligned with institutional priorities.
• Create and refine programs, policies, and workflows that ensure exceptional service and a seamless experience for individual visitors, families, and group visits.
• Serve as the primary institutional contact for all admissions-related visits and events, acting as liaison with prospective students and families, faculty, staff, alumni, presenters, vendors, and campus partners.
• Coordinate all aspects of daily visit programming, including individual visits, high school and special group visits, information sessions, counselor experiences, virtual visits, and specialty programming.
• Collaborate closely with specialty enrollment areas (arts, international, transfer, graduate, financial aid) to design tailored visit and event opportunities that support recruitment goals.
• Work in partnership with Summer Programs and other campus units to expand visit opportunities for students both on and off campus.

Orientation & First-Year Experience:

• Design, implement, and evaluate comprehensive orientation programs to welcome and acclimate new students and families, including Fall and Spring Orientations.
• Collaborate with campus partners to ensure programming addresses academic, social, and cultural aspects of the college experience.
• Oversee logistics, including scheduling, communications, and event execution for both orientations.
• Oversee the creation and implementation of the Pre-Orientation Canvas Course and ensure new students complete the course.
• Lead efforts to support student transition from deposit to matriculation, coordinating outreach, engagement, and onboarding experiences to enhance student connection and preparedness.
• Serve as a main point of contact/concierge for all deposited undergraduate students prior to their arrival on campus for their first semester. 
• Collaborate with the Center for Student Involvement and Student Experience unit on programming for first- year students.
• Coordinate and lead the Orientation Planning Committee and serve on the Retention Council.
• Assess the effectiveness of welcome activities to ensure they foster engagement and retention.
• Use data to inform decision-making and enhance the student transition experience.
• Act as an advocate for new students, ensuring their needs are represented in institutional planning and decision-making.

Assesments, Data & Continous Improvement:

• Analyze visit and event participation data, survey feedback, yield, and orientation program outcomes to evaluate effectiveness and inform strategic enhancements.
• Regularly assess tour messaging, tour routes, presentation content, and visitor flow to ensure consistency, accuracy, and strong institutional storytelling.
• Maintain and update admissions presentation materials and digital content to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with enrollment messaging.
• Oversee and maintain the Campus Visit Portal and registration systems for admissions and orientation events, ensuring timely updates and strong user experience.

Social Engagement Platform Leadership:

• Serve as the institutional lead for the ZeeMee social engagement platform, developing and executing a strategy to enhance admitted student engagement, community building, and yield.
• Supervise staff and student moderators supporting ZeeMee engagement, content creation, and community management.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, and Enrollment Operations to align Zee Mee strategy with recruitment campaigns, communications flow, and institutional branding.
• Analyze engagement data and outcomes to assess impact and recommend enhancements to digital engagement strategies.

Operations & Collaboration:

• Work closely with Marketing and Communications and Enrollment Operations to promote all visits, events, and engagement initiatives across channels and to execute a communication plan for deposited and enrolled new students.
• Work closely with the Student Experience unit and participate in leadership team meetings, retreats, and campus traditions.
• Oversee lobby operations and front desk appearance; manage supplies, hospitality services, and visitor amenities to ensure a welcoming environment.
• Manage assigned budgets related to visits, events, hospitality, and student staffing, ensuring effective stewardship of resources.
• Present admissions information sessions on-campus, off-campus, and virtually as needed.
• Provide backup support for the main admissions phone line and front-line services as necessary.
• Pursue ongoing professional development and remain current with national trends and best practices in campus visits, events, enrollment engagement, and orientation and first year programs.

Qualifications-Education & Experience,  Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Progressive experience in admissions, enrollment management, campus visits, orientation and first-year programs, or student experience, with demonstrated supervisory experience.
• Strong leadership and staff supervision skills, with experience managing professional staff and student employees.
• Excellent organizational, project management, and customer service skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with faculty, staff, students, families, and senior leadership.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a collaborative and student-centered approach.
• Demonstrated experience in program planning, implementation, and assessment.
• Creative problem solver with strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities in high-pressure environments.
• Working knowledge of Slate and CRM systems preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including inclusive hiring, training, and supervision of student staff.
• Formal Education:
  • Bachelor's Degree required; Master's Degree in higher education, student affairs, or related field preferred. 
• Experience:
  • ​​​​​​​ Successful candidate will have at least three+ years of event coordination and customer service experience, ideally in a higher education capacity. 
• Essential Functions:
  • ​​​​​​​With or without reasonable accommodations the incumbent must be able to read and write and speak the English language at a college level, be capable of performing sometimes complex mathematical calculations, statistical calculations and other higher mathematical operations, must be able to communicate with all levels of the institution in written and spoken form. The individual must be able to work independently. The ability to maintain regular and prompt attendance is essential to the successful performance of this position. Other essential functions may be required. A valid driver's license is required. 

Physical Enviroment
The position may require the incumbent to walk outdoors in all types of weather to other buildings or offices located on the campus. The Campus is located in an area that contains numerous hills and slopes and may not always be fully accessible for mobility impaired individuals. 

 

Alfred University actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee, student or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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