Executive Dean of Admission (Year-Round)

Job Description

Walk among our towering pines, where the music from over one hundred practice huts invades your senses and lifts your spirits. Count how many nation’s flags you recognize as these symbols of our student’s home countries gently blow in the breeze above an auditorium that plays host to musical superstars. Escape the afternoon doldrums by dropping in on a pottery session, or an improv class, or a Nutcracker rehearsal. Fill your days with passion and purpose that stay with you long after you turn off your office lights. This is not your typical desk job—this is Interlochen.

Position Summary: Interlochen Center for the Arts ("Interlochen" or "ICA"), a national leader among educational, artistic, and cultural organizations, seeks an executive dean of admission. This is an outstanding opportunity for an individual with proven leadership capabilities, strong communication skills, and a track record of strategic, analytic decision making to participate in shaping the future of an extraordinary performing arts boarding school and summer program. The executive dean of admission will work directly with the vice president of enrollment management and marketing to engage in work related to the development of a comprehensive, data driven, and mission focused enrollment management plan and will see the impact of that work, both immediately and long term, embodied in ICA’s vibrant and diverse community.

The executive dean of admission is responsible for enhancing ICA’s position in the marketplace through carefully designed and executed enrollment and admission strategies. ICA will look to its new executive dean to support excellence and understand and communicate to prospective students and families the value of this distinctive educational institution.

• The executive dean of admission oversees a talented team of admission professionals, and will be focused on admitting students based on their artistic, academic, and emotional readiness.

• Under the current structure, direct reports include the dean of admission and financial aid, academy; and the dean of admission & financial aid, summer & auxiliary programs.

• The executive dean will collaborate across campus with leaders to ensure that Interlochen continues to attract outstanding mission-fit students with the potential to become the creative changemakers our world needs.

• A primary focus will be to develop a strong partnership with our provost and our education department.

• This position is responsible for not only recruiting for the Academy, but also for Interlochen’s renowned Arts Camp, as well as being engaged with enrollment activities for Interlochen Online.

• The executive dean will identify opportunities to add student value and expand offerings through feedback from prospective students, parents, and partners. In these efforts, Interlochen will expand its market reach to continue to attract an excellent student body.

• Other duties as assigned.

Experience and Skills

Education: A BA/BS is required; a master’s degree is preferred.

Experience:

• Demonstrated experience in developing strategic admission, financial aid, and retention models with the ability to collect and maintain statistics on enrollment patterns using demographic and geographic analysis and projections. 

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and public relations skills.

• Significant and substantive experience in the leadership and supervision of admission and financial aid professionals.
  

• Experience working in a boarding school, independent day school, or higher education setting is strongly preferred.

• Proven ability to analyze, summarize, and present data to various constituencies, including faculty, staff, students, and families; comfort in acting as a spokesperson for the Interlochen Arts Academy and Interlochen Arts Camp at both the national and international levels.

• Expertise in local, national, and international enrollment trends and fluency with policies and practices in financial aid; familiarity with emerging issues in secondary school education.

• Substantial experience with diverse students, faculty, and communities and a record of creating and executing strategies aimed at building an inclusive and welcoming campus culture.

• Familiarity with software systems that support recruitment, including Salesforce, admission review, and financial aid management.

Equipment Familiarity: Familiarity with software systems that support recruitment, including Salesforce, admission review, and financial aid management; as well as experience with Mac Laptop, Google Suite, MS Office Suite.

Certifications, Licenses or Special Training:

• Must meet and maintain background screening requirements as detailed in policy 12.HR.01 Pre-Employment and Employee Background Checks.

• Valid driver’s license and driving record that meets the eligibility requirements of ICA’s insurance carrier (for all positions requiring driving).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent organizational and communication skills; a high-energy leader adept at building consensus and affecting change.

• A data-driven decision maker.

• The ideal candidate will be an admission and financial aid professional with a collegial leadership style, strong intellect, and robust capacity for critical thinking. Experience and core expertise in designing and coordinating enrollment and financial aid management processes is essential.

Physical Demands:

Physical: Primary functions require sufficient physical ability and mobility to work in an office setting; to stand or sit for prolonged periods of time; to occasionally stoop, bend, kneel, crouch, reach, and twist; to lift, carry, push, and/or pull light to moderate amounts of weight (up to 35lbs); to operate office equipment requiring repetitive hand movement and fine coordination including use of a computer keyboard; to travel to other locations using various modes of private and commercial transportation, and to verbally communicate to exchange information.

Vision: See in the normal visual range with or without correction.

Hearing: Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement:

To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Regular, acceptable attendance for work (excluding excused absences and periods of leave) is an essential function of the job and must be maintained to be successful. Reasonable accommodations that do not cause undue hardship may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. Employees who wish to request an accommodation or assistance are responsible for notifying the Organization of their request and engaging in interactive communication with ICA to determine available options

Work Environment:

Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment with extensive internal and external stakeholder contact.

Application Materials Required:

• Resume
• A one to two-page cover letter
• Names and contact information of three references

Safeguarding our students, guests, and employees is a valued mission within Interlochen Center for the Arts. As a condition of employment, Interlochen Center for the Arts requires all new hires to receive various vaccinations, including the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, barring an approved exemption. Prior to beginning employment, all employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and all new hires will be required to submit proof of vaccination prior to their start date.

Job Benefits

• Health, dental and vision insurance
• Employer paid and voluntary life insurance
• Employer paid short and long-term disability
• Employee development & tuition reimbursement program
• Sick Time and Paid Time Off
• Paid holidays
• Employee discounts to Interlochen events and performances 

Pitter Patter Preschool & Childcare: Interlochen is proud to provide priority placement at Pitter Patter Preschool & Childcare located in the Interlochen Community Center, near our campus, for employees' dependents. In addition, Interlochen employees may be eligible for the MI Tri-Share Program. This program shares the cost of childcare between the state of Michigan, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and the employee (The employee will only pay 1/3 of the total cost, if eligible). Income guidelines and more information about MI Tri-Share can be found at https://www.michigan.gov/mwc/initiatives/mi-tri-share-child-care.

Interlochen Center for the Arts provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion (religious creed), age, disability status, genetics, pregnancy, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
EEOC Voluntary Self-Identification of Protected Veteran Status
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.