Vice President for Enrollment Management

Vice President for Enrollment Management

January 2015

Vice President for Enrollment Management

The University of Southern Maine (USM), with three campuses in Portland, Gorham, and Lewiston-Auburn College, seeks an accomplished and visionary leader for the position of Vice President for Enrollment Management (VPEM). The VPEM reports directly to the President, David T. Flanagan, sits on the President’s Cabinet, and is a senior member of a new leadership team that is charged to transform and strengthen USM as it relates to operating with academic distinction in support of USM’s students and communities; to supporting engaged teaching, learning, scholarship, creation, and service, and to supporting accessible and affordable transformative higher education for USM’s students.

The VPEM will serve as the USM lead recruitment, admissions, retention, and registration officer. S/he will bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the design, creation, and success of an aggressive, innovative, student focused, and strategic enrollment management process and will set recruitment and retention goals and measure team success based on the University leadership revenue goals.

The University of Southern Maine

Campus Locations

USM is a university where creativity and fresh ideas flourish, inspired by the beauty and variety of Maine. Each of the three environmentally friendly campuses is unique, yet all share the extensive resources of the university -- with plenty of Husky pride to go around. Students find resources and student life activities at their fingertips on each campus.

Typically, USM students enrolled in programs from the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the College of Science, Technology and Health; and the College of Management and Human Service attend classes in both Gorham and Portland. They enjoy an easy commute between the two campuses on a free, energy-efficient USM shuttle bus, complete with Wi-Fi. Students enrolled in programs from the Lewiston-Auburn College commute and typicallyattend classes only on the Lewiston-Auburn campus.

From Portland’s lively Old Port to Lewiston’s vibrant arts district to Gorham’s friendly village center, each close-knit campus community offers a different flavor of Maine to experience and enjoy.

·  The Portland campus is located in “one of America’s most livable cities,’’ according toForbesmagazine, which also ranks Portland among the top 10 for job prospects. And it’s nationally known as a “foodie” hot spot!

·  The Gorham campus is home to six Living-Learning Communities and six Residential Communities, or special interest housing options, including outdoor adventure, international living, the arts, and academic programs such as our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) community.

·  The Lewiston campus, home to USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College, fits right in with the area’s lively arts scene with its Atrium Gallery where regular exhibits highlight outstanding Maine artists.

Maine’s Metropolitan University

At the University of Southern Maine, we extend the academic experience well beyond our classroom walls. We encourage our students to engage deeply with our faculty, our community partners, and our wide network of USM alumni, many of who have remained in Maine long after graduation.

USM faculty and alumni are helping to strengthen the fabric of Maine by contributing to its social and economic vitality, supporting our higher education goals, and opening doors for the next generation. Providing opportunities to participate, discover, learn, create, and make a difference is central to who we are as Maine’s Metropolitan University™. With three campuses located within the state’s most populous regions, USM offers students a chance to get involved at a level that’s hard to match at other public universities in Maine.

The University of Southern Maine was an early member of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), which formed in 1989. The members of CUMU, today numbering nearly 100, share a purposeful commitment to the place in which each resides, an abiding engagement and a mutually beneficial relationship with their communities and the needs of those communities. This is, and has long been, the mission of the University of Southern Maine. Our community partners include state and local government, global businesses, top-rated teaching hospitals, Double-A and Development League sports teams, performing arts venues, and dozens of other organizations in the largest metropolitan areas in Maine. These partnerships provide our students with rewarding hands-on learning experiences through research and fieldwork, internships, and public service projects. They work on real-world issues, engage in complex problem solving, and give back in ways that shape their careers as well as their communities.

Last year, nearly 5,000 students contributed over 370,000 hours of service to regional businesses and non-profit organizations, valued at more than $6.2 million. These valuable connections have made direct and positive differences in our students’ lives and in the lives of others. Whether our students find themselves on our Portland, Gorham, or Lewiston-Auburn College campuses, they will find themselves here at USM.

Leadership

President David T. Flanagan

David T. Flanagan, a lifelong citizen of Maine, has had a remarkably diverse career of service in higher education, private business, government, and non-profit organization leadership. He has specialized in handling complex problems, addressing difficult turnaround situations, and managing emergencies in all of these sectors.He served as a member (1986-1995) and chairman (1991-2) of the University of Maine System (USM) Board of Trustees (BOT), leading it through a major recession while preserving and consolidating the advances recommended by the Strider/Muskie commission. In 2009, he was asked by the Board of Trustees to chair the New Challenges, New Directions task force on the future of USM. The subsequent report, and his analysis of the financial risks to the university and the need to find efficiencies and new opportunities for growth were prescient.David served a term on the board of Thomas College, a small, private academic institution in Waterville. Additionally, he served internationally, as a board member (1993-2011), chairman (2004-8), and council member (2011-present) of the American University in Bulgaria, a highly successful new school established by the US government in the post-communist Balkans with the help of the University of Maine System. Until this appointment, he served as chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Muskie School of Public Service at USM (2008-2014), where he chaired the External Review committee on restructuring (2013).

In addition to his public service, he has worked professionally in both law and business. A partner at Pierce Atwood and then CEO of Central Maine Power (CMP), he has faced demanding challenges. Of significant note, David managed CMP at a time of deregulation, declining market share, and financial uncertainty. His leadership during this time, and during the 1998 ice storm, benefitted the company and the state of Maine.

In government, he worked on major problems involving the spruce budworm epidemic and the restoration of public reserved lands to public control. As Chief Counsel for Governor Brennan he worked on economic development initiatives and balancing the budget without increasing taxes, among other major projects. While serving as General Counsel to the US Senate Homeland Security Committee, he worked on the investigation of the federal government’s poor response to Hurricane Katrina.

In the non-profit sector, he is currently working as a member of the Board of the Harold Alfond Foundation. David chaired the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy during a period of rapid growth. Additionally, he led, along with his wife, Kaye, a major fundraising effort for a pre-k education center in Augusta for children with disabilities.

David was educated at Bangor, Hamden, and Portland, Maine public schools,Harvard College BA '69; University of London (England), King's College MA '70;Boston College Law School JD '73.He is a member of the bars of Maine, the US District Court, and the US Supreme Court. He currently resides in Manchester, Maine with his wife Kaye, who is also active in the civic life of the state.

Portland, Maine

All three campuses are located near metropolitan Portland. It is a diverse, creative, and beautiful city that has frequently been listed as one of American’s top cities to live, work, play, and visit. Portland is a very livable city whether you want to be a part of an active urban environment or a small residential neighborhood; Portland boasts lifestyles that appeal to everyone. From market rate condos to artist live-work spaces, single-family homes to affordable housing and rentals, mixed use developments and college dorms all are found throughout the city. Arts, educational, entertainment, business, and cultural opportunities, a wide range of faith based institutions, outstanding medical care, outdoor amenities, and much more are a part of the Portland Community.

Portland is the largest city in the state of Maine and the Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over a million people, more than one-third Maine’s total population. Tourists visit Portland’s historic Old Port district along Portland Harbor and the Arts District, which is located along Congress Street, in the center of the City. Portland is believed to have the most restaurants per capita of any city in the United States and has developed a national reputation for the quality of its restaurants. In 2009, Portland was named the “Foodiest Small Town in America by Bon Appétit magazine and was featured in the New York Times as a food destination. Many local chefs have gained national attention over the past few years.

The Position – Vice President for Enrollment Management

The Vice President for Enrollment (VPEM) serves as the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) lead recruitment, admissions, retention, and registration officer. This position will be expected to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the design, creation, and success of an aggressive, innovative, student focused, and strategic enrollment management process to USM. The VPEM will set recruitment and retention goals and measure team success based on the University leadership revenue goals. The VPEM will embrace and utilize USM’s position as Maine’s Metropolitan University to attract, engage, and retain students; The University is engaged in improving our communities through teaching, learning, and productive, mutually respectful and beneficial engagement.

The VPEM will take a strategic leadership role in partnering with faculty and staff across the campus to achieve enrollment goals and to help provide a seamless organizational structure, ensuring an integrated and fully aligned student pathway fromrecruitment to graduation. The VPEM will serve as a member of the Management Group, the President’s Cabinet, and on campus committees as designated by the President.

The Opportunities for the VP for Enrollment Management

·  Setting and meeting university enrollment and retention goals while committing to a student-centered, community engaged culture that continually improves all services to students;

·  Increasing the use of technology and data to more effectively advance the productivity and success of Recruitment, Admission and Registration, Advising, and all other VPEM areas to realize enrollment and retention objectives;

·  Developing and implementing enrollment forecast models, in close collaboration with the Director of Recruitment and Admission, that are based on data-informed decision making and a structured, aggressive enrollment plan;

·  In collaboration with the Office of institutional Research and Assessment and the Office of the Provost, consistently providing results and strategy reporting in response to forecasts and retention data and lead action to nimbly adapt and change as conditions demand;

In the Area of Recruitment and Admissions:

·  Providing leadership that assists the Recruitment and Admission area in creating a model for best practices in the recruitment of students;

·  Motivating University constituencies (staff, faculty, alumni, and students) to support University recruitment and enrollment efforts;

·  Providing strategic, creative leadership to recruitment efforts and initiatives with the expectation of meeting or exceeding goals;

·  Advocating for diversity and inclusiveness;

·  Improving yield rates for accepted students;

·  Collaborating with Marketing and Public Affairs to foster a brand awareness for the University of Southern Maine, to support competitive positioning of USM’s brand, and to celebrate its position as Maine’s Metropolitan University;

·  Collaborating with the Office of the Provost and others to assure that the University of Southern Maine offers an exceptional, student-focused, in demand learning opportunity that meets students’ needs and expectations.

Financial Aid

·  Providing leadership to Financial Aid to assure competitive financial aid packages are available for all prospective, qualified students;

·  Collaborating with the Office of the CFO on matters of Financial Aid.

Academic Advising

·  Providing leadership for a revised, strategic direction for USM Academic Advising models to ensure improved retention and improved persistence, especially in first year students;

·  Ensuring that all students are connected early and consistently to and engaged with their faculty, their programs, their majors, their peers, and their community;

·  Overseeing increased usage of and resourcing for the Learning Commons and or other academic and tutoring resources to overturn non-persistence in several targeted areas.

Engaged Learning and Career Development

·  Providing leadership over the new, collaborative Office of Engaged Learning and Career Development to assure that USM students are socially embedded in our community and provided with opportunities and connections that will allow for transformative learning and fulfilling post-education employment.

Registration

·  Providing leadership on the strategic direction of the Office of the University Registrar;

·  Providing leadership that assists the Registrar area in creating a model for best practices in registration and student records and transcripts- a model that is intuitive, non-complex, and offers opportunity for self-service and other delivery modalities;

·  Understanding the utilization of technology to best advance the goals of the Registrar’s Office and to best advance a student-centered culture.

Student Life

·  Providing leadership to the Office of the Dean of Students that:

o  Assists in collaborating and aligning student activities with all other campus activities and constituencies that impact student recruitment and retention;

o  Assists in supporting a safe and healthy student environment;

o  Assists in supporting the development of the whole person by fostering an awareness of lifelong learning and promoting the development of skills for effective citizenship in a diverse world; and in support of promoting a vibrant intellectual climate that offers an active and inclusive community.