Director of Graduate Program Operations

Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning. Founded in 1852, Wartburg College is a selective liberal arts college internationally recognized for its community engagement and academic excellence.
 
The institution is at an exciting moment as it embarks upon “Our Brightest Days: Realizing Purpose, Leading Change,” the College’s new strategic plan. As indicated in the newly adopted vision statement, “Wartburg College is called to be the leading institution in education of the whole person. Together, we create an inclusive community combining diverse curricular and co-curricular experiences to prepare students to be resilient leaders of positive change through service in a complex world.”
 
Building on the College’s newly launched Master of Arts and Graduate Leadership Certificate, an institutional priority is the exploration and implementation of additional graduate programs in areas of institutional distinction and market appeal.
 
Located in northeast Iowa, Waverly is an extraordinary "gigabit" community of more than 10,000 residents in the Cedar Valley metro near Waterloo and Cedar Falls, with an abundance of cultural, musical, and recreational opportunities. Major Midwest metropolitan areas within driving distance include Des Moines, Iowa (2.5 hours); Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. (3 hours); Madison, Wis. (3.5 hours); Rochester, Minn. (2 hours); Chicago (5 hours); and Omaha, Neb. (4 hours). The Wartburg Community is committed to creating and maintaining a mutually respectful environment that recognizes and celebrates diversity among all students, faculty, and staff.  As an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution, Wartburg College actively seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups.
 
 
Function of Position:
Responsible to the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for policy and process development and implementation; strategic communication deployment and graduate student recruitment; community outreach and event planning; program and student support. This position provides direction in proposing and implementing necessary infrastructure to support graduate programs and graduate studies.
                                                                             
Principal duties and responsibilities:
 

1. Collaborate in the development of a multi-year strategic plan for graduate studies including recommendations of infrastructure and policy needs.

1. Create and implement policies that support graduate student recruitment and success, including:
   • Processes and policies for in-person graduate assistant model, collaborating with Human Resources, Financial Aid, Residential Living, Business Office, and other relevant departments.
   • Collect/coordinate graduate assistant descriptions.
   • Maintain and update Graduate Calendar.
   • Develop Graduate Student Handbook.
   • Research best practice and make recommendations for graduate student success infrastructure.

1. Deploy strategic communications for graduate student recruitment.

• Create and implement strategic outreach efforts to organizations that may be interested in the Learning Alliance Program including maintaining agreements and expectations; serve as primary point of contact.
• Develop and implement social media plans to promote the MA in Leadership, Leadership Minor and other Institute for Leadership Education and graduate programs.
• Deploy strategic recruitment strategies around the following programs.
  • Leadership and Service Summit – college and high school students
  • Baldwin Leadership Fellows
  • Leadership Minor students
• Coordinate announcements for The Juice, Knightline and other communication outlets.
• Research/benchmark trends in graduate student recruitment and make recommendations for recruitment strategy adaptation based on findings.
• Collect experiences of students currently within the graduate program to help translate into marketing materials.
• Serve as initial point of contact for prospective graduate students.
  • Purchase names and manage lists of prospective students.
  • Create and launch strategic email campaigns utilizing campus software.
  • Call prospective students
  • Send mailings

1. Community Outreach and Event Planning

• Schedule and promote informational webinars.
• Coordinate visits to campus by prospective students or partner organization (example Leadership Iowa)
• Coordinate logistics associated with MA recruitment events (examples include Grad Finale, Career Fairs, Leadercast sponsorship, DisruptHR and other Cedar Valley events) and webinars.
• Represent the program at career fairs, visit days, on Zoom webinars, and with other presentations.
• Support the Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership Education with on-the-ground logistics of Baldwin Leadership Fellow Events, Leadership and Service Summit and Community Builders program.

• Oversee organization and logistics of leadership events such as graduate student hooding ceremony, end-of-year celebrations/banquets and student conferences.

1. Program Support

• Engage with graduate applicants in collecting materials to ensure completed application files.
• Track student engagement in various recruitment programs; determine strategies for integrating data into other campus information systems such as CRM.

• Communicate professionally to answer phone calls, schedule meetings, and respond to student and professional inquiries.
• Coordinate and manage databases and reports for graduate programs.
• Coordinate with Business Office and Financial Aid Office on student tuition rates.

1. Student Support

• Assist with student onboarding processes such as access to campus systems, Canvas access, etc.
• Assist in recruitment, training and supervision of student employees.
• Provide in-person advisement support of students.

1. Other duties as assigned.