Admissions Counselor

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $67,300 - $71,750

Position Summary

The Admissions Counselor works closely with the Associate Director, Recruitment and Admissions and other members of the admissions team to develop actionable goals and execute strategies that drive application growth and support the goal of yielding the most highly qualified students. Provides exemplary support throughout the enrollment process to the Master’s degree students within the School’s diverse portfolio of programs. The Admissions Counselor will focus on a portfolio of Master’s degree programs, while having an understanding of all of the programs offered by SPS. While the Admissions team will support all SPS programs, each Admissions Counselor specializes in a few discrete programs, providing backup support for others as needed. Admissions Counselors may also serve on the Admissions Committee for the programs they support, evaluating applications for admissions consideration.

Responsibilities

• Research, recommend and execute for program-specific and School-wide recruitment opportunities to increase the number of highly qualified applications to assigned portfolio of programs.
• Represent programs and SPS by attending local, regional, and national graduate recruitment and career fairs, disciplinary conferences, campus events, face-to-face and online informational sessions.
• Schedule, manage and execute all logistics for information sessions and recruitment events for assigned portfolio of programs including but not limited to coordination of speakers, hosting session, communications and event analysis.
• Design and cultivate an exceptional prospective student experience across from initial point of contact (proactive and reactive) through commitment by leveraging SPS and Columbia - wide resources and developing a strong communications plan.
• Track, analyze and report on prospective student engagement utilizing the CRM and templates to identify trends, collaborate with other teams on necessary and new initiatives to enhance the prospective student experience and increase conversion across the admissions pipeline.
• Maintain a close collaborative relationship with academic and marketing team members to ensure that recruiting, admissions, and communications initiatives align with program, department and School goals.
• Track and provide feedback regarding the effectiveness of recruitment and marketing efforts in attracting high quality prospective students and applicants, and the overall quality of the prospect and applicant pools to relevant admissions, marketing and academic team stakeholders.
• Ensure prospect-facing content for the assigned programs is clear, current, and drives the desired action. Proactively recommend content changes to the website, communications, and collateral based on the synthesis and analysis of prospect and applicant questions and feedback.
• Serve as a member of the Admissions Committee for assigned programs, reading applications and making admissions decision recommendations to the academic directors for the programs in their portfolio, and back-up programs.
• Partner with the advising team to create effective yield management plans for assigned programs, and assist in coordination of and participation at yield events.
• Assist with schoolwide student events such as orientation, graduation, admitted student events, and fairs.

PERFORMS OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED OR REQUESTED

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent related experience required
• 2 years related work experience 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in admissions, recruitment or academic advising
• Familiarity with SPS program offerings
• Proficient in Slate
• Project planning and management

Other Requirements

• Strong communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills (verbal and written), and experience presenting in small group and large group settings, and to a variety of audiences, including individuals in positions of influence
• Intellectual curiosity, sound problem-solving and decision-making abilities, and strength in creative and innovative thinking
• High energy and passion for recruiting
• Proficiency with Google suite, Windows, Microsoft Word, Power Point and Excel required. Slate experience is a plus
• Ability to work mornings, evenings, and weekends, as needed
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25%
• Exceptional attention to detail, strong organization and time management skills, and the ability to perform non-routine work with changing priorities
• Ability to handle confidential information in a mature, professional manner
• Must be able to work with a diverse student body, faculty and administrators
• Experience in a fast-paced student or client service-oriented environment
• Ability to work independently as well as in teams in a highly-matrixed environment, receiving direction from and providing support to multiple sources
• Sound problem-solving and decision-making abilities, both as an independent entity, and as part of a team

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.