Hamilton College, a residential, private liberal arts college in upstate New York, invites applications and nominations for the position of executive director of admission.
Reporting to John McLaughlin, Hamilton's newly appointed vice president for enrollment management and dean of admission, the College seeks an exceptional leader to oversee the day-to-day management of Hamilton's admission function. This would include managing all aspects of recruitment and selection, as well as sustaining and improving upon recent successes the College has achieved in removing barriers and attracting record numbers of talented students from across the globe, while at the same time prioritizing the academic quality, diversity, and retention of the institution’s student body. The executive director will be a highly visible leader both on and off campus, and an effective spokesperson for the College.
Responsibilities and Essential Functions:
Strategic Student Recruitment Leader
The executive director of admission will serve as a member of the vice president’s leadership team and should have demonstrated experience in strategic recruitment and enrollment practices. The executive director will manage all admission recruitment, selection, and yield initiatives, and will strategically analyze enrollment data and trends to ensure the Admission Office’s outreach efforts are responsive to changing demographics and are designed to meet the goals of the institution. Working closely with a strong cohort of admission professionals and campus partners, the executive director will oversee the development and implementation of recruitment plans for all targeted populations and will demonstrate a strong commitment to access, equity, and inclusion in all student recruitment initiatives. The successful candidate will lead a best-in-class campus visit program and model excellent service to internal and external constituents.
Hamilton’s executive director of admission should possess a strategic mindset and the ability to analyze admission market and enrollment trends, along with a desire to work closely with the vice president for enrollment management and institutional research, communications and marketing, and institutional technology departments to conceptualize and execute a recruitment plan that is informed by such analysis and designed to meet the College’s objectives.
Hamilton takes seriously its role as one of the most generous colleges in the country and practices a need-blind admission policy for U.S. citizens and permanent residents applying for first-year admission. In addition, Hamilton meets 100% of demonstrated need for every student admitted to the College, regardless of citizenship status. As a member of the enrollment management senior leadership team, the executive director will work closely with the vice president and executive director of financial aid to allocate the College’s generous resources responsibly and effectively and to evaluate their effectiveness in helping Hamilton achieve its goals.
The executive director will represent Hamilton through selective travel, speaking engagements at strategic partner schools and programs, attendance at conferences, and active engagement with professional organizations, and will serve on campus-wide committees and be a visible leader within the larger Hamilton community. Possessing excellent written and oral communication skills, the executive director will represent Hamilton to a variety of internal and external audiences, ranging from prospective students and their families to the College’s Board of Trustees.
Office Management and Staff Cultivation
While engendering a sense of camaraderie, the executive director will inspire, recruit, develop, retain, motivate, and oversee a highly effective full-time admission team of 15, plus seasonal application readers and part-time help as needed. The executive director’s leadership team includes an exceptionally strong and dedicated cohort of associate deans/directors, program directors, and an operations manager. The full admission officer and operations team is talented, committed, and connected to the service of Hamilton’s student population.
The executive director must demonstrate the ability to make good hires, provide excellent training, respectfully manage other managers, and promote professional development through external opportunities and internal coaching and mentorship. In addition to overseeing team members and their individual and collective responsibilities and strategic initiatives.
The executive director must demonstrate a strong commitment to access, equity, and inclusion in management practices and will cultivate a positive team culture for the admission staff and overall enrollment division.
Education and Progressive Experience
The position requires a proven leader with impeccable integrity, outstanding communication skills, innovative thinking, high energy, inclusive and equity mindedness, and excellent managerial ability. The executive director will bring to the role a highly successful record of achievement in admission, a belief in Hamilton’s liberal arts mission, substantial experience with effectively using technology and data to enhance and inform the student recruitment and selection process, and a desire to partner with others across campus. Experience with data analysis and an appreciation and passion for technology, including successful use of enterprise systems and CRMs, are expected; extensive experience using Slate is preferred. The position requires at least eight years of increasingly responsible related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Characteristics and Requirements Desired in a Successful Executive Director of Admission:
- Talented and engaging leader with high energy, strong work ethic, and unquestioned integrity
- Experienced, compassionate, fair, and accessible manager who is an effective motivator and team builder
- Community collaborator with a strong focus on service and excellence
- Demonstrated experience with smart, analytical, strategic, and informed decision making
- A deep understanding of and ability to articulate the merits of a liberal arts education
- Ambitious and goals-driven, while also being efficient, detail-oriented, and pragmatic
- Possesses a desire to knit together the full team with empathy, care, and a sense of humor
- Strong writer and gifted communicator and presenter
- Dedicated to ethical and transparent admission, and values diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all practices
- Financial aid knowledge or experience as it relates to private, liberal arts education is preferred, and an appreciation for working in a need-blind admission environment that also meets the full demonstrated financial need of students is desirable.
Hamilton’s Commitment to Being “A School of Opportunity”
Hamilton has a reputation for being “prestigious but not pretentious,” and offering a long-standing commitment to access and opportunity. More than a dozen years ago, the College made that commitment even more clear. During an economic recession, and when balancing the College’s budget was a top challenge and priority, Hamilton joined roughly four dozen colleges that pledged to be need-blind in admission (meaning a family’s ability to pay will not be a factor in admission decisions) while still meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need. Since that momentous decision, in addition to attracting classes of unprecedented academic ability and talent, Hamilton has set records for applications and selectivity, increased diversity of all kinds, and improved retention. This stance has helped the College attract and retain excellent leaders and teachers who want to be part of an institution that admits and supports the best students. To ensure Hamilton sustains this financial aid promise, the largest component of Hamilton’s recent and most ambitious fundraising campaign was allocated to financial aid endowment. The income earned from scholarship funds in Hamilton’s more than $1.3 billion endowment provides approximately 40% of the College’s financial aid budget.
The College
Guided by the motto “Know Thyself,” Hamilton prepares students for lives of meaning, purpose, and active citizenship. The College’s distinctive open curriculum gives students the freedom to explore their passions while honing critical thinking and communications skills.
Founded more than 200 years ago, Hamilton is both traditional and progressive, having supplemented its focus on teaching students to think independently and communicate clearly. Hamilton offers a co-curricular program that provides internships and other experiential learning and leadership opportunities.
In 2018, the College adopted a five-year strategic plan, which focused the campus on issues ranging from curricular innovation and student success to diversity and inclusion. One of the most ambitious and distinctive outcomes is the implementation of ALEX (Advise, Learn, EXperience), Hamilton’s coordinated advising network tailored for each student’s academic success, career preparation, experiential learning, and personal growth.
Hamilton’s mission to prepare students for lives of meaning, purpose, and active citizenship is inextricably tied to its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Serious intellectual inquiry and informed engagement with an ever-changing world depend on open dialogue among people with differing perspectives and values, and from different backgrounds. Achieving an inclusive, equitable community is of paramount importance. Hamilton is continually striving to make further progress through positive action, change, and growth.
Hamilton’s 20th president, David Wippman, will retire in June 2024 after eight years. During his tenure, President Wippman led significant efforts to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, including hiring Hamilton’s first vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2018, he dedicated a new health and wellness center that greatly expanded programs and resources for student wellbeing. A new Center for Innovative Technologies is in the development phase. Throughout his tenure, he initiated the renovation and refurbishment of important facilities for the humanities, athletics, and recreation. In addition, President Wippman oversaw the development of the Sustainability Action Plan, Climate Action Plan, and the Land and Forest Stewardship Plan, which commit the College to become carbon neutral and reduce waste by 90 percent by 2030.
Hamilton’s 21st president, Steven Tepper, will join the Hamilton community on July 1st, 2024. Dr. Tepper is a nationally recognized leader in creativity and education, currently serving as dean and director of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University (ASU). Tepper brings a wealth of experience and a visionary approach to making creativity and human expression central to learning, discovery, and civic engagement.
Enrollment for Class of 2027
The College received more than 9,600 applications, from all 50 states and 146 countries, for Hamilton’s Class of 2027. The 11.8% admit rate tied the lowest on record for Hamilton, and the yield on admitted students is 40.8%. The Class of 2027 continues the upward trajectory of recent entering cohorts, including ethnic and socioeconomic diversity (29% U.S. students of color, 8.4% international citizens, 18% Pell Grant recipients, and 15% first generation to college). The College’s current financial aid budget of $55.7 million supports roughly half the student body, with an average financial aid award of $54,462. Hamilton’s overall enrollment is roughly 2,000 students from 47 states and 54 countries, with 34% identifying as U.S. students of color or international citizens.
As a residential college, Hamilton has invested more than $236 million in campus facilities during the past decade, with $186 million committed to academic facilities. Students are required to live on campus in one of 29 residence halls or apartment-style housing options, learn in a distinctively attractive open curriculum, and choose from 44 majors (called “concentrations”) and 57 areas of study. Approximately 33% of students participate in 29 NCAA Division III varsity sports as part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Students also engage in 15 club sports and 17 intramural programs, part of roughly 150 clubs and organizations offered at the College, including those focused on volunteerism, religion, public affairs, culture, the media, comedy, music, and performance.
To learn more about Hamilton College, go to https://www.hamilton.edu/.
Location
Hamilton’s 1,350-acre campus is situated on a hilltop overlooking the safe and picturesque village of Clinton, with quaint shops, historic homes, several restaurants, and an award-winning school district. Additional shopping and amenities are located 10 minutes away in New Hartford and Utica (pop. 65,000), which is home to an outstanding regional art museum, the historic 3,000-seat Stanley Theatre, an AHL hockey team, the popular Utica Boilermaker 15k road race, and a rich variety of cultural cuisine. Cooperstown, home to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Fenimore Art Museum, is less than one hour away, and the southern border of the Adirondack Park is about 60 minutes to the northeast where hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, skiing, and snowmobiling are popular. The College is 45 minutes east of Syracuse, 90 minutes west of Albany, three hours from Niagara Falls, and four hours from Boston or New York City.
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation for the position is expected to be between $130,000 and $145,000 depending on experience; consult with the NES search team for insights. To learn about Hamilton College’s outstanding benefits, visit https://www.hamilton.edu/offices/human-resources/benefits
Those employed at Hamilton often cite a caring campus community that fosters long-term appreciation of individuals. The enrollment management division created a “culture club,” which offers social activities during and after work hours for the division’s employees. In addition to providing a competitive benefits package that features robust tuition reimbursement plans and retirement contributions, Hamilton is located in a region with a relatively low cost of living and access to quality child care, including the Clinton Early Learning Center. The College also provides support, at no cost, for relocating employees and their families to the area. M3 Placement & Partnership concentrates and specializes in many aspects of transitioning to Central New York, including work opportunities for the spouses and partners of new Hamilton employees.
To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Hamilton identify the College’s next executive director of admission. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Catherine Capolupo (catherine.capolupo@nessearches.com) or Mary Napier (mary.napier@nessearches.com). All conversations will remain confidential unless otherwise stated and agreed.
Interested candidates should submit a résumé and a letter of interest describing their unique qualifications for the executive director of admission position at Hamilton College. Candidates should also provide the names and contact information of at least five professional references. For confidentiality, references will not be contacted without permission. For best consideration, all application materials should be submitted electronically to hamilton@nessearches.com by June 14, 2024. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is the late summer of 2024.
Hamilton College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an accessible, supportive environment and an educational experience that recognizes diversity in all of its forms and a wide array of cultural experiences as integral components of academic excellence. Candidates who can contribute to those goals are encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths in these areas.
Hamilton’s campus is located on the ancestral and traditional lands of the Oneida Nation. The community commits itself to engaging in solidarity with the Oneida Nation and to ensuring that the perspectives and cultures of Indigenous peoples are honored and embraced.