Ohio Northern University, an independent, selective, comprehensive university located in Northwest, Ohio, announces the search for a strategic Vice President for Enrollment Management (VPEM). The Vice President for Enrollment Management serves as a key member of the President’s Cabinet, reporting directly to the President. This senior leadership role provides strategic oversight and direction for all enrollment management operations, ensuring alignment with the University’s mission, financial objectives, and commitment to building an academically strong and multi-talented student body.
THE POSITION
The VPEM is responsible for leading the University’s enrollment strategy, encompassing student recruitment, admissions, financial aid, and enrollment planning. Working collaboratively, the Vice President drives initiatives to meet or exceed enrollment targets, achieve net tuition revenue goals, and enhance the quality and breadth of applicant pools. Through collaborative partnerships across the University, especially with the Vice President for Financial Affairs (VPFA), the Provost, Deans, and the Athletic Director, the VPEM ensures a coordinated, data-driven approach to recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from varied backgrounds.
PRINCIPAL DUTIES and ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The principal duties and essential responsibilities for the Vice President for Enrollment Management include the following:
Strategic Enrollment Management & Goal Achievement
- Target & Revenue Realization: Lead University-wide enrollment strategies across all academic programs to consistently meet institutional student headcounts and net tuition revenue goals.
- Forward-Looking Financial Alignment: Partner with executive leadership, the VPFA, and the Board of Trustees to align operational budgets, financial aid policies, and pricing models with long-term financial planning and accessibility objectives.
Data-Driven Decision Making
- Predictive Analytics & Forecasting: Utilize data-driven modeling, market trends, and pricing forecasts to evaluate program performance, refine recruitment strategies, and deliver actionable enrollment insights to key stakeholders.
- Compliance & Operational Optimization: Maintain rigorous data systems to evaluate outcomes while ensuring total regulatory compliance across federal and state admissions and financial aid guidelines.
Collaborative Recruitment & Retention
- Cross-Divisional Partnerships: Work with academic, athletic, marketing, and performing arts leadership to deliver cohesive, multi-channel recruitment campaigns that amplify the university's brand.
- Full-Lifecycle Student Success: Partner across campus to design and execute integrated strategies that support the recruitment, persistence, and graduation of a diverse student body.
Leadership & Organizational Excellence
- Team Development: Direct and mentor the admissions and financial aid teams, cultivating a high-performing, positive culture rooted in innovation, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, and CHARACTERISTICS
A bachelor's degree is required; a record of success in enrollment management and in higher education with increasing responsibility and significant experience in managerial and leadership roles is highly preferred. In addition, the Vice President should demonstrate many of the following qualifications, skills, and characteristics:
Strategic Enrollment Leadership: Proven ability to develop, implement, and communicate a comprehensive institutional strategic enrollment plan. This includes proficiency in predictive modeling, financial aid leveraging, net tuition revenue analysis, and pricing strategies, all while maintaining rigorous compliance standards.
Integrated Marketing & Recruitment: Deep knowledge of contemporary recruitment and integrated marketing strategies to reach diverse student populations (undergraduate, transfer, international, adult, and professional programs).
Collaborative Partnership & Team Management: A seasoned leader with an exceptional track record of building and mentoring high-performing teams. Demonstrated ability to navigate the complexities of a multi-college environment, fostering cross-functional partnerships and pipelines across academic, athletic, marketing, and performing arts leadership.
Analytical & Data-Driven Decision Making: Strong analytical capacity to produce forward-looking, transparent strategic plans and budgets that link expenditures to outcomes. Expertise in utilizing data systems (Slate CRM preferred) to refine strategies, assess recruitment/financial aid effectiveness, and engage the President, senior leadership, and broader campus community.
Communication & Cultural Competence: Superior oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage varied audiences. A genuine interest in forming inclusive, trusting teams; a confident, approachable presence; and a commitment to working with diverse cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.
Institutional Alignment: Deep familiarity with Midwest higher education dynamics, a personal commitment to the community of Ada, and an appreciation for Ohio Northern University’s mission. A desire to build long-term, authentic relationships with colleagues, students, and alumni.
OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1871, Ohio Northern University has consistently reflected founder Henry Solomon Lehr’s vision of “providing a community of learning, rich with opportunities for intellectual and personal development.” The University has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1899, instilling core values into its teaching while offering and assuring religious freedom on campus.
The University’s mission is to provide a high-quality learning environment that prepares students for success in their careers; service to their communities, the nation, and the world; and a lifetime of personal growth inspired by the higher values of truth, beauty, and goodness. The distinctive academic program includes mutually supportive professional education and liberal arts components that integrate practice with theory, complemented by excellent co-curricular offerings that enrich the Northern student experience. To fulfill the mission, faculty and staff engage with students so they learn to think critically, creatively, and entrepreneurially, communicate effectively, gain practical experience, solve problems collaboratively, and act as ethical and responsible members of a global community.
Numerous college rankings and ratings consistently give Ohio Northern high marks. Most notably, in the U.S. News & World Report's 2025 Best Regional Colleges Midwest list, ONU ranked No. 1 in the Best Value Schools category; in the overall rankings, Ohio Northern placed No. 2 in the Midwest and No. 1 in Ohio. In addition, the U.S. News and World Reports ranks its undergraduate engineering program No. 12 in the nation (non doctorate) and No. 1 in Ohio.
Positioned on a foundation of financial health and disciplined fiscal stewardship, the University offers the incoming Vice President a stable platform from which to innovate through key initiatives and launch visionary long-term enrollment strategies.
Leadership
Dr. Melissa Baumann is Ohio Northern University’s 12th president. She joined ONU on July 1, 2022, bringing with her more than 30 years of higher education experience and a record of proven success. Since taking the helm at the University, President Baumann has led the successful completion of the Forward Together Campaign, a $112 million-dollar comprehensive campaign; oversaw the development of a new strategic plan; and developed a new campus master plan that will further enhance the beauty of ONU’s campus and make it an ideal place for students to learn.
Prior to joining ONU, she was provost and chief academic officer at Xavier University from 2017-21. Her career in public and private higher education has included administrative and teaching roles at Auburn University and Michigan State University. President Baumann has received funding from a broad range of Federal agencies, has served on numerous editorial boards and as a reviewer for engineering research journals, and has been a frequently invited presenter on her research activities, student achievements, and women in STEM disciplines.
Mission
Ohio Northern University integrates the liberal arts with professional programs to foster critical and creative thinking including real-world application. We cultivate knowledge, character, and purpose in students to prepare them to build successful careers and improve the world.
Vision
Ohio Northern University’s vision is to be among the best private, comprehensive universities in the nation, known for programs of excellence and distinction and recognized for effectively integrating arts and sciences disciplines, professional studies, high impact learning, and civic engagement.
Core Values
- Collaboration: We encourage the development of unique collaborations that further distinguish the University.
- Community: We are a community that strives to be “purposeful, open, just, disciplined, caring, and celebrative” (Boyer, 1990) and that is strengthened by engaging all members of the community in the life of the University.
- Diversity: We value the core belief expressed in the University’s motto, “Ex diversitate vires,” “out of diversity strength,” and provide experiences and programs that prepare graduates for success in a diverse nation and world.
- Excellence: We aspire to achieve the highest standards of performance in our professional fields and our roles at the University.
- Faith: We celebrate the University’s historic relationship and active affiliation with the United Methodist Church and welcome persons of all faiths by providing a supportive environment for their moral and spiritual growth.
- Integrity: We expect individuals to conduct themselves with honesty, trustworthiness, and respect for others.
- Service: We encourage service to others and civic engagement, both as a commitment to community involvement and as a responsibility of democratic citizenship.
Reference: Boyer, Ernest L., Campus Life: In Search of Community. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1990
Strategic Plan
Ohio Northern University unveiled a 5-year Stronger Together Strategic Plan approved by the Board of Trustees on Feb. 10, 2023. The plan serves as a north star, outlining the reshaping and transforming the campus experience for years to come.
The primary goals are as follows:
- Strengthening a campus community that meets health and wellness needs of students, faculty, and staff, built upon the traditional strength of our health sciences programs and centered on a reimagined King-Horn Sports Center;
- Supporting outstanding faculty and staff–including those from underrepresented populations–recruited, retained, and supported through thoughtful investments in compensation, benefits, professional development, technology, and infrastructure;
- Building ONU’s financial stability by fostering a culture of continuous innovation and improvement through prudent management, effective branding and marketing, cost management, and enduring relationships.
- Investing in our people to ensure that students are prepared for success in their careers and life; faculty and staff have the support to fully achieve their vocational goals; alumni, employers, and stakeholders are enriched through their connections to ONU.
Academics
One of the key features of Ohio Northern is its small, intimate class sizes that allow for high-impact learning and mentoring. The 11:1 student-faculty ratio and average class size of 18 enables students to build close relationships with faculty and gain hands-on experiences. ONU’s faculty are committed to helping students explore their passions and develop practical skills they need for future success. There are 265 full-time and part-time faculty members. Of the 215 full- time faculty, 61 percent are tenured and 27 percent are on the tenure track; 91 percent have terminal degrees. The faculty are joined by an equally dedicated staff of 280 full-time and 28 part-time employees who are devoted to serving the needs of ONU’s students.
Ohio Northern is organized into five colleges – arts and sciences, business, engineering, law, and pharmacy – that offer more than 60 programs of study. While separate and distinct, there are many synergies across the colleges, and ONU students and faculty work collaboratively across the disciplines to take advantage of these opportunities. Unlike many smaller, private institutions, ONU has had professional colleges since shortly after its founding.
Student Life
Ohio Northern University students explore their passions through involvement in the more than 200 clubs and organizations, including club and intramural sports;
professional, departmental, and honors organizations; Greek life; fine and performing arts groups; and interest clubs ranging from fitness to cultural, faith-based, and community service. As a residential campus, Ohio Northern’s active and engaged students take advantage of all that it has to offer, and more than 53 percent volunteer in service activities, 26 percent participate in at least one sport, 15 percent are active in a Greek organization, and 10 percent engage in the performing arts.
The Ohio Northern Polar Bears compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the Ohio Athletic Conference. There are 23 varsity sports, including eSports, and nearly as many club and intramural sports. Men’s varsity teams include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field,
and wrestling. Women’s varsity teams include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. ONU has won a combined total of 20 OAC All-Sports Trophies out of the nearly 100 awarded thus far. Students have access to 177,000-square-feet of indoor recreational facilities and
20.5 acres of athletic fields, tennis courts, and more.
Enrollment
Ohio Northern seeks students who are academically prepared and intellectually curious. In assessing applications, the Admissions Office conducts a holistic review of the items required to apply. ONU’s admissions policies ensure a class that will be academically prepared and bring a wide variety of perspectives and experiences.
Ohio Northern has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students from 40 states and 14 countries, and offers more than 60 programs of study with nearly 82 percent of students coming from across Ohio. ONU’s diverse mix of colleges and programs has strengthened overall enrollment and Fall 2025 enrollment figures are strong for each college, assuring the university remains strong. Across the student body, 96 percent of students are full-time, 76 percent are undergraduates, 48 percent are women, and 14.8 percent (of those who reported) are multicultural students. For more details about ONU students, take a look at “Just the Facts.”
Entering ONU students are academically well-prepared with an average high school GPA of 3.6 and average ACT score of 25. That preparation, combined with ONU’s rigorous academic and co-curricular programs, has led to strong retention, outstanding placement rates, and high achievement in professional exams. First-year retention rates have averaged 84.4 percent over the past five years. In addition, 2024 graduates enjoyed an outstanding 97% placement rate.
Finally, Ohio Northern believes college is an investment in a student’s future and that financial aid impacts a student’s career direction, success, and opportunities for a lifetime. By combining ONU scholarships with other forms of financial aid, the institution continues to make a Northern education affordable for students and their families. 99% of students receive financial support with the average amount awarded being $27,800; in total, $65M is awarded every year in scholarships and grants.
The University has been recognized for a proven return on investment. Ohio Northern is ranked #1 in Ohio in the Best Value category in the Wall Street Journal’s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. and No. 1 in the state for Boosting Graduates' Salaries. Finally, in Washington Monthly’s “Best Bang for the Buck” publication, ONU received recognition “of schools ranked according to how well they help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices” ranks us No. 1 in Ohio and No. 22 in the Midwest.
LOCATION
ONU is situated in rural northwest Ohio in the historic village of Ada (population 5,544), which has a small-town atmosphere that complements the friendly environment found on campus. While Ada’s tree-lined downtown has many shops and restaurants, nearby towns like Findlay and Lima provide expanded opportunities for shopping, dining, and culture. Located in agriculturally rich Hardin County, Ohio Northern is within easy reach of Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, while offering the tranquility of small-town life. Ohio Northern is consistently ranked nationally among the Top 50 “Best Small-Town Colleges” by BestColleges.com.
The attractive 342-acre campus features 60 plus residential and academic buildings, arts and athletic facilities, and plenty of open space, including the Green Monster, Ohio Northern’s 2.5-mile jogging path. More than $100 million in capital projects over the last several years have helped maintain the beauty and functionality of the campus. Campus highlights include: the newest campus addition, the $30 million, 105,000-square-foot, LEED certified James Lehr Kennedy Engineering Building, housing classrooms, labs, offices, a maker space, machine shop, and collaboration spaces; the Freed Center for the Performing Arts, showcasing dozens of theatre, dance, speaker, and musical events each year; and The Inn at Ohio Northern University, open to guests of the University, as well as the public, offering more than 70 deluxe guest rooms, luxurious amenities, and flexible meeting spaces.
COMPENSATION
Compensation for the position will be competitive and based on the skills and experience of the selected candidate and the agreed upon portfolio of responsibilities; consult with the NES search team for insights. Additionally, Ohio Northern University offers a comprehensive package of benefits. Given the nature of this visible campus and community-based leadership position, the selected candidate will be expected to reside in or near Ada, Ohio.
To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Ohio Northern in identifying the University's next Vice President for Enrollment Management. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Laura Robinson (laura.robinson@nessearches.com) or Catherine Capolupo (catherine.capolupo@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 Vice President for Enrollment Management position at Ohio Northern University. Candidates should also provide the names and contact information of at least five professional references. For confidentiality, references will not be contacted without permission. All application materials should be submitted electronically to ONU@nessearches.com; applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is January of 2027.
ONU is an equal employment opportunity employer. Accordingly, no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, transgender status, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all areas of employment including recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, discipline, separation and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.