Hood College, an independent, coeducational, liberal arts college offering a holistic undergraduate education and robust graduate education, seeks a visionary, strategic, and relationship-driven leader as its next vice president for enrollment management. Founded in 1893, Hood’s picturesque campus in Frederick, Maryland, is a short distance from its bustling downtown and about an hour from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Hood’s vision is one that aims to support an inclusive environment and prepare graduates for personal and professional success that supports students in leading purposeful lives of responsibility, leadership, service, and civic engagement.
The Position
As the College’s chief admissions and financial aid officer the Vice President for Enrollment Management will report to Hood’s President. The Vice President will advise the President and fellow members of the college’s Senior Team on all aspects of enrollment management, enrollment marketing, and institutional financial aid. The Vice President provides strategic leadership, policy formulation, and direction for undergraduate student recruitment, selection, and retention initiatives, working in collaboration with the faculty, alumni, administration, athletics, and staff to build a vibrant learning community of qualified diverse applicants. The Vice President is responsible for providing leadership in the identification and cultivation of recruitment resources to generate appropriate qualified leads from potential student populations and ways to encourage applications from the qualified and diverse pools of potential students to meet College admission and financial goals. The Vice President supervises a team of approximately ten in guiding all undergraduate admission programs, including transfer, adult, and international. Additionally, the Vice President oversees five within the office of financial aid in serving all Hood students.
Key Responsibilities
The key responsibilities for the Vice President for Enrollment Management include the following:
- Oversee the implementation of the College’s multi-year strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan with specific strategies to meet the current goals of the institution as outlined by the President and the Planning, Budget and Assessment Committee. These include both enrollment and financial goals.
- Partner with the Vice President for Marketing and Communications and staff on recruitment marketing strategies and materials to engage students and increase the College’s pipeline for prospective students. This includes website updates, social media, and advertising, as well as implementation of the annual admission communication flow to students and families and melt strategies.
- Collaborate with the Vice President for Finance and Director of Financial Aid along with the College’s partner for financial aid optimization in the development of short and long-range strategic pricing models and financial aid awarding policies, taking into account internal and external factors, to meet the College’s revenue goals.
- Provide weekly reporting to internal constituents (administration, trustees, faculty and staff) on the College’s current recruitment and financial goals; Provide analysis, contextual information, and education in effectively communicating relevance of data, illustrating trends, identifying challenges and opportunities, and in articulating resulting changes, initiatives, and strategies.
- Develop and oversee the process for review and evaluation of applicant files to determine admissibility of applicants using established Hood College admission standards.
- Oversee the planning, management, and on-going administration and review of the budgets and staff for assigned functional areas within the enrollment management division.
- Ensure seamless, high touch, customer service in the handling of issues that arise regarding admission and financial aid.
- Oversee all vendor contracts and agreements, managing roles and responsibilities of each and being held responsible for their outcomes.
- Assist with agenda development and present at the Enrollment Management and Marketing committee meeting and attend general meetings of the College’s Board of Trustees (Three annual meetings in March, June, October).
- Identify professional development needs of the Admissions and Financial Aid staff and provide opportunities for all levels of staff development.
- Ensure compliance with all federal Title IV, state(s)’ and other agencies/entities’ regulations, policies, procedures, and reporting requirements regarding the administration of the respective and various admission and financial aid programs.
- Ensure compliance with all College policies and procedures with regard to admission of undergraduate students.
- Implement recruitment strategies designed to support the College’s retention efforts.
- Monitor and analyze enrollment patterns, student profiles, financial aid distribution, and other appropriate factors to ensure accessibility for all prospective students.
- Collaborate with the Director of Athletics to identify potential student populations and strategies to increase recruitment efforts and ensure a strong partnership between the departments.
- Work effectively with the president, trustees, senior administration, faculty, and others on matters of general welfare to the College.
- Provide consistent and transparent decision-making.
- Provide inspiration, mentorship, and support in the effective leadership of the division; support a culture of accountability, collaboration, and professional excellence; and foster a forward-thinking, strategic, and nimble team.
Skills, Qualifications, and Characteristics
A bachelor’s degree is required (an advanced degree is preferred) as well as a minimum of five years’ experience leading a successful enrollment program that incorporates best practices in growing and shaping new traditional and nontraditional undergraduate enrollment. In addition, the Vice President should demonstrate the following skills, qualifications, and abilities:
- Passion for and understanding of the transformative power of an institution that proudly promotes a culture where the liberal arts and professional programs coexist together.
- A hands-on and empowering management style; a willingness to advocate and lead by example through modeling the virtues of teamwork, high energy, and a strong work ethic.
- Possession of contemporary knowledge of higher education marketing and enrollment trends; sophistication in the application of market research in marketing approaches, recruiting efforts and institutional positioning.
- Success working with a diverse student body; proven ability to recruit students from under-represented backgrounds, as well as international students.
- Experience using technology to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
- Strong written, oral, presentation communication skills.
- Experience in the areas of enrollment planning, predictive modeling, and financial aid leveraging.
- Demonstrable evidence of creative and analytical problem solving.
- Relationship building skills with both internal and external constituents.
- Effective utilization of outcome-based decision making; use of research, data and information in planning and evaluation (experience with TargetX, Power Campus and PowerFaids preferred).
- Eagerness to partner with colleagues and key stakeholders at the institution in recruitment efforts, including alumni, parents, career services, etc.
- Excitement for creating a culture of enrollment management; ability to clearly and transparently explain the complexities of recruiting, admitting, yielding and retaining students to the College community, including members of the leadership team and board.
- Track record as a strategic thinker who is comfortable collaborating on idea development and implementation.
- Interested in exploring new and innovative enrollment approaches.
- Progressive change agent who cares about making pivotal and conscious change, is willing to take calculated risks, and leads with sensitivity, integrity, and transparency.
Hood College
Through an integration of the liberal arts and the professions, Hood College provides an education that empowers students to use their hearts, minds and hands to meet personal, professional and global challenges and to lead purposeful lives of responsibility, leadership, service and civic engagement.
Hood College Mission Statement
Hood College traces its history to 1893, when it was established as the Women’s College of Frederick, Maryland, by the United Church of Christ. The College was created to promote and advance the cultivation and diffusion of literature, science, and art. In 1897, through a gift from Margaret Scholl Hood, the College acquired a 28-acre tract of farmland on Frederick, Maryland's northwest edge. In 1912, the college was named in Margaret Hood’s honor, and in 1914, construction began on the Alumnae Hall, which continues to house administrative offices. Today, Hood’s beautiful 50-acre campus is home to 40 academic, residential, athletic, and administrative buildings and facilities.
The 1970s ushered in a significant moment of change for the institution, changing its trajectory and expanding beyond its original educational offerings in liberal arts, education, and home economics. In 1971, the Graduate School was created and added programs in computer science, management, and communication arts among others. The College also began to admit male commuter students, and over 30 years later, in 2003, the College began admitting male residential students.
Today, Hood is a coeducational, independent college with a liberal arts education foundation and, as of Fall 2024, one of the most diverse private colleges in Maryland. In addition, Hood is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the college has earned numerous specialized accreditations.
In the last decade, the College has continued to expand its graduate programs, invest in its facilities, forge and strengthen community partnerships, increase its Auxiliary Services, and expand its curricular offerings. The College is in the midst of its Strategic Plan: For a Greater Hood, set to conclude in 2026. The plan includes six strategic goals: An enhanced student experience, diversity, equity & inclusivity initiatives, creating the School of Behavioral & Health Sciences, developing the Biomedical Research & Training Center, leveraging Hood’s proximity to Baltimore and Washington, and increasing efforts in branding and marketing.
Hood’s new undergraduate core curriculum, “Heart, Mind, and Hands,” is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2025. The curriculum is built on the four pillars of Hood’s values and motto:
Hope: To believe that everyone can have a positive impact in the world and that education is instrumental in creating and sustaining hope.
Opportunity: To fully use one’s talents and skills to realize professional and personal achievement and to help create and realize opportunities for others.
Obligation: To fulfill personal and professional responsibilities with integrity and to be a responsible steward and servant to the betterment of others and this world.
Democracy: To embrace diversity, foster freedom of thought and expression, and to promote engaged citizenship both in self and others.
Hood has a long history of modernizing its traditions as it moves into each new era. The College has many storied traditions, like the gifting of Dinks or beanies, dating back to 1918. Dinks continue to be presented to new students in their class colors. In their junior year, students take part in a ring ceremony that is done to symbolize the bond between Hood alumni and graduating students, and each class designs a banner that hangs in the Whitaker Campus Center. Give Your Heart to Hood Day is a tradition that started in 1995. It was originally a day to celebrate Hood and has evolved into a day where the Hood community comes together to work on projects that benefit the College. Perhaps the most treasured tradition is the Hood Hello—a custom greeting given by and to everyone on campus—helping to foster the friendly atmosphere that Hood students and alumni cherish.
Leadership
Debbie Ricker, Ph.D., became Hood’s interim president on July 1, 2024. President Ricker has served as Hood’s provost since 2016 following a long career at York College of Pennsylvania where she served as faculty member and department chair for the biological sciences department, associate dean of academic affairs and the founding dean of the Division of Academic Services. Interim President Ricker is joined by a capable and dedicated senior team comprised of the interim provost, interim vice president for enrollment management, vice president for finance, vice president for institution advancement, vice president for community and inclusivity and the vice president for marketing communications in guiding the college.
Hood College announced the search for a new president in March of 2024. The search process has been guided by a presidential search committee comprised of trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni. The committee expects to appoint a new president in the early spring of 2025. It is expected that the new president will engage in the search for the vice president of enrollment management following their appointment. Updates on the presidential search can be found here.
Academics
Hood is consistently named in national college rankings; most recently, Hood ranked number six in the “Undergraduate Teaching” category and number 16 in the “Best Value” category by the U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, Hood was listed as a College of Distinction, with the College’s nursing, business, and education majors earning top honors as programs of distinction.
Hood is home to 2,101 undergraduate and graduate students with 400 faculty and staff. For more than 130 years, Hood has been changing the trajectory of students’ lives. As of Fall 2024, the College is one of the most diverse private colleges in Maryland, and currently, 22.4 percent of Hood first-year students are first generation. Hood’s intimate class sizes provide the opportunity for all students to have more one-on-one support, elevating their academic performance from great to exceptional.
Hood hosts two schools and 14 departments and offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 21 concentrations, 45 minors, and pre-professional preparation in medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, and law. As part of the new core curriculum, undergraduates enrolling in the fall of 2025 will complete a required High Impact Practice: internships, research, and study abroad.
The graduate programs provide leading-edge content in business, STEM, the humanities, healthcare, and education. Hood also offers 23 master’s degrees, four doctorates, 14 post-baccalaureate certificates, and numerous Skill Accelerator professional development badge programs. The graduate programs provide content in business, STEM, the humanities, healthcare, and education. Business administration and nursing are among the fastest growing majors, and partnerships with community organizations have supported the expansion of hands-on experiences and facilities.
Students
Since its founding generations, Hood has operated with the feel of a close community. Hood has a socially and intellectually diverse campus life that invites a student body with a broad spectrum of interests. The community retains a lively and engaging quality, with an increasingly rich array of academic, athletic, artistic, and co-curricular activities. Of the college’s 1,198 undergraduate students, 42 percent of students were commuters. Retention of full-time students averages 73 percent and 60 percent go on to complete their bachelors in six years.
Hood prides itself on being a school of opportunity. Hood undergraduates enter with an average GPA of 3.4, and they hail from 29 states, the District of Columbia, and 15 countries. Eight percent were transfer students, and just over 35 percent of students are members of under-represented populations, 7.1 percent are non-US residents. Twenty-one percent of undergraduates are first-generation and 40 percent are Pell eligible. In the fall of 2024, Hood received 3,352 applications and had an acceptance rate of 77.8 percent with a yield rate of 12 percent. The College offers High Impact Scholarships, which provide funding to students pursuing a high-impact practice associated with a course, and High Impact Grants are awarded to faculty interested in developing innovations in their teaching.
Hood students have a variety of student organizations and clubs to support co-curricular learning and engagement from opportunities like student government, academic honors society, academic clubs and cultural and advocacy organizations, student media, performance clubs, and community service organizations. Students have the opportunity to study in virtually every part of the world, with hundreds of students who have studied abroad in dozens of countries across six continents. Students have recently studied in Spain, Germany, Ireland, France, Italy, Argentina, England, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Morocco, Israel, and South Korea. In addition to year-long or semester programs, Hood offers short-term courses throughout the world. Recent locations include Belize, Germany, Scotland, England, and the Galapagos. Hood also capitalizes on its close proximity to Baltimore and D.C., offering internships and educational programs in both locations as well as nationally.
Hood College student-athletes train in the Ronald J. Volpe Athletic Center, which includes Woodsboro Bank Arena. Over 42 percent of the 2024 incoming class were student-athletes. Blazer Athletics competes in 13 intercollegiate sports for women and 11 for men at the NCAA Division III level in the Middle Atlantic Conference. They have sustained an impressive record over many years and have 401 undergraduate athletes. Intercollegiate varsity teams in men's and women's include basketball, baseball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, volleyball, women’s ice hockey, and women’s softball. The college offers a club-level equestrian program, and is home to a growing Esports program that competes in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), Division III, and the Collegiate Star League (CSL), Division I.
Frederick, Maryland
Hood's picturesque 50-acre campus is ideally situated in charming, historic Frederick, Maryland, less than one hour from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Gettysburg, and surrounded by mountain views. Hood’s beautiful campus walkways, united by a central pergola, are often buzzing with community members chatting and walking their dogs. Hood’s campus has more than 40 academic, residential, and administrative buildings, which include six residence halls and the president's home.
The town has a youthful, intellectual energy. Frederick’s lively Market Street, with an eclectic mix of restaurants and cafes, unique specialty shops, galleries, museums, and theaters housed in Civil War-era buildings. Carroll Creek Park features a walking path with plenty of seating and public art. The town has a local vibrant business economy with strong tax incentives like no personal property tax which has helped usher in robust growth in the industries of biotech, technology, and healthcare—it is known as the I-270 Technology Corridor and Hood capitalizes on its location. For example, programs at the Biomedical Research and Training Center (BRTC) equip students and workers alike with advanced skills and knowledge to support the local and regional workforce needs. These industries are also strong in the surrounding areas, which gives Hood students the opportunity for meaningful internships and work studies during their time as students and employment after graduation.
Just a couple blocks from campus, Baker Park boasts 58 acres of tennis courts, softball and baseball fields, Culler Lake, a public swimming pool, playgrounds, a band shell, and a walking path to downtown Frederick.
For more information about Frederick, MD, visit https://www.visitfrederick.org/.
Compensation and the Hood Work Environment
The expected salary range for this position ranges from $170,000 - $195,000 depending on circumstances including an applicant’s skills and qualifications, certain degrees and certifications, prior job experience, training, and other relevant factors. Hood College has provided a compensation range representing its good faith estimate of what the College may pay for the position at the time of posting. The College may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. Additional compensation may include variable and deferred compensation. Hood College offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and tuition benefits. The selected candidate will reside in or near Fredericksburg Maryland, in this visible campus and community-based leadership position.
To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Hood College in identifying the College'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 at Hood. 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 hood@nessearches.com by March 21, 2025. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is Summer 2025.
Hood College is committed to diversity in its faculty and staff and subscribes to a policy of hiring only individuals legally eligible to work in the United States. EOE/AAP/M/F/Vet/Disability Employer.
Hood College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, disability, religion, or age in recruitment, admission and access to, or treatment, or employment in its programs, services, benefits, or activities as required by applicable laws including Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and complies with the law regarding reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and students. Inquiries about discrimination or reasonable accommodation should be referred to the Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator at Alumnae Hall, 401 Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD. 21701 (AD 312), (301) 696-3592. For complete information on Hood College’s nondiscrimination policy, please visit http://www.hood.edu/non-discrimination/.