Strongly positioned within the top tier of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges, Rhodes College is a residential college committed to excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and is located on one of the country’s most beautiful campuses in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. Rhodes College seeks an experienced Vice President for Enrollment Management to work with President Jennifer Collins and other leaders within the community to develop an enrollment strategy that will further advance the College as a leading national liberal arts college.
The Position
Rhodes College seeks an experienced, sophisticated, and innovative Vice President for Enrollment Management who will be an integral member of the College’s senior leadership team, overseeing the efforts of the offices of admission and financial aid and working closely with key colleagues across the institution on all issues related to enrollment. Reporting to the president, the vice president for enrollment management will serve as an industry expert and collaborative partner on a team of deeply committed senior staff and will advise and guide the community in all matters related to Rhodes’ enrollment strategy amid the rapidly evolving landscape for selective liberal arts colleges.
Duties and Responsibilities
The successful candidate must combine an understanding of data analytics and knowledge of enrollment trends with the ability to be innovative, creative, collaborative, and agile. The new vice president will be expected to shape enrollment policies that will attract students who will thrive at Rhodes College.
In addition, the vice president for enrollment management will have the following duties and responsibilities:
Leadership
- Provide wisdom regarding changing demographics and the highly competitive enrollment landscape; lead the campus community in understanding current trends and enacting creative solutions to combat those challenges.
- Advocate for and support the growth and development of the enrollment team, individually and collectively, in order to retain strong individuals, ensure succession planning, and increase the skills and abilities within the team; knit together multiple high-functioning offices in their shared work through effective communication.
- Demonstrate a sincere commitment to building a community that attracts and retains talented students from all backgrounds and perspectives and engage in candid conversations regarding issues and policies within the Rhodes community and within the enrollment management profession.
- Represent Rhodes, participating on internal committees and in professional organizations, and presenting at local, regional, and national events, programs, and panels.
Strategic Enrollment Management
- Lead the enrollment office and broader Rhodes community in the planning and development of enrollment strategies, tactics, programs and partnerships; create and implement a strategic enrollment management plan which supports the College’s mission and further success in meeting revenue and enrollment goals.
- Demonstrate a commitment to access and affordability through the execution of a robust financial aid program; develop merit and aid leveraging strategies which reflect institutional revenue and enrollment goals; address appeals and monitor discount rates, headcount and net tuition revenue.
- Oversee initiatives to recruit students from a broad array of backgrounds and varying viewpoints and life experiences, develop strategy for international enrollment that aligns with the College’s revenue and enrollment goals, and increase transfer enrollments.
Enrollment Marketing
- Implement targeted recruitment initiatives, including digital campaigns, that account for the evolving needs of students and families, as well as changing technology and consumer expectations, and reflect a deep knowledge of unique markets and populations.
- Partner with marketing and communications in developing marketing strategies which reach, influence, and compel prospective students and their families as they consider a Rhodes education.
- Develop engaging recruitment and yield campaigns to enhance the reputation of the College and increase the College’s reach among talented students nationally and internationally.
- Champion the value of a liberal arts education and the special value proposition that Rhodes offers as an outstanding liberal arts institution located in the unique and great American city of Memphis.
- Foster and maintain strong relationships with college counselors and other stakeholders in key markets and feeder high schools that are critical to Rhodes’ recruitment efforts.
Collaboration and Communication
- Develop relationships with faculty and staff across the College to support the enrollment and retention of students and foster relationships of trust within the community.
- Partner with athletics, advancement, alumni, community organizations, and community partners to develop pathways for students and enhance Rhodes’ reputation nationally and internationally.
- Collaborate institutionally to increase retention and persistence among all students; support the work of other campus partners in the retention of students, collection of data, sharing of information, and development of programs and enhancement of the student experience and outcomes.
Technology, Operations, and Data
- Lead the enrollment team in evaluating, implementing and leveraging technology to innovate, increase operational efficiency, and meet the expectations of students and families.
- Foster a culture of excellence in appropriately leveraging data and sharing of information within the enrollment division including best practices in data collection, analysis and reporting.
- Lead the office in using data to inform strategic decisions, establish and monitor key performance indicators, benchmark progress and program outcomes, monitor trends, identify opportunities, and adjust direction and tactics.
- Provide expert knowledge in the use and analysis of enrollment data, sharing information and reports regularly, transparently and appropriately with campus partners.
Qualifications and Skills
It is strongly preferred that the successful candidate will have earned an advanced degree. It is required that they have a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, this role requires a minimum of ten years of leadership experience in enrollment management or in a similar area. The chosen candidate should also possess the following qualifications and personal characteristics:
- Willingness to inspire, coach, motivate, and advocate for a team responsible for executing a strategic enrollment plan; ability to illustrate and relate how tasks and tactics contribute to the greater strategy.
- Commitment to the institutional mission, a passionate vision for a positive future, and the drive to respond proactively to a rapidly changing environment.
- Ability to take accountability, refine and strengthen strategic plans, reallocate resources, and articulate a new vision in response to market forces, emerging challenges, and new opportunities.
- Possession of cultural humility that allows one to comfortably engage and work effectively with people from different identities.
- Outstanding communication skills, including listening, writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills; approachable with the ability to earn trust and build authentic relationships with staff, faculty, administrators, alumni, donors, prospective students and their families, and key stakeholders at feeder high schools and high schools in key markets.
- Assertive, adaptable, and skilled change manager who is able to lead with confidence, humility, and trust.
- Proven analytical and data analysis skills and the ability to foster a culture and operation where data is readily accessible, easily referenced, and skillfully analyzed in making informed decisions.
- Committed to a culture of information sharing, where goals, priorities, progress and details are shared regularly to ensure staff are universally well-informed, well-trained and confidently able to autonomously progress in their work.
- Strong project management and organizational skills, including ability to set priorities, offer creative and innovative solutions, manage simultaneous initiatives, and operate effectively in a deadline-driven environment.
- Familiarity with modern technologies, with an understanding of how to leverage systems to respond to emerging trends. Experience with Slate, Workday, and Front Rush strongly preferred.
Rhodes College
Rhodes has a steadfast commitment to promoting inclusion and belonging across all facets of student life, and has built a unique place for itself among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges by combining a powerful commitment to the liberal arts with unusually rich connections to the surrounding city of Memphis, Tennessee. Rhodes was twice named “The #1 Most Service-Oriented College in the United States” by Newsweek, and civic engagement is integrated into the curriculum for all students. Rhodes was also included in the Princeton Review college guide, Colleges that Create Futures: 50 Colleges that Launch Careers by Going Beyond the Classroom and is one of 40 institutions in the quintessential guidebook, Colleges That Change Lives. Recently named by Architectural Digest as one of America’s most beautiful college campuses, Rhodes ranks #55 among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The College also holds the distinction of being a Carnegie Foundation Community Engaged Institution.
The Rhodes student experience is driven by intellectual engagement, service to others, and honor. Rhodes College was founded in 1848 in Clarksville, Tennessee, and, for many years, it was closely affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. In 1925, President Charles Diehl led the move to the present campus in Memphis, Tennessee, where, in 1945, the College became known as Southwestern at Memphis. Since 1984, when the College adopted the name Rhodes College to honor former College president Peyton Nalle Rhodes, the institution has grown beyond regional recognition to a nationally ranked liberal arts college that attracts students and faculty from far beyond the Mid-South region, with students from 45 states and the District of Columbia, and from 63 countries. Today, Rhodes enrolls approximately 1800 students and has an endowment of $449 million as of June 30, 2025.
STRATEGIC PLAN
The College approved its ambitious strategic plan, Achieving Our Best: A Strategic Vision for Rhodes College, 2020-2030, in October 2019. The plan is the result of an 18-month planning process that included the voices of more than 5,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, Memphians, prospective students, and their families through qualitative and quantitative research. The strategic plan outlines a commitment to align the College’s business model with its mission so that Rhodes can pursue national excellence in residential liberal arts education while remaining a college of approximately 1800 students. In doing so, the College commits to the Rhodes Edge, an educational and residential experience that ensures the College’s graduates are:
- Intellectually ready to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.
- Leadership ready to create equitable and prosperous communities.
- Career and graduate school ready to succeed in tomorrow’s economy.
To hone the Rhodes Edge, Rhodes promises that every student will have at least one of the following high-impact, hands-on learning opportunities during their four years at Rhodes:
- Independent research, which allows you to explore a particular interest in depth under the mentorship of a Rhodes professor
- Fellowship or internship, which provides applied learning opportunities that support your skill development and professionalization
- Study abroad, study away, or community-based learning experiences, which affords you the opportunity to engage with and contribute to global or local communities.
THE HONOR SYSTEM
The Rhodes Honor System, one of the longest-standing honor systems in the country, consists of the Honor Code, the Social Regulations Code, and the Rhodes Commitment to Diversity. The objective of the Honor System is to foster the spiritual growth, moral fortitude, and intellectual development of the individual student. All incoming students sign a pledge at the beginning of each school year affirming their commitment to the three components of the Honor System. Students are personally responsible for their work, their actions, and their word, and all students pledge to uphold the System in their daily lives and to report cases of violation to the appropriate student governing bodies. The Honor System is a tradition which has been valued by the Rhodes community for more than a century. It allows the fullest possible expression of individual life in harmony with community life, and it is a principle that members of the Rhodes community believe to be fundamental in ethical life during and after college
LEADERSHIP
Jennifer M. Collins became the 21st president of Rhodes College on July 1, 2022. A committed proponent of the value of the liberal arts, President Collins joined Rhodes after serving most recently as the Judge James Noel Dean and professor of law at Southern Methodist University, where she worked with more than 100 faculty members and supported more than 800 domestic and international students. Before her tenure there, she served as vice provost and professor of law at Wake Forest University for 10 years. Collins taught courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, family law, gender and the law, and career development and legal professionalism. She has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching.
Prior to her academic career, President Collins practiced law in Washington, DC, clerking for the Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and worked in private practice before joining the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel as an attorney-adviser. She then served as Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. She returned to private practice before moving to Wake Forest. She is the co-author of Privilege or Punish? Criminal Justice and The Challenge of Family Ties (Oxford University Press 2009). In addition, she has written many other law review articles and essays featured in Yale Law Journal, Boston University Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, and more. President Collins’ scholarship is focused on issues involving families and the criminal justice system.
She received her B.A., cum laude with distinction, in history from Yale University and her J.D., magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she also served as an editor for the Harvard Law Review.
ACADEMICS
The classroom experience at Rhodes is intimate and rigorous. Rhodes values the engaging dialogue that arises when students and professors work together to investigate questions and problems they care about. In this environment, students are expected to formulate and articulate big ideas and contribute in major ways to the critical discussions and debates that take place in classrooms and laboratories, and the 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio makes this possible. Rhodes seamlessly integrates high-impact experiences such as internships, fellowships, study abroad, and faculty- mentored student research with a traditional liberal arts education, and the Foundations Curriculum gives students the freedom to pursue their academic interests while developing critical thinking skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
Through 21 academic departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs, Rhodes offers more than 70 liberal arts and interdisciplinary majors and minors. The College provides pre-professional advising for students who plan to work in the health professions, law, engineering, accounting, business, architecture, clinical psychology, foreign service, ministry, public history, and education, and it has a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that provides extraordinary research opportunities for qualified students. Rhodes offers one graduate degree program: the Master of Science in Accounting. Rhodes is rare among liberal arts colleges in being academically strong not only in the social sciences and humanities but also in the physical and biological sciences. It is the sixth-leading liberal arts and sciences college in the number of applicants sent to medical school and is annually ranked in the top five of all colleges and universities in national Mock Trial. Billboard Magazine has named Rhodes one of the top music business programs in the nation.
STUDENTS and ENROLLMENT
Rhodes is home to a diverse group of approximately 1800 students who represent 45 states (plus D.C.) and 63 countries. Its incoming students have a mean ACT composite score of 29 (the College adopted a test optional policy in 2022) and 44% graduated in the top 10% of their high school class with a mean GPA of 3.75(unweighted). Rhodes students have been successful in obtaining post-graduate honors in recent years including a Rhodes Scholar, a Goldwater scholar, Fulbright award winners, and Watson Scholars.
Within the current student body, 43% identify as students of color, and the class of 2029 boasts a record 50% who identify as students of color (including international students who identify as students of color), 16% international students, 18% Pell-eligible students, 18% first-generation college students, and 34% are student-athletes.
Effective fall 2022, the College transitioned from a two-year residency requirement to a three-year residency requirement, and now approximately 82% percent of students live on campus. Rhodes students are intellectually curious and deeply engaged in academic and extracurricular activities. Students with a personal commitment to service are drawn to Rhodes and to the many opportunities to integrate themselves into the greater Memphis community, and more than 80% of students participate in service activities. Rhodes actively recruits students who are excited to be part of the city, seeking opportunities to connect with Memphis in ways that are mutually beneficial and meaningful.
FACULTY
Rhodes faculty members represent the best of the scholar-teacher model that is essential to a liberal arts education. Scholarly and creative production across the board is unusually high for a liberal arts college, and engaging undergraduates in faculty research – in the humanities and social sciences as well as the sciences – is standard practice. Virtually all of the faculty hold the highest degrees in their respective fields and contribute regularly to the scholarship of their disciplines. Many have been recognized for their excellence with grants from the NSF, NIH, NEH, and the Mellon Foundation, Fulbright awards, and numerous other honors, including a recent faculty invitation to join the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations. Rhodes honors faculty accomplishment through institutional awards for teaching, scholarship, and service and supports the ongoing development of the faculty through such programs as the Hill Grant for curricular innovation, the Faculty Development Endowment Grants for faculty scholarship, and an extensive mentorship program for incoming faculty. Rhodes is committed to sustaining an environment in which faculty can thrive in their careers and make substantial contributions to the college community and their scholarly communities.
CAMPUS AND FACILITIES
Rhodes’ Collegiate Gothic campus, which has previously been identified by The Princeton Review as one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States and currently ranks sixth, sits on a 110-acre wooded site in the heart of historic Midtown Memphis. The walkways, quadrangles, residence halls, common areas, and classrooms are all intentionally designed to encourage intimate conversation, the exchange of ideas, and life-changing connections.
With each new expansion on its original 110- acre Memphis campus, Rhodes has maintained its Collegiate Gothic architecture. The Paul Barret, Jr. Library, completed in 2005, has been ranked among the nation’s most beautiful libraries. In 2012, Rhodes opened two of its newest facilities, the expanded and renovated Catherine S. Burrow Refectory and the West Village Residence Hall. In 2014, the College completely renovated the Rhodes Tower science facility.
In 2017, Rhodes opened Robertson Hall, a $34 million, 55,000-square-foot science facility that houses state-of-the-art research and features teaching labs and smart classrooms and renovated Briggs Hall for the department of Computer Science. In 2023, the College opened the three-story, nearly 62,000-square-foot East Village C residence hall, which houses 150 students in both single rooms and suites and contains an adjoining lodge for multicultural student organizations. East Village C helps the College achieve its strategic goal of a three-year residency requirement and provides additional social and meeting space for diverse students.
Memphis, TN
The City of Memphis, on the Mississippi River, is filled with unexpected combinations: global commerce and local start-ups, high culture and outdoor adventure, soul food and haute cuisine, world-class infrastructure and spectacular parks, rich heritage and innovation, and, of course, the wholly original sound of Memphis music. Anchored by three Fortune 500 companies (FedEx, AutoZone, and International Paper), Memphis is also a globally connected transportation hub. The Memphis International Airport serves as the world’s largest cargo operation and is home to FedEx’s shipping superhub. The Rhodes community is deeply committed to ensuring continued growth and development in the city of Memphis. Rhodes’ unique position as one of the few liberal arts colleges in an urban setting provides an array of opportunities for students and alumni to engage with and make meaningful contributions to Memphis, including:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
The St. Jude Summer Plus Fellowship offers qualified Rhodes students an exclusive intensive research experience that pairs students with St. Jude scientists and places them into the hospital’s professional laboratories for a period of two summers and the intervening academic year. The internships frequently result in co-authored professional papers with St. Jude researchers.
Internships and Fellowships
Rhodes students have a variety of academic interests and often connect theoretical study with practical application, thus enhancing their learning experience and contributing to the City of Memphis. Internship sites include FedEx, the National Civil Rights Museum, and Raymond James. Each year, 70% of Rhodes students complete internships and fellowships through organizations and corporations in Memphis.
The Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center for Community Engagement
An umbrella for the community of faculty and student scholars who are researching and promoting the human experience of Memphis and the Mid-South region from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. The Center builds upon the College’s existing assets and academic strengths by providing support and resources for interdisciplinary scholarly activity and student research.
More than 80% of Rhodes students are engaged in community partnerships. The first collegiate chapter of Habitat for Humanity was founded at the College. The Laurence F. Kinney Program serves as a hub for Rhodes’ campus-wide effort to engage all students in service and social action in Memphis and the broader community. Major programs include the 30-year- old Souper Contact, a soup kitchen for the homeless run entirely by students, and the Bonner Center for Community Engagement, which partners with more than 100 not-for-profit and governmental agencies in the greater Memphis area to provide in-depth service experiences for students. As a member of the Bonner Scholarship Service Network, Rhodes provides service scholarships to 15 students each year. Additionally, the Rhodes Summer Impact Experience (RISE) program, an intensive nine-week summer experience, challenges students to engage in significant community projects identified by a community organization or by the participating student. The fellowship provides academic credit and has a 40-hour-per-week commitment.
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. Additionally, Rhodes College 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 Memphis, TN.
To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Rhodes College in identifying their next Vice President for Enrollment Management. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Laura Robinson (laura.robinson@nessearches.com) or Elizabeth Daly (elizabeth.daly@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 VPEM position at Rhodes 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 rhodes@nessearches.com January 13, 2026. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is Summer, 2026.
Rhodes is an equal opportunity employer that offers an excellent benefits package and a great working environment.