Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing at Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, a comprehensive, independent Lutheran institution in Northwest Indiana seeks a successful and adaptable Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing. Located in Valparaiso, Indiana, an hour’s drive from Chicago, Valparaiso – or “Valpo” as the University is referred to – offers a strong foundation in the liberal arts as well as professional education and graduate study. Committed to fostering lifelong professional, personal, and spiritual growth, the university empowers students to discover and pursue their unique paths.

As a member of both the President’s Cabinet and the extended President’s Council, the Vice President will join a dynamic senior team offering operational oversight and inspirational leadership to an engaged and welcoming collegial community. All are committed to Valpo’s robust institutional mission. The Vice President’s strengths and acumen ultimately will be an asset as the University looks to its future and seeks their 20th president to begin in January, 2026.

The Vice President will provide visible, positive, and approachable leadership to a division of 40 professional staff across admissions, financial aid, and integrated marketing. The Vice President will lead the community in developing strategies and initiatives to support the achievement of ambitious enrollment goals informed by the University’s strategic plan.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Essential responsibilities for the Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing include the following:

Institutional Leadership

  • Bring leadership, integrity, vision, optimism, energy, creativity, inclusiveness, and a team-oriented philosophy to the overall enrollment and marketing function, creating a division that serves the current and future needs of the University community.
  • Develop and implement a strategic plan for enrollment and marketing that includes deployment of cutting-edge technology, elevates the use of data analytics, implements aggressive high-touch personal recruiting campaigns, as well as orchestrates multi-faceted campaigns to increase student interest and yield.
  • Engage in continuously reflective, analytically rigorous, and technically sophisticated dialogues with senior leadership about enrollment realities and possibilities.
  • Develop strong, collaborative relationships with members of the campus community; work in partnership with other individuals, especially faculty, and offices regarding recruitment of students; unite and inspire alumni, administrators, faculty, staff, and students to join together to assist with the enrollment effort.
  • Working with the Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President for HSI initiatives, achieve institutional progress toward the realization of becoming a Hispanic serving institution.
  • Working with the Provost, meet the enrollment goals for the two year Access College.
  • Support retention efforts across the University and partner in the development of systems, analysis, and implementation of institutional initiatives to support and enhance the student experience.
  • Work with the Athletic Director and Vice President for Student Life to enhance the impact of D-I athletics on the enrollment of all students.
  • Communicate regularly and effectively with the Board of Directors and its committees, including being a co-liaison to the board’s committee on advancement, enrollment, and marketing.
  • Promote frequent personal interactions with prospective students and their families by actively involving members of the University community.
  • Partnering with senior leadership, determine optimal enrollment goals, advise on effective pricing strategies, and determine how best to allocate financial resources to achieve these goals.
  • Oversee an operating budget of approximately $5 million utilizing institutional resources judiciously, increasing efficiency, monitoring outcomes and impact, and providing oversight, evaluation and accountability for vendors.
  • Model and promote a dynamic customer service orientation and encourage an openness of communication and transparency in decision making and information sharing.

Strategic Enrollment Management

  • Create the vision for a proactive, modern and dynamic operation and restructure the division of enrollment management and marketing as needed to meet goals for enrollment and in the strategic plan.
  • Help determine optimum enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate levels with an eye toward growth.
  • Provide support for graduate enrollment as a critical component of total University enrollment and institutional health.
  • Enhance a responsive approach to changes in the marketplace, fostering the ability of the division to adapt quickly and strategically in addressing challenges and pursuing opportunities.
  • In support of the University’s strategic plan, and the research and conclusions of the consultant, HCRC, work with the Provost and Vice President for Finance to develop strategies and tactics to reduce the tuition discount rate, increase yield and increase net tuition revenue.
  • Lead the efforts to strengthen a system of recruitment, admissions, and financial aid that supports retention and enhances the University’s traditional undergraduate and graduate experience and expands Valpo’s enrollments of and offerings for non-traditional students.
  • Routinely analyze data to shape strategic directives; regularly assess effectiveness of the University’s recruitment activities and financial aid programs and make appropriate adjustments so as to lead an effort that is continuously proactive and anticipates market forces and University needs.
  • Prioritize student diversity and the recruitment of traditionally underrepresented student populations.
  • Evaluate the use of financial aid in support of institutional priorities and in achieving enrollment goals and allocating those resources for greatest impact. This includes the use of differential discounting based on income.
  • With attention to net revenue goals, oversee the distribution of financial aid to both new and current students, ensuring that its current practices align with the financial need and stability of the University and into its future.
  • Provide visionary leadership and management to the combined admissions and financial aid functions, further developing a strong and dedicated enrollment staff that is student-centered, innovative, excited about change, actively engaged in campus life, responsive, analytical, energetic, and results-oriented.
  • Support the professionalism and development of staff across the division, providing training, professional development, and mentorship in order to elevate effectiveness, impact and staff retention across departments.

Institutional Marketing

  • Collaborate across the community and harness the efforts of alumni, faculty, staff and students in creating comprehensive brand and targeted marketing campaigns to promote Valpo’s Lutheran, faith-based heritage and ethos to attract an increasingly broad and diverse national and global cross-section of students.
  • Lead the University’s integrated marketing function offering support for the University’s efforts to communicate Valpo’s unique mission and characteristics in a compelling manner; enhancing and promoting the University’s reputation to prospective students, parents, alumni, the community, and audiences around the globe.
  • Provide strategic direction for a currently high-functioning marketing team, collaborating with leaders across the University to advance integrated marketing and message consistency.
  • Create energy and synergy around institutional branding and enhance and greatly extend the regional, national, and global reputation of the Valpo brand.
  • Shape an enrollment outreach program that reaches the University’s enrollment audiences for best impact on their decisions.
  • Continuously refine and advance the key messages that speak most clearly to and about the University to both internal and external audiences offering wisdom and experience presenting a positive vision for the future of Valpo.
  • Partner with institutional communications in the development and timely dissemination of messaging to internal and external audiences in a manner that enhances the institution’s reputation and regard.
  • Offer expertise and experience in supporting institutional public relations, acting as a university spokesperson when requested.

Qualifications, Skills, and Characteristics
A bachelor’s degree is required and an advanced degree preferred. A minimum of ten years of enrollment management and marketing within higher education with increasing responsibility and significant experience in managerial and leadership roles is required in this important position. In addition, the Vice President should demonstrate many of the following skills, qualifications, and abilities:

  • Highly successful enrollment manager with a demonstrated history of success in building enrollments among a range of student populations: undergraduate, graduate, transfer, international, and adult students.
  • Experienced in the collaborative development of an institutional strategic enrollment plan, short term initiatives, and supporting tactics with the ability to effectively communicate plans, benchmarks, analysis and outcomes across an invested campus community
  • Able to acknowledge institutional history while offering a compelling vision for the future of Valpo to prospective students, families, as well as college counselors and peers within the marketplace.
  • Seasoned leader with a firm grasp on contemporary integrated marketing strategies, ability to build partnerships and pipelines, and willingness to foster change along with positive relationships.
  • Deeply experienced in the management, evaluation and oversight of vendor partners with the ability to maximize impact and invest judiciously.
  • Strategically deft, with the ability to analyze, interpret, and present relevant information in a manner that supports decision making, educates, and engages collaborators.
  • Appreciation for special qualities and needs of the University at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of the institution.
  • Proven effectiveness in change management: significant experience managing the complex interplay of marketing, yield and recruiting strategies, enrollment goals and revenue targets, yield, and financial aid
  • Ability to lead the creation of Valpo’s future student body with vision, an entrepreneurial outlook and eye to new possibilities and emerging challenges; ability to build and motivate a team and to inspire energy and enthusiasm.
  • Strong analytical capacity with the ability to produce forward-looking, transparent strategic plans and budgets that link expenditures to outcomes; capacity to assess the effectiveness of how recruitment and financial aid funds are employed to achieve enrollment goals; eagerness to engage in a continuous dialogue about enrollment and other areas with the president and senior leadership.
  • Able to adopt an institutional view of challenges, opportunities and resources with the courage to communicate honestly and transparently with supervisor, peers and others, while also doing so in a constructive and diplomatic fashion.
  • A sense of urgency and engagement; articulateness; integrity, and a strong internal moral compass; optimism, confidence, and excitement about change; a genuine interest in forming a team with the president, senior leadership, and academic partners; a confident and personal presence that is active and inclusive; ability to observe, listen, learn, and clarify needs while engendering trust quickly among various constituencies; sound judgment; demonstrated skill working with diverse cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.
  • A sincere and personal commitment to the mission of and vision for Valparaiso University, a willingness to persevere, and a desire to build authentic and long term relationships with colleagues, students, and alumni.

Valparaiso University
Valpo is a teaching focused University with 200 full-time tenured/tenure track and clinical faculty, offering its approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students more than 62 majors and graduate degree programs offered. The campus of nearly 350 acres contains more than 35 academic and nine residential buildings, including the Chapel of the Resurrection, Center for the Arts, a fully equipped athletic center that supports the University’s NCAA Division-I teams, and a comprehensive library and information resources center. Undergraduate students are guaranteed housing for three years and all have access to over 100 clubs and organizations, fraternity and sorority life, and access to numerous athletics, arts and cultural events. Ranked by U.S. News and World Report as an outstanding national, professional-doctoral institution, Valpo is a private, faith-based institution grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith. Students of color make up 23% of the student body and the University is currently moving toward recognition as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

Life at Valparaiso University offers students a model of community participation, personal responsibility, and respectful concern for others.

  • The student-initiated honor system relies on each student to maintain standards of academic integrity.
  • A collaborative system of University governance assigns students considerable responsibility for residential and social life.
  • The Office of Volunteer Programs and the Community Research and Service Center exemplify a commitment to learning through service that results in Valpo students’ logging more than 200,000 hours of community outreach and service-learning each academic year.
  • Extensive Study Abroad programs and a commitment to institutional diversity deepen students’ understanding of the world’s variety of cultural and religious traditions.

Guided by a strong sense of ethics and informed by a broad understanding of the scientific, religious, and cultural heritage of human society, Valpo alumni have assumed leadership roles in their communities, churches, social institutions, the nation, and the world.

Leadership
José D. Padilla, J.D., became the 19th president of Valparaiso University in 2021. He joined Valpo as the culmination of a long and successful career in higher education.

President Padilla has led numerous accomplishments during his tenure at Valpo, among them, a new era of transparency for the University and the creation of the University’s five-year strategic plan Uplift Valpo: Our Beacon for the Journey Forward. After launching a complete academic analysis and administrative review, Valpo is now in a stronger position to use data-informed decision making to bolster the University’s financial position. Throughout his tenure, President Padilla has cultivated strong relationships at the state, local and federal level and expanded the University’s presence in the Chicagoland area. He led the creation of numerous programs and agreements that led to new pathways toward higher education and bolstered support for Valparaiso University Athletics.

In January of 2025, President José Padilla affirmed his plan to retire at the conclusion of his contract on December 31, 2025 as articulated when he accepted the role. The Board of Directors has convened a Presidential Search Committee to identify the 20th President of Valparaiso University which is led by chair-elect Jon Steinbrecher, P.E.D., and includes representation from faculty, staff and additional constituencies across the Valpo community. Further updates on the presidential search are available here.

Mission Vision & Strategic Planning
Valparaiso University is driven by a welcoming community that continually strives to answer our collective call to serve the world. The community actively supports the institution’s mission which guides the daily activities of the campus and strategic plans for the future; Valparaiso University, a community of learning dedicated to excellence and grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith, prepares students to lead and serve in both church and society.

Valpo’s current strategic plan, approved by the Board of Directors in 2022 is formed around four themes: Learn, Serve, Lead, and Thrive. The plan reflects the readiness to meet the challenges faced by higher education and the community’s desire and commitment to a vibrant future: a financially stable Lutheran University responding flexibly to the evolving challenges of higher education. The Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing will join the Valpo community in ushering in a new strategic planning process, and will play an active role in providing leadership, as well as expert knowledge and analysis of the evolving marketplace.

Valparaiso, Indiana
Valparaiso is a city of nearly 34,000, attractively situated in a rural but highly accessible setting at the edge of the busy industrial district of Northwest Indiana. Its most celebrated event is the annual Popcorn Festival, honoring the heritage of the famous businessman Orville Redenbacher, who made Valparaiso his home. The city is host to numerous parks, golf courses, restaurants, and entertainment venues. In addition, the Valparaiso Festive and Events Committee hosts over 40 events each year.

Residents of Valparaiso appreciate the high quality school system with numerous options for students. The surrounding communities offer smaller school settings within a reasonable distance. The city’s stable, diverse economy provides a variety of jobs and career opportunities and the region remains relatively affordable, offering residents a high quality of life and a variety of wonderful neighborhoods, each with their own character.

Just an hour’s drive from campus is the city of Chicago, offering nearly limitless resources for culture and entertainment. Chicago is easily accessible by bus or train, and the University often charters buses so that students and faculty can take advantage of the theatres, museums, and other educational benefits of this great city. Fifteen miles to the north, on the shore of Lake Michigan, are the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park, important recreational and scientific resources that offer a combined 17,000 acres of varied natural landscape.

Compensation and the Valparaiso Work Environment
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, Valparaiso University offers a comprehensive package of benefits. The selected candidate will reside in or near Valparaiso, Indiana, in this visible campus and community-based leadership position.

To Apply
NES, a higher education search firm specializing in enrollment management searches, is assisting Valparaiso in identifying the University’s next Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing. For more information, or to nominate someone for this position, contact Suzi Nam (suzi.nam@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 and Marketing position at Valparaiso 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. For best consideration, all application materials should be submitted electronically to valpo@nessearches.com by March 20, 2025. The position is campus-based and the preferred start date is Summer 2025.

Valparaiso University is an equal opportunity employer. Employment selection and related decisions are made without regard to sex, race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, color or any other protected class. Read more about our Equal Opportunity Policy.