enrollment specialist

senior enrollment specialist

assistant professor

service coordinator

Colorado Christian University

I worked in advising and found the role increasingly focused on administrative processes and metrics rather than effective student support. Many systems created additional work for advisors without improving student outcomes or efficiency.

One example was the centralized call rotation system. Advisors lost several hours each week of direct advising time in order to answer incoming calls for other advisors’ students. However, despite being fully trained advisors, we were generally not permitted to directly resolve those students’ issues unless they were assigned to us. Instead, we were expected to document the interaction in multiple places, notify the assigned advisor, and copy supervisors on follow-up communication. This resulted in delayed student support, duplicated work, and significantly increased administrative burden while primarily emphasizing call answer-rate metrics.

There was also a strong top-down management culture with limited openness to operational feedback from frontline staff. Advisors regularly identified process issues and proposed reasonable adjustments based on how workflows functioned in practice, but management was often unwilling to consider modifications even when the existing processes created inefficiencies or negatively affected students.

The institution also appeared to prioritize enrollment growth more heavily than long-term student retention and advising support. Admissions counselors had higher starting pay despite lower educational requirements, while advisors managed substantially larger caseloads, were expected to retain students, and were required to hold degrees and prior experience. This created the impression that recruitment efforts were valued more heavily than sustained student success initiatives.

Another challenge was the insistence on standardized procedures across very different student populations and programs. Advisors therefore spent significant time completing required outreach that was unlikely to benefit either the student or the institution.

Overall, the position had many dedicated coworkers and students I genuinely enjoyed supporting, but the work environment was heavily process-driven, resistant to feedback, and often focused more on maintaining uniform procedures and metrics than improving advising effectiveness or student experience.

CCU has an amazing faith-based culture and people are genuine believers there. They are supportive of each others' spiritual journeys and pray for each other frequently which I found very refreshing. The areas needing improvement lies with the IT department's management and are:

1. IT best practices
2. Compensation standards
3. Career advancement opportunities

To point #1: They are desperately out-of-touch with IT best practices and processes. They move far too slowly to make any meaningful progress and lack the long-term vision for their IT endeavors. Every project and every task felt reactive and I could never connect the dot from "here" to this big, bold, bright future they kept alluding to. 

To point #2: Compensation standards. They will continuously lose high-earning IT employees if they do not adjust to the market they're in for IT professionals. Their compensation range is not competitive. At best, they will attract junior-level IT professionals who, after a year of experience, will recognize their earning potential and move elsewhere. 

To point #3: There is no opportunity for advancement, there are no bonuses, and there are no raises (albeit a $250 PER YEAR raise, which is maybe an extra Starbucks trip per month after taxes). In my exit interview, I told my manager they need to be more proactive about employee career advancement and this person responded with, "In my [many years] at CCU, I've never seen that - when someone leaves, that position opens up" and that counts as "advancement" in this person's opinion. There is also no feedback loop so during my active employment, I had no way to provide or receive feedback. Lastly, the upper crust management is very out-of-reach; they rarely engage with the team which might help explain why they're very out-of-touch with the IT industry in general. They don't get feedback or constructive criticism because there is no channel through which to do so.

The team of people you work with truly makes this job- the co-workers and management are awesome and truly care about you as a person. Regarding the job itself, it is fulfilling in the sense that you are providing a meaningful service to families and there are several hats you get to wear which leads to a variety of different experience. Overall, this is a fantastic job to start out with and gain a few years of experience in customer service and higher education. You get to travel throughout your assigned region, which is rewarding if you are interested in being out of the office here and there. Cons would be that the pay is low (not that it is unfair though)... but is to be expected with this sort of starting position, there is not room for advancement, and overall the workload can be extreme at times, coupled by some rather menial tasks. The benefits are great though, as you are able to earn a free master's degree once you have worked there for a year.

I worked as a peer tutor in the writing center under the guidance of an English professor for three years. I cannot recommend it enough. I learned so much in how to read and review papers, work with other students, adapt myself to the needs of another person, managing appointments, and growing skills in teaching, editing, and writing. My boss took personal interest in helping everyone grow and learn how to be better writers and communicators. There was also a strong Christian environment in every space at CCU that fostered safe communication. I loved CCU as a student, but it was also great as an employee. If you're looking for a job where people truly care about you and want to see you succeed in Christ's name, this is it.

Some of what I say here applies not only to CCU but to all Christian colleges where I have taught. They insist that you have a calling to do what you do, which means you do not need money, or the ability to pay your bills. They will never pay a living wage, and you are supposed to pray for food and health.
CCU never assigns you enough courses to be worth all the time they require you to do training, keep up credentials or check emails in case you might get a class. Yet they continually hire for pools when they have teachers they barely use. I have done everything to get more classes, and nothing ever changes. I have been there for 4 years, get good reviews, and might get 2 classes per year if lucky. I teach for secular schools that have more of a Christian worldview and who actually take care of their help.

Environment will vary depending on department. Due to the organization being smaller, you will take on quite a bit of work that may typically fall to more people or other departments. Overall, you will grow and learn a lot professionally and personally. Management will invest in their staff through a variety of professional development trainings, one on one meetings and university hosted events annually. Being a faith based organization can be a catch 22 for some. It is great that teams can meet and pray, but not everyone has the exact same beliefs (no surprise there). There are some dogmatic believers as well as those who are more about their faith rather than "religion". Overall, it is a great place to work.

This company pays adjunct staff poorly. They offer minimal support to adjunct and the courses are often a mess, with outdated assignments, broken links and tons of busy work.

The leadership is more concerned with passing students through than providing a good education. Many of the students in the last year have come in without even a basic high school reading & writing level.  

This school is Christian in name only--in practice, they are just another money grubbing "education" system that is raking in the cash at the expense of the students & poorly paid adjunct that teach the bulk of the courses.

When management is best friends with each other, it's hard to have serious conversations about what needs to change. Executive leadership refuses to see faults in each other, even when mid-level managers go to them for help and assistance. Many good people leaving due to frustrations over unwillingness for senior leaders to step in and build team unity. Political times are divisive currently, and letting upper leadership vent about personal political opinions with those that they share common opinions with is toxic. This doesn't happen in private, but in public - we work in cubicles, people. Everyone can hear each other. 

Things need to change before more good people leave.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Well organized program and great support
Believe I made an impact on teacher candidates moving into the profession. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Often times worked evenings and weekends to meet students’ submission deadlines. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Great environment to work within due to the communication and support of leadership.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Worked about an hour or two a day on grading assignments, emailing, checking in on assignment details, and reviewing rubrics.

This company is a great company to work for. The benefits are good and the pay is okay. The marketing supervisor is very very hard to work with and will often leave you hanging on a lot of projects and meeting expectation requirements. This supervisor can be a little aggressive and hard to be under at times. The enrollment side is awesome the support is there and the supervisors will set you up for success. Which is more then I can say about the marketing supervisor. Be sure you are well versed in marketing and you have a back bone (as said by marketing supervisor). 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Enrollment specialist 11 salaries reported	$48,455 per year
Senior enrollment specialist 3 salaries reported	$50,667 per year
Assistant professor 3 salaries reported	$65,667 per year
Service coordinator 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

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