Position Description
Position Title: Enrollment Counselor, Graduate and Online Programs
Position Status: Full-Time
Classification: Exempt, On campus
Position Summary
Located on campus and reporting to the Vice President for Enrollment Management or their designee, and through collaboration with Academic Program Chairs and Directors, the Enrollment Counselor, Online & Graduate Programs recruits, advises, enrolls, and supports students throughout the enrollment process. With a strong focus on proactive phone outreach and personalized communication, the position builds relationships with prospective, admitted, and enrolled students. The Enrollment Counselor provides high-touch support to online and graduate students from inquiry through enrollment and registration, identifying barriers and connecting students with appropriate resources. The position also supports persistence by monitoring future-term registration and proactively engaging students who need additional assistance. Working collaboratively with Admissions, Academic Affairs, Financial Aid, and other campus partners, the Enrollment Counselor contributes to recruitment, enrollment, and persistence goals.
Key Responsibilities
Territory Management & Recruitment
- Manage assigned recruitment populations, territories, programs, markets and work toward established inquiry, application, admission, deposit, enrollment, and other enrollment goals.
- Develop and implement recruitment strategies for online and graduate programs, with targeted outreach to adult learners, working professionals, professional sectors, and other identified markets.
- Use enrollment data, recruitment trends, and market intelligence to inform outreach and recruitment strategies.
- Conduct proactive outreach through phone calls, email, text messaging, virtual meetings, in-person meetings, and other communication channels.
- Represent Catawba College at transfer and graduate fairs, professional and community events, virtual programs, information sessions, webinars, and other recruitment activities.
- Build and maintain relationships with prospective students, families, employers, professional organizations, community partners, school counselors, and other external constituents as appropriate.
Student Recruitment & Admissions
- Counsel prospective students and applicants throughout the admissions and enrollment process, providing personalized, timely communication and exceptional customer service.
- Conduct proactive outbound phone outreach and follow-up with prospective, applicant, admitted, and deposited students to encourage engagement and progression toward enrollment.
- Provide personalized information sessions, webinars, and presentations addressing program offerings, admissions requirements, academic pathways, enrollment processes, and relevant career or professional outcomes.
- Guide applicants through application and enrollment requirements, deadlines, documentation, and next steps.
- Review online and graduate applications and academic credentials using holistic, program-appropriate, and mission-aligned judgment while adhering to institutional policies and confidentiality requirements.
- Maintain accurate student records, communications, application information, and recruitment activity in Slate CRM to support recruitment, reporting, enrollment, and student engagement.
- Execute recruitment and yield initiatives that support institutional and program-specific enrollment goals.
- Facilitate connections between admitted students and Academic Advisors or other appropriate campus personnel to support onboarding, course registration, and transition into their academic programs.
- Monitor recruitment and enrollment activity to identify trends, opportunities, and barriers and adjust outreach as appropriate.
Program Engagement & Collaboration
- Lead online and graduate admissions information sessions, webinars, presentations, campus visit programs, recruitment events, and other enrollment initiatives.
- Support daily enrollment operations, including prospective student inquiries, virtual appointments, student follow-up, and other assigned activities.
- Collaborate with Enrollment Operations, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs, Academic Advising/Student Success, Student Accounts, Athletics, Student Affairs, and other campus partners to support recruitment, enrollment, and persistence.
- Contribute recruitment insights, enrollment trends, student feedback, market intelligence, and best practices to support continuous improvement.
- Participate in departmental planning and initiatives designed to improve the online and graduate student experience.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Strong interpersonal, written, verbal, presentation, and telephone communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to confidently initiate and conduct outbound phone calls while building rapport with prospective students, applicants, and enrolled students.
- Excellent organizational, time management, attention to detail, and problem-solving abilities.
- Ability to build meaningful relationships with prospective students, adult learners, graduate students, families, and campus partners through personalized, multi-channel outreach.
- Ability to provide exceptional customer service and respond effectively to students with diverse needs, questions, and circumstances.
- Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a collaborative team environment.
- Ability to use data and enrollment information to monitor progress toward goals and inform recruitment and student engagement strategies.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and ability to learn and effectively use CRM systems; Slate preferred.
- Ability to travel as needed and work evenings and weekends during peak recruitment cycles and recruitment events.
- Valid North Carolina driver’s license and ability to rent vehicles.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in undergraduate or graduate admissions, online enrollment, higher education, recruitment, sales, student services, or another relationship-focused profession.
- Experience recruiting adult, online, or graduate students.
- Experience supporting student persistence, retention, registration, or enrollment services.
- Experience using Slate CRM or another customer relationship management system.
- Experience presenting to groups and facilitating information sessions, webinars, or public presentations.
- Experience at a private, tuition-driven, or liberal arts institution.
- Master’s degree in higher education leadership, a field related to Catawba’s graduate programs, or a related field.
Work Environment
This job operates on campus, primarily in a professional office environment and routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and fax machines. Day and evening travel required, and job functions are routinely performed outside of the primary office on campus or in off-campus locations. Participation in admissions events in the evenings and on weekends is essential for this position.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. This is largely a sedentary role; however, some filing and movement is required. This would require the ability to lift files and file boxes, open filing cabinets, walking, and bending, or standing as necessary.
ABOUT CATAWBA:
Founded in 1851 in Newton, North Carolina, Catawba was started by German pioneers who had traveled from eastern Pennsylvania to settle in the valleys of the Haw, Yadkin, and Catawba Rivers. In 1890, Catawba became a coeducational institution, and the first woman graduate completed her studies in 1893. In 1925, Catawba moved and re-opened to its current location in Salisbury, NC, which is about 45 minutes from Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte, two hours from the mountains, and four hours from the beaches.
Today, Catawba College has 41 buildings on 276 wooded acres on a residential campus. Catawba is known for its 189 acre on-campus ecological preserve. Ranked as one of the best colleges in the south, Catawba offers 70 academic majors to approximately 1,300 students representing 34 U.S. states and 19 foreign countries. Students are instructed by nearly 90 full-time faculty, more than 83% of whom hold the highest degree in their field.
Catawba provides an education focused on an institutional philosophy of a liberal education, which entails a broad range of knowledge, intellectual and practical skills, and individual and social responsibility fostered and developed in all academic programs. Catawba is a learning community that provides students with unique opportunities to explore vocation, helping students to consider their calling, their passions, and their purpose as they prepare to reach their highest potential. Catawba’s mission is to provide “students an education rich in personal attention that blends the knowledge and competencies of liberal studies with career preparation” and to enable “students to reach their highest potential while becoming responsible citizens.” More information about Catawba College is located at www.catawba.edu.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Applicants shall submit the following materials, in a single file, pdf version only, to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]:
- A letter of application;
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae; and
- Contact information for three (3) professional references.
Review of completed applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.
QUESTIONS?
Please contact Ira Dorin and Stacy Gato with any questions about this position.
Catawba College is an equal opportunity employer. As such, Catawba is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status, unless allowed by law and deemed necessary to Catawba operations. Candidates must successfully pass a background check and drug screening before employment begins, and Catawba complies with all federal, state, and local laws governing non-discrimination.
