Associate Director - Graduate Admissions

The Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) supports the enrollment goals of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and the School of Engineering at Tufts University. Working closely with the deans and faculty of each school, OGA leads graduate student recruitment, processes and reviews applications, and collaborates on marketing and communications. As a high-volume, centralized admissions office, OGA serves a diverse portfolio of more than 75 certificate, master's, and PhD programs across more than 30 departments.

OGA is organized into school-centric teams, each led by an Associate Director of Graduate Admissions. In this role, the Associate Director is OGA's primary content expert on the School of Engineering (SOE), leads a team of graduate admissions professionals dedicated to the school, and helps build and maintain strong relationships with SOE deans, department chairs, program directors, and faculty. This person develops and carries out a school-centric enrollment strategy for all SOE graduate programs, with an emphasis on master's and certificate programs, and leads OGA's efforts to meet the school's enrollment goals.

The Associate Director reports to the Senior Director of Graduate Admissions, with a dotted-line relationship to the Director of Graduate Recruitment. All recruitment strategy for SOE is developed and carried out under the Director of Graduate Recruitment's direction, so that school plans align with OGA's overall recruitment approach.

• Enrollment strategy and recruitment: Under the direction of the Director of Graduate Recruitment, develop and carry out an annual school-centric recruitment and yield plan for SOE, informed by funnel data and trends in the engineering graduate market. Monitor progress toward enrollment goals and adjust strategy as needed. Plan and lead SOE and OGA-wide recruitment events in both virtual and in-person formats, on campus and occasionally nationally, and collaborate with the recruitment and internal marketing teams on school messaging and communications.
• Team leadership: Supervise, train, and evaluate a team of graduate admissions professionals dedicated to SOE, who carry out program-specific recruitment strategies through consistent outreach. Assign program and functional responsibilities, set clear goals, and build a collaborative, service-oriented team with deep knowledge of the school.
• School liaison and content expertise: Serve as OGA's primary content expert on SOE graduate programs, admissions policies and requirements, and the school's key stakeholders and priorities. Help the Senior Director build and maintain strong relationships with SOE deans, department chairs, program directors, and faculty through regular check-ins and enrollment updates. Train OGA colleagues on SOE programs.
• Application review: Oversee the application review process for SOE programs, working with faculty and program committees on admission decisions and scholarship recommendations. Monitor review turnaround times to ensure timely decisions.
• Program portfolio management: Manage the recruitment and admissions process for an assigned portfolio of SOE programs. Collaborate closely with faculty and staff within those programs. Advise students on programs, requirements, and funding, and guide them through each stage of the admissions funnel.
• Special projects and initiatives: Lead projects or initiatives assigned by the Senior Director of Graduate Admissions, based on office priorities and the Associate Director's interests and strengths. Examples include policy benchmarking and redesign, yield and anti-melt initiatives, data and reporting improvements, staff training resources, and new program launches.
• Data and operations: Work with the Director of Graduate Admissions Operations to maintain data integrity and consistent processes in Slate for SOE. Monitor queries, reports, and dashboards, and support annual application updates.
• Policy and compliance: Contribute to OGA policy development, including application requirements, deadlines, and admissions standards. Ensure practices comply with FERPA, university data security policies, and applicable regulations, and uphold fair, inclusive admissions practices.

While our office functions in a hybrid modality, the Associate Director can expect to have a frequent campus presence.

Travel Requirements - This position involves travel throughout the year, which may include overnight
stays. A valid U.S. driver's license is required, along with the willingness and ability to drive to various
locations using a rental vehicle. Candidates must have a driving record that meets the standards of rental
car agencies.

A resume and letter of interest are required for this position

Basic Requirements:
Knowledge and experience typically acquired by:

• Bachelor's Degree
• 5-7 years experience in admissions, enrollment management, or a related higher education field, preferably at the graduate level
• At least 2 years of experience supervising professional staff
• Demonstrated success meeting recruitment or enrollment goals
• Strong analytical skills, with experience using data to guide strategy
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, including with faculty and senior leaders
• Proficiency with a CRM system and Microsoft Office
• Ability to travel occasionally and work some evenings and weekends during peak recruitment periods.
• Valid driver's license

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree
• Experience with Slate, including working with queries, reports, and communications
• Familiarity with online, hybrid, and professional master's program models
• Experience building collaborative relationships with faculty and academic leadership
• Preferred school-specific expertise: Experience recruiting for engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, or other STEM graduate programs. Experience recruiting online students and international students, including familiarity with F-1 visa and I-20 processes