Assistant Director of Admissions

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $63,000-$75,000

Position Summary

The Assistant Director of Admissions for the Office of Graduate Degree Programs ("OGP") is a key team member in upholding our mission. Reporting to the Director of Admissions, the Assistant Director supports all aspects of our Admission and Financial Aid function, including primary responsibility for the management of our admission database and CRM system. The Assistant Director is expected to be a subject matter expert in admission-related technology and will serve as the primary point of contact related to the Slate admission database and CRM system for OGP Staff, others throughout the Law School, and external consultants.

OGP supports Executive LLM, JSD, and LLM students throughout their Columbia journey - from applicant through alumnus. We aim to attract leading lawyers from around the world and nurture their growth during this transformative time. We remain committed to our partnership with colleagues across the University and to our core values of connection, transparency, fairness, and excellence. Through their experience at Columbia Law School, our students broaden their perspectives on legal and non-legal issues that shape who they want to be in the world.

Responsibilities

1. CRM System Management (45%)

• Serve as primary administrator and "super user" for admissions and student information systems including Technolutions Slate, Columbia's Student Information System (SIS), LSAC's UNITE, and others as assigned. Provide support for and manage the daily operations of Slate, working alongside the rest of the OGP team, and continually seek opportunities to optimize Slate usage for our admissions and financial aid processes. Responsibilities include investigating, configuring, implementing, updating, maintaining, and integrating Slate applications, forms, communications, events, interviews, portals, workflows, data imports, automation, queries, and reports.
• Fulfill day-to-day Slate troubleshooting requests and build and update queries and reports for enrollment data analysis as requested.
• Cycle prep: Assist with annual updates across all degree programs, including updating and maintaining applications, application status, and event portals for the LL.M., E.LL.M., and J.S.D. programs.
• Reader review: Implement the application reader review process (including between admissions and external offices/departments when necessary), including manual assigning of files if necessary.
• Collaborate and work with our Information Technology teams and external consultants to build and maintain data imports and exports between the Law School, Slate, SIS, and/or external systems.
• Communications templates: Create and maintain templates within the Slate in alignment with University and Law School brand standards, and manage and deliver mailings to communicate with prospects, applicants, and students, ensuring consistency of our brand across our communications. These include preparing various correspondence for distribution to prospects (including follow-up from recruiting events), applicants (including confirmation of receipt emails, admission decision letters, financial aid decisions, and correspondence related to other admissions activities), and confirmed students (deposit confirmation letters).
• Serve as the lead contact to LSAC for all ACES2/UNITE system-related management.
• Assist in maintaining existing and, where necessary, cultivating new relationships with vendors of application portals and other software related to admissions activities.
• Assist in creating and responsible for maintaining alumni records in Slate or other designated systems.
• Provide training to team members on Slate and other systems as needed based on an assessment of team member's needs, working with supervisors to ensure operational aspects of the work are executed to standard and best practices.
• Data Reporting and Analysis: Work with OGP teammates to help develop and execute record-keeping and data management protocols. Engage in data analysis for enrollment management, manage historical data, and assist in the production of reports that may be requested from time to time by OGP colleagues, Law School leadership, and other offices/departments. Proactively ensure data integrity across all systems through diligent monitoring of reports and processes.

1. Admissions and Recruiting (30%)

• Assist with recruiting and admissions/yield management activities when needed by participating in online and in-person recruiting and yield events.
• Review applications for admission decisions and make admissions decisions and recommendations.

1. Academic Advising and Graduate Student Support (20%)

• Serve as an academic advisor to our current LL.M. students and assist OGP colleagues with several initiatives and programs to support graduate student onboarding and overall experience.
• Attend weekly advisor team meetings.
• Participate in various programs and events for the LL.M. student population throughout the year.

1. Misc. (5%)

• Represent OGP at internal and external meetings and undertake other special projects as requested by the Director of Admissions or the Assistant Dean.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required. J.D. or M.A. degree preferred.
• Must have a minimum of 2-4 years of relevant work experience.
• Similar administrative experience at a major law school is a significant plus.
• Experience in the development, management, and maintenance of enrollment Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems or relational databases, preferably Technolutions Slate CRM, highly desirable.
• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Required Competencies:

• Superior oral and written communication skills, including public speaking experience.
• Experience managing resources and working with technology vendors.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion in the handling of sensitive and highly confidential information.
• Knowledge of or strong interest in understanding compliance standards related to recruiting, admissions, and student engagement in the law school context.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the demonstrated capacity to advise and meaningfully interact with diverse, multi-generational constituents.
• Affinity for collaboration and ability to work well across all levels of an organization.
• Ability to multitask be part of a collegial team, and maintain calm under pressure while balancing competing tasks and emergencies.
• Organizational and analytical skills and the ability to synthesize and meaningfully evaluate data.
• Technological and computer literacy, including familiarity with or strong interest in developing knowledge of Slate, ACES2/UNITE, and digital learning technology.
• A passion for, and commitment to, delivering exceptional customer service.
• Ability to travel occasionally and work some evenings and weekends.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.