Overview
Tufts University’s University College (UC) is dedicated to programming that meets the educational needs of learners, wherever they are on their learning journey. Today, UC’s programmatic areas include Tufts Professional & Custom Education Programs, Tufts Pre-College Programs, and Tufts Lifelong Learning & Osher Institute. UC has grown quickly since its inception in November 2018 and is poised for substantial medium-term growth with the incorporation of degree and certificate programs through which it hopes to significantly expand access to Tufts’ world-class education. UC offers a fast-paced, nimble environment made of highly trained professionals who love the higher education environment and are committed to providing world class education in the 21st century to a wide variety of students. UC is well-positioned to develop a distinctive presence in the greater Boston landscape as part of a diverse and accessible institution that makes learning and engagement with education of all kinds for all people a part of its core mission.
This role specifically serves University College’s Tufts Pre-College Programs (TPP) unit. Tufts Pre-College Programs’ mission is to extend Tufts-quality education to high school students to enrich their academic experience and Tufts’ academic community with new student learners early in their learning journey. Tufts Pre-College Programs has a portfolio of 18 summer programs, including 2 programs that extend through the academic year, that range from semester-long and 6-week college experiences to shorter 1–3-week intensives, with plans to grow the portfolio both in the summer and in the academic year.
What You'll Do
Tufts Pre-College Programs is seeking to fill 2 Associate Director positions within the unit. A generalist focusing on operational functions across the Pre-College portfolio and another focused on Mini Med School programming. Please indicate a preference in your cover letter, if applicable. This is a hybrid position, with expectations for in-person and remote work. Employees may work remotely up to three days. In person work will take place on the Medford/Somerville Campus. The Mini Med position will also require in person work on the Boston Medical campus.
In collaboration with the Director and two other Associate Directors, the Associate Director of Pre-College Programs (AD) is responsible for the development and implementation of the strategy for pre-college programs (including high school, middle school, and elementary school) at Tufts University. Designed to reflect the distinctive strengths of Tufts and supported by market research into the competitive landscape, UC’s pre-college programs introduce students to new fields of interest and study while giving them the opportunity to sample the college experience prior to college. The programs include commuter, residential, and virtual programs, courses, and workshops offered during the Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring terms. The position is responsible for working in close collaboration with UC’s Pre-College Programs, Continuing Education and Marketing teams, school-level directors, faculty, administration, and units across the university, as well as external partners. The AD is responsible for executing the planning and implementation of the 18 existing programs and all future programming and for working with the Director, Associate Directors, Program Administrators, and stakeholders across and outside of the university to identify strategic opportunities to design and implement new programs, including virtual opportunities, that will achieve strong enrollments by responding to the needs of precollege students.
The Associate Director is responsible for collaborating with Pre-College team to meet enrollment and financial goals, for completing all program-related hiring, for working with the Director to develop and manage the overall budget/financials, including responsibility for management, budget upkeep, and reporting on program financials, for the pre-college unit and the individual programs, for employing analytics and tracking mechanisms to report out on performance and for constantly iterating to improve performance.
Working with the Director, Associate Directors, and Pre-College Program Administrators, the AD oversees daily operations of pre-college programs and helps design and implement workflow process for student recruitment and enrollment, with an emphasis on application development, marketing and communications strategy and materials, admissions processing, and reporting and analysis.
The position engages with the rest of the department as a team player, ready to help where needed, problem solve, and work towards the greater good of the University as a whole. Must have the ability to manage and evaluate competing priorities and to execute the day-to-day while working collaboratively across the school and larger university to advance broader strategic goals. This position is highly operations-focused, and is for someone who gets things done, who has an all-hands-on-deck mentality, and is comfortable having clear performance targets and being measured against them on a regular basis.
Generalist specific:
- This position will have a specific focus on budgeting and financials, hiring, systems integration, and programmatic operations and communications, complementing the responsibilities of other ADs on the team.
- Manage Pre-College Program Administrators (3 direct reports as of today), who are assigned to designated operational functions and act as liaisons to assigned Pre-College Programs in the portfolio.
Mini Med specific:
- This position works is dedicated to supporting the Center for Science Education (CSE) (School of Medicine) and the delivery of the Mini Med School Pre-College portfolio.
- Serves as Program Lead and Administrator for the in-person and/or virtual iterations of the Mini-Med School program.
What We're Looking For
Basic Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree and 5-10 years’ experience in educational program development and operations.
- Excellent project management skills, relationship management skills, communication skills, business and financial skills, and experience working with various internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong skills in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree and 8-10 years of program or project management experience preferred
- Higher Education, K-12 Education, or Pre-College Programming experience preferred
