The University

Unity Environmental University is a mission-driven institution dedicated to educating the next generation of environmental stewards, innovators, and problem solvers. Headquartered in New Gloucester, Maine, Unity serves learners nationwide through flexible, affordable, and career-focused programs delivered across multiple modalities, including online, hybrid, and in-person.

Operating on an Enterprise Model, the university is organized into Sustainable Education Business Units (SEBUs), each responsible for growth, viability, and innovation within its educational domain. This structure enables Unity to scale quickly, align resources to market demand, and ensure that every program is directly tied to workforce relevance and environmental sustainability.

Unity Environmental University is proud to be ranked as the #1 private university in the nation on the 2024 Social Mobility Index (SMI). This recognition marks a significant rise from Unity’s already strong 2023 position in the top 15%, reflecting the university’s commitment to fostering economic opportunity, career readiness, and upward mobility for its more than 9,100 learners. As President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury notes, “Our recognition particularly resonates because it validates our core belief: that education should be available to anyone with the desire to learn. Thanks to our Enterprise Model, we’ve eliminated traditional barriers by creating a delivery system that brings quality education to any location where learners gather. This approach particularly benefits first-generation students, working adults, and those from economically challenged backgrounds—the very populations the SMI recognizes as critical to our nation’s future.”

Unity is nationally recognized for pioneering 90-credit Applied Bachelor’s and Professional Studies degrees and an AI-first learner experience that integrates data-driven advising, career alignment, and personalized learning pathways. The institution maintains full accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) and partners with industry, government, and nonprofit organizations to deliver education that meets both learner and employer needs.

Unity’s commitment to sustainability, affordability, and access guides every strategic decision. Its tuition-freeze pledge through 2030, combined with its emphasis on measurable learning outcomes and environmental impact, positions Unity as a national leader in re-engineering higher education for the 21st century.

Purpose of the Position

Unity Environmental University seeks an experienced and innovative Inaugural Vice President for New Student Enrollment to join at a critical moment marked by tremendous growth and forward momentum. As the University prepares to embark on an ambitious strategic plan aimed at growing its overall impact and reach, it needs a strategic and results-oriented Vice President to develop and implement an effective recruitment strategy centered on delivering qualified prospects and building a scalable infrastructure for sustained growth. In this highly visible role, the Vice President will be charged with generating measurable enrollment growth across all programs including online, hybrid, and in-person, with a primary emphasis on online pathways. This leader will serve as the subject matter expert in developing and operationalizing a comprehensive recruitment strategy that combines internal capacity with external partnerships ensuring key performance and cost-of-acquisition objectives are achieved. Reporting directly to the President & Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President will be a key member of the senior staff partnering with colleagues across the institution to ensure that the overarching enrollment strategy aligns with student demands, educational programs, and market needs.

The ideal candidate will be a proactive, goal-oriented, yet agile leader with a proven track record of setting and achieving effective recruitment strategies within higher education. The Vice President will bring demonstrated success in developing and implementing recruitment and enrollment strategies in dynamic environments, proactive leadership, outstanding interpersonal skills, and a passion for the university’s mission and value proposition. The successful candidate must be a higher education enrollment leader with a strong understanding of enrollment management emerging trends and industry best practices. Candidates must leverage data-driven enrollment and recruitment strategies to achieve the university’s ambitious growth targets. This role requires a leader who can balance overarching strategy alongside day-to-day execution with a focus on exceptional customer service. The Vice President will have a proven track record of navigating a highly competitive educational landscape to reach targeted audiences beyond traditional methods and outlets.

Enterprise Context

Unity Environmental University operates on an Enterprise Model, organized into Sustainable Education Business Units (SEBUs). Each SEBU is accountable for viability and growth within its program areas. Recruitment success is directly tied to SEBU performance and to the institution’s ability to expand beyond its historical core programs into new national markets. Each SEBU establishes a cost-of-acquisition (COA) model that defines the allowable recruitment investment per enrolled learner and serves as the financial framework guiding recruitment activity. The Vice President for New Student Enrollment is responsible for executing strategies that achieve or exceed SEBU enrollment thresholds while maintaining COA performance within SEBU-defined parameters.

Viability Thresholds per SEBU per Baccalaureate Term

•  Online: minimum enrollment of 1,000 degree-seeking students per term.
• 90-Credit Applied Online Programs: minimum enrollment of 250 degree-seeking students per term.
• In-Person: minimum enrollment of 30 degree-seeking students per term.

Viability Thresholds per SEBU per Graduate Term

• Online: minimum enrollment of 250 degree-seeking students per term.

The Vice President for New Student Enrollment is accountable for building and sustaining a recruitment operation that achieves or exceeds these thresholds.

Lifecycle Scope

Ownership extends across the enrollment funnel through Census Day (Prospect → Inquiry → Applicant → Decision → Confirmed → Course Start Learner). Upon census, lifecycle responsibility transitions to Student Success.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior advisor and subject matter expert on all university-wide recruitment initiatives related to performance, risk, and capacity.
• Serve as the face of recruitment advancing relationships with key strategic partners positioning the institution as the go-to university for flexible, affordable, and career-focused programs.
• Stand up a high-performing in-house recruitment operation that can scale nationally, integrating call center, 1:1 outreach, and digital engagement.
• Develop and implement a strategic recruitment plan aimed at identifying, recruiting, and enrolling students in accordance with the university’s mission and institutional goals.
• Evaluate, select, and manage outsourced vendors to supplement internal capacity and provide additional support to ensure aggressive growth targets are being achieved.
• Expand institutional reach beyond core programs into new markets through a comprehensive national recruitment strategy across B2C, B2B, graduate, adult, bachelor’s, and 90-credit programs.
• Implement data-driven lead generation, pipeline management, and conversion strategies aligned with overall institutional goals and to cost-of-acquisition metrics.
• Manage media spend and advertising strategies across digital, broadcast, print, and event-based channels to maximize reach and efficiency. Partner with marketing for collateral and messaging; fully own conversion performance.
• Develop scalable frameworks for recurring event-based recruitment to support sustained national presence.
• Drive outreach through multiple channels, including partnerships, employer pipelines, events, and field-based recruitment.
• Establish SLAs, scripts, and KPIs for all outreach and conversion functions implementing dashboards, cadences, and rapid-response adjustments tied to performance data.
• Ensure regulatory and accreditation compliance across all recruitment activities.
• Lead a highly effective and proactive team with a focus on continuous improvement and service excellence in support of enterprise-wide endeavors.
• Develop and implement metrics and key performance indicators to determine ongoing progress against university goals.
• Build a culture of accountability and growth mindset, ensuring every function is tied to key measurable objectives and outputs.
• Maintain strong collaborative relationships with key internal stakeholders to ensure success of short and long-term enrollment plans.
• Provide timely reporting and scenario planning to institutional leadership to inform key decision making.
• Drive continuous improvement and operational resilience within a cost-of-acquisition model.

Year One Critical Success Factors

Operational Build

• Stand up a fully functional in-house recruitment operation, including call center and outreach capacity.
• Implement live dashboards and weekly reporting with pivot authority based on data.
• Establish seamless transition at Census Day to Student Success.

Enrollment Output

• Deliver measurable net new enrollment growth across online and in-person markets.
• Demonstrate full operating capacity with recruitment systems, processes, and personnel in place.
• Achieve or exceed SEBU viability term thresholds enrollment targets for all programs. For undergraduate programs, the enrollment goal is 1,000 online, 250 applied online, and 30 in-person per term. For graduate programs, the enrollment target is a minimum of 250 online degree seekers per term.

Evaluation

• Success is defined by both enrollment outcomes and full operational build-out, measured at Census Day.
• Variance from numeric targets is acceptable when operating capacity is demonstrably achieved.

Experience and Professional Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, higher education administration, or a related field coupled with a minimum of 3–5 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in student recruitment.
• Demonstrated success leading national recruitment strategies and operations with an emphasis on online enrollment and adaptability to in-person or hybrid offerings.
• Proven track record of building effective recruitment strategies with high schools, businesses, industry partners, and other strategic sources.
• An entrepreneurial and creative approach to building and increasing enrollment coupled with the ability to strategically allocate and manage resources during a period of transformation and growth.
• Exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills coupled with the ability to inspire students, faculty, staff, external stakeholders, and key industry partners.
• Proven ability to build or transform recruitment functions and deliver measurable enrollment growth.
• Experience managing both internal teams and external vendors to achieve ambitious recruitment goals.
• Proficiency in data-driven execution, pipeline management, and conversion optimization.
• Experience with CRM platforms to support data-driven execution, pipeline management, and conversion optimization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ten or more years of progressively responsible leadership in student recruitment.
• Direct experience with Salesforce as a CRM system.
• Experience managing or collaborating on media buys and digital advertising campaigns to optimize lead generation and cost-of-acquisition performance.
• Advanced degree in business, marketing, higher education administration, or a related field.

Unity Environmental University does not discriminate based on race, color, ancestry or national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, or other status protected under local, state, or federal laws in the recruitment and admission of students, educational policies and procedures, and in the recruitment and employment of employees. We offer reasonable accommodation to applicants and to qualified individuals with disabilities, including accommodation in the application process. Unity Environmental University is an equal opportunity employer and operates in accordance with federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination.