About American Jewish University and the Jewish Learning Experience

American Jewish University (AJU)’s mission is to advance and elevate the Jewish journey of individuals, organizations, and our community through scholarship, teaching, engaged conversation, and outreach. With locations in Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and Simi Valley, CA, and distance education programs that reach learners nationally and globally, AJU is a private, not-for-profit higher education institution that provides accredited academic and nonacademic programming.

The Jewish Learning Experience (JLE) is one of AJU’s newer and exciting academic initiatives, which delivers for-credit, undergraduate-level Jewish Studies courses to high school students. JLE students participate in deep and meaningful online cohort-based learning in partnership with their Jewish congregational communities and synagogues. For the 2024-25 academic year, the JLE program is projected to enroll over 200 students across 10 states.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Director of Undergraduate Initiatives, the Coordinator of Undergraduate Initiatives will assist in the continued efforts to support, grow, and sustain the JLE program. This position is responsible for all aspects of admissions recruitment and counseling of prospective JLE students and support in programmatic development initiatives relevant to the Director.

Duties include monitoring and identifying best practices and trends in student recruitment/program marketing for campaigns, developing and participating in outreach initiatives and events, meeting and communicating with prospective students, planning and presenting at recruitment/enrollment events and open houses, supporting prospects through their application processes, and developing and maintaining a network of community partners around programming initiatives. Through external monitoring of trends in admissions and management of the enrollment processes, this position is vital to the development of admissions and enrollment management while reaching enrollment goals.

The ideal candidate for this position is passionate about AJU’s mission, has a positive attitude, enthusiasm for supporting and engaging with parents, students, site-facilitators, and staff, possesses high standards for integrity, and a commitment to highly ethical practices. It is preferred, but not required, that this candidate work both on campus regularly at AJU’s Bel Air location and in a virtual/remote setting. A significant portion of the work in supporting the JLE will be conducted via Zoom/Teams and may require time-zone accommodations.

Primary Responsibilities

60% Admissions & Enrollment Support

• Serve as primary technical support for JLE parents/students/communities with the University’s admissions/enrollment management services.
• Supports applicants with processes, potentially calling/video conferencing them to help complete application process.
• Supports JLE’s Director of Undergraduate Initiatives with assigning application checklists and/or process workflows for applicants.
• Liaises with Director of Undergraduate Initiatives on admissions set up, creating applications, enrollment verification contracts, and importing and extracting data from system for multiple departments and/or purposes.
• Configures and pushes email notifications for admissions applicants in system based on checklists/admissions processes for JLE.
• Creates and manages New Student Orientation forms in-system for JLE.
• Partners with Accounting for application fees, tuition deposits, institutional aid, external scholarship, and charges for JLE.
• Provides support, training, and consultation with academic administration on issues related to system-functionalities and tools to students and community facilitators.
• Resolves helpdesk tickets regarding admissions system from prospective students, students, parents, community facilitators, and overall admissions inquiries.
• Supports IT in the reporting of technical issues, bugs, and advanced issues of system to platform provider.
• Ensures integrity of data by processing record corrections as needed.
• Maintains knowledge base of admissions system features, limitations, and processes.

15% Programmatic Developmental Support

• Import learning content into Canvas Learning Management System for all course sections.
• Create training tutorials, videos, and checklists for onboarding and user-tools/knowledge.
• Mine system-data for testimonial content to be utilized by Marketing and Communications.
• Administer, disseminate, evaluate, and present on student and facilitator course evaluations and experience surveys.
• Supports in community site-onboarding, which may include one-on-one training and troubleshooting.
• Create and maintain lists of organizations for outreach communications, including researching websites for contact information.
• Partners with Marketing and Communications and Advancement to produce content for the JLE website, social media initiatives, and fundraising.

10% Event Coordination and Recruitment

• Prepares, manages, and actively participates in recruitment programs and events.
• Partners with Marketing and Communications to produce content for JLE recruitment and events.
• Represent the institution externally in recruitment and community outreach initiatives.
• Present to individual students, families, and groups of prospective students and community members.
• Coordinates the purchase and distribution of branded promotional products (swag).
• Prepares and monitors recruitment initiatives to develop accurate applicant and inquiry reports on a regular basis to determine recruitment program effectiveness.
• Implements recruitment tracking and advising system for reporting.

10% Data Reporting

• Creates and produces enrollment reports for AJU leadership.
• Prepares and monitors recruitment initiatives to develop accurate applicant and inquiry reports on a regular basis to determine recruitment program effectiveness.
• Provide data-evidenced recommendations for expansion on both short-and-long term plans.
• Prepares reports on conversion rates.
• Implements recruitment tracking and advising system.
• Develops and implements best practices in enrollment data to ensure quality and integrity of data, processes, and reports.
• Maintains knowledge of trends in Admissions and Enrollment Management, providing reports to leadership, when appropriate.

5% Support and other related duties

• Office management, customer service, and administrative operations as needed in a highly collaborative environment.
• Complete other related duties and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
• Minimum 3-5 experience in preferably in admissions, recruiting, or outreach.
• Experience working with Jewish organizations, congregations, synagogues, or nonprofits is highly desirable.
• Experience working with Hubspot (CRM), Populi (SIS), and Canvas LMS, or comparable systems is highly desirable.
• Strong customer service orientation with collaborative work style.
• The ability to work independently or with minimal supervision is critical. This individual must possess the characteristics of initiative, cooperativeness, loyalty, and integrity.
• Experience working with recruitment/admissions data analysis and reporting.
• Proficient in use of technology web applications, and student information systems.
• Strong technical and computer skills: Proficiency with the Microsoft Office software products, Adobe Acrobat, Google Docs/SharePoint; ability to learn and use email marketing and database systems (like MailChimp), various social media platforms, and perform basic internet research.
• Ability to work effectively with a variety of constituencies including students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, trustees, government and nonprofit officials, and business leaders in a manner that positively portrays AJU and its programs, personnel, and mission.
• Ability to oversee multiple diverse projects at one time.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills with strong attention to detail.
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving ability.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None