New England Conservatory, an independent not-for-profit institution, is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools, educating and training musicians of all ages from around the world. With music students representing more than 40 countries, NEC cultivates a diverse, dynamic community for students, providing them with performance opportunities and high-caliber training by 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of making and teaching music through college-level musical training in classical, jazz, and Contemporary Improvisation. It offers unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships that empower students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.
NEC is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.
New England Conservatory (NEC) has determined that the highest possible rate of COVID-19 vaccination offers the best assurance of safeguarding the health of all members of our community. Therefore, NEC is requiring all employees to receive the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by September 3, 2021. All newly hired employees at NEC must receive the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before they begin work, unless they are approved for a medical or religious exemption. Additionally, all members of the NEC community are required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster by February 1, 2022, or within fourteen days of eligibility. For more information, please contact NEC Human Resources.
JOB SUMMARY:
The Associate Director serves as a senior administrator for the Preparatory School (Prep) at New England Conservatory (NEC). This position directs and provides oversight for financial management, faculty contracts and payroll, student registration, and database management. The Associate Director helps to ensure the implementation of NEC Prep’s strategic plan and alignment to the organization’s mission and vision. The Associate Director manages course sections and enrollments, tuition/fee payments and collections, financial aid and scholarships, and student records for all programs. This position works directly with students, parents, and families to maximize customer satisfaction and minimize attrition during registration and throughout students’ course of study. This position reports to the Dean and Director of the Preparatory School and provides supervision to Prep’s Admissions and Enrollment Manager.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
Budget Management
Serve as the budget director of Prep by reviewing department budgets with the appropriate staff members as necessary.
Work directly with the Dean in the yearly budget planning and quarterly budget revisions.
Prepare and track monthly enrollment reports.
Create and track complete and accurate financial and enrollment reports while also serving as a key staff liaison with the Business Office.
Ensure that Prep and its programs have strong internal accounting and reporting controls in place to support the implementation of an optimized financial strategy.
Determine and manage budget and accounting procedures for special projects, tours, and committees.
Assist the Business Office with the receipt and accounting of all special grants, spendable and endowed funds to the Prep Division.
Business Relationships
Collect and analyze various data points to design a plan for expanded program development in local communities with corresponding recruitment strategies.
Review and analyze Prep’s partnerships, including Project Step, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Handel and Haydn, Boston Arts Academy, Boston String Academy and Conservatory Lab Charter School, to help guide recruitment, student engagement, belonging, resource deployment, invoicing, and partner/program development.
Further develop and design opportunities for Prep to partner with New England independent and public schools.
Prepare, distribute, and maintain faculty contracts in partnership with Human Resources.
Prepare monthly faculty payroll information and provide necessary updates to the Payroll Administrator.
Oversee the faculty evaluation process.
In partnership with the Associate Director of Operations, review, maintain and oversee the Prep Faculty Policies and Procedures manual of administrative and operational procedures.
Oversee initiatives marketing efforts to increase enrollment and brand awareness.
Enrollment Management
Manage all aspects of student registration, including the design and distribution of forms and the implementation of registration and add/drop policies and procedures.
Oversee student record management and maintenance, including records access, unregistered student follow-up, and provide responses to inquiries from students, parents/families, and NEC faculty and staff.
Stay current on enrollment data and trends in enrollment processes, serving as the resource for Prep student records and providing timely and accurate data for internal and external surveys/assessments while identifying patterns of growth and attrition.
Ensure departmental consistency of student record data entry, enabling productive analysis of enrollment periods.
Process invoicing and fee collection from third-party partner organizations, register and track students, and provide organizations with forms and updated information including fee schedules and payment policies.
Update learning management systems in advance of each term, reflecting changes in course codes, offerings, faculty assignments, and costs.
In collaboration with Technology and Finance, realize system improvements by assessing the registration processes to identify discrepancies between systems and patterns of suboptimal usage.
Liaise with external technology providers (learning management systems, student information systems, etc.) regarding system issues, including reporting of any bugs, enhancements requests, and support inquiries.
Effectively communicate with Business Office personnel on student account questions, assisting with the resolution of billing discrepancies.
Ensure timely invoicing of tuition/fees, timely responses to student/family financial inquiries, and aid in the collection of electronic student tuition/fee payments.
Manage the payment collection process for delinquent accounts; manage student payment plans, working with families to ensure that accounts stay current.
Process approved refunds and withdrawals through the registration system.
Provide accurate registration information as appropriate to faculty and staff, including reports, class rosters, enrollment statistics, mailing labels, and other student information requested.
Manage and oversee the issuance, distribution, verification, and proper usage of student identification cards and parent/guardian access cards.
Track seniors and student certificates; prepare information for Graduation and Awards ceremony including certificates, roster of graduating seniors, and accomplishments.
Fulfill requests for student transcripts.
Ensure registration and enrollment processes are adherent to internal policy and standards as well as relevant legal regulations.
Serve on the Scholarship Committee, tracking and process scholarship awards.
Assist with faculty and staff new hire training on the registration processes as necessary.
Other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor’s degree required and MBA degree preferred.
Three to five years of related professional experience.
Knowledge of data management and information technology is required.
Knowledge and experience in financial management, accounting and reporting exemplified by coursework in finance and/or accounting is preferred.
Strong computer skills and proficiency with Google Suite and Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and Power BI.
Good professional judgment and an ability to make sound decisions under pressure.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
Knowledge of cloud-based registration systems preferred, especially a familiarity with the ActiveNET Online Registration System and Slate.
Willingness to use personal cell phone for multi-factor authentication and other operationally necessary communications.
Excellent attention to detail.
Ability to work independently and as a strong teammate.
Understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) challenges in education.
BENEFITS:
35 Hour Work Week
Medical Plans
Dental
Vision
Retirement Savings Account
Annual Clery Report
In accordance with the federal Clery and Campus SaVE Acts, New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) commits to providing all current and prospective students and employees with access to the annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report. This report will provide the reader with a record of statistics regarding crimes that were reported in the NEC community during the previous three years as well as College policies and procedures, in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.This report may be accessed here . A paper copy can be requested by contacting NEC's Director of Public Safety at 290 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115.
