The University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) is hiring for an Admissions & Fellowships Specialist.

Admissions & Fellowships Specialist 

Posted April 17, 2024

HCDE has an outstanding opportunity for a full time Admissions & Fellowships Specialist (Program Operations Specialist) to join our student services team. The Admissions & Enrollment Specialist provides a critical role in supporting the admissions, fellowships and enrollment operations for all programs in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) in the College of Engineering (undergraduate, master, certificate, and PhD).

This position oversees the application process for all HCDE programs, including developing a system for tracking candidates throughout their application journey and ensuring application processes and requirements adhere to UW and college-wide policies. The Admissions and Enrollment Specialist will work closely with Student Services staff as well as Faculty Program Chairs and HCDE leadership to oversee admission and fellowship application timelines, process for reviewing, communicating results, and tracking current student enrollments and curriculum offerings. This position will provide updates and respond to questions about the application process to prospective students.  The Admissions & Enrollment Specialist must be able to develop a thorough knowledge of University, UW Continuum College (PCE) and Graduate School policies, and an understanding of program administration, curriculum and operational activities.

We are looking for an individual who:

• Enjoys working with data and is detail-oriented to generate, track, and verify project data with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Is organized and resourceful at solving problems.
• Demonstrates commitment to valuing diversity and increasing access to education for underrepresented populations.
• Predicts and analyzes enrollment trends and instructional support assignments.
• Able to manage all aspects of the application process from responding to inquiries from applicants via e-mail and remote meetings, to processing application files for review, to assisting with admission and enrollment tasks.
• Ensures close collaboration and effective communication with all stakeholders in the process including the Student Services team, faculty reviewers, UW Central offices, College of Engineering Dean’s Office, and non-UW advising offices.

Duties & Responsibilities

Admissions & Fellowships (60%)

• Oversee the operational functions of the application process for all graduate and undergraduate admissions and fellowships in Human Centered Design & Engineering, including tracking and monitoring all submitted applications and ensuring admissions decisions are issued in a timely manner.
• Collaborate with the Director of Academic Services, Faculty Program Chairs and committees to develop admissions timelines, accuracy in application requirements, coordinate interviews, and provide updates to various stakeholders.
• Operate UW graduate and undergraduate application online systems to improve application layout, monitor and track applications, troubleshoot issues, and enter decisions.
• Update policies, procedure and systems as needed to integrate changes at the program, department, and university level.
• Ensure compliance with all policies set forth by the UW Admissions office, Undergraduate College of Engineering, and HCDE.
• Respond to inquiries from prospective applicants in the shared advising email inbox pertaining to application requirements, process & timeline, and status updates.
• Send out calls for reviewers from internal and external stakeholders. Collaborate with the academic advisors to schedule and facilitate admissions review training for reviewers.
• Review applications, transcripts and degree audits for completeness and minimum eligibility requirements for application reviews by committee members.
• Assign applications to members of the admissions committees for all programs based on the review process for each individual program. Communicate with admissions committee members on a regular basis to ensure that members understand the process and adhere to deadlines.
• Track admitted students as they accept or decline the offer of admission and new student’s progress as they complete required steps prior to matriculation.
• Oversee website content to assure accuracy. Coordinate with academic advisors and the Communication Managers for updates to all admissions webpages.
• Collaborate with the Communications Manager to assess post application survey data.
• Verify award balances with HCDE Fiscal Staff and ensure fellowship awards are processed.

Data Systems and Management (15%)

• Record and summarize applicant and enrollment data to prepare reports for both internal and external data requests.
• Track quarterly course enrollments and TA assignments over time and create reports to support admission offers, instructional assignments, and resources for current students.
• Facilitate the call for course offerings from Faculty Directors and advisors to assist in course planning for the next academic year.

Recruitment & Outreach (15%)

• Participate in HCDE Committee work to advocate for admissions pipeline programs.
• Lead efforts to increase applications and yield from systematically underrepresented and marginalized applicant populations.
• Schedule student and faculty panels and information sessions to highlight program content and undergraduate and graduate student success stories.

Administrative Duties (10%)

• Attend academic services meetings and participate in HCDE and University of Washington committees, working groups, events, and activities.
• Participate in professional development opportunities to expand the knowledge base for the position.
• Track student scholarships, experiential learning, and awards to increase opportunities for students.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 2-3 years work experience.
• Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Additional Requirements

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office/cloud-based tools (e.g. Excel/Google Suite/SharePoint/OneDrive and competent use of spreadsheet formulas and pivot tables (e.g. VLOOKUP, FILTER, COUNTIF functions in Excel or Google Sheets).
• Exercise a high degree of judgment, initiative, and responsibility, make independent decisions, and manage competing priorities using strong organizational skills to meet deadlines.
• Data driven/data curious and tech-savvy.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to be timely and professional in all interactions, and to work in a collaborative, team environment committed to social justice, diversity, and inclusiveness.
• Excellent problem solving and time management skills.
• Willingness and ability to learn new systems and to implement new processes in response to changes.

Desired Qualifications

• Two or more years of work experience in data collection, analysis, and reporting; advanced data analysis and visualization skills a plus (such as Tableau, Portal BI).
• Complex administrative support experience, preferably in higher education.
• Familiarity with UW Systems, Slate, MyGrad, UAPP, SBD, etc.
• Skills with systems integration (coordination of different databases and online tools).
• Experience with evaluation tools (such as MS/Google Forms, Surveymonkey, statistical software).
• Experience working with students and staff in a university setting, in capacity constrained majors.

Apply via the University of Washington Employment website.