Assistant Director, Upper School Boarding & Admissions

Employment Terms: F/T, Permanent
Start Date: September/October 2023
Position Overview
The primary role of the Admission Office is to recruit, assess, enroll, and retain mission-appropriate students and families who will thrive as part of the UCC community. Reporting to the Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission, the Assistant Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission supports all aspects of the Upper School (Years 8-12) Day and Boarding student recruitment and admission process, contributing to a positive applicant experience and sound decision-making. This role acts as an important ambassador for UCC, locally, nationally, and globally.
Duties And Responsibilities
Recruitment, Event Management, Outreach and Marketing

• Oversee and arrange all tours to the Upper School and the overnight boarding stays.
• With support of the Director of Admission, Upper School and Boarding, proactively cultivates leads with boarding families, boarding agents and sending schools.
• Creates and drives communications with Upper School and Boarding candidates through maintenance and consistent messaging of candidate interest lists using the OnBoard database and other marketing platforms.
• Assists in the development and maintenance of admission print and electronic material (including the website) by proactively identifying and communicating needed updates to the Director and the Marketing and Communications department.
• Represents, as required, the College at school fairs, visits and association/alumni events.
• Supports the organization of, and attends, recruitment events (in person and online) in the Greater Toronto Area, at other locations in Ontario and Canada, and internationally. This includes on and off campus fairs, school visits, associate/alumni events, among others.
• With the support of the Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission, plans boarding events and tours at sending schools.
• Delivers campus tours with a focus on the Upper School, as needed.
• Supports organization, planning, and delivery of on-campus events including Open Houses, Information Sessions, New to Blue and summer tours with logistical leadership from the Admission Assistant.

Admission Process

• Completes file review process and participates in Admission Decision Committee meetings.
• Coordinates and schedules all Upper School Day and Boarding interviews.
• Supports the end-to-end admission process (cultivation, assessment, decision, feedback, and transition) for Upper School (Years 8-12) Day and Boarding applicants, at the direction of the Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission.
• Maintains candidate files to ensure they are complete and ready for student interviews and next steps.
• Oversees the timely progression of applicants through the funnel to ensure prompt file completion.
• Coordinates and administers standardized testing, conducts candidate and parent interviews, and evaluates report cards and references in collaboration with the Admission Team and the University Counselling Office and Registrar.
• Participates in the admission database set-up and organization, and uses the admission database effectively to ensure clean, usable data is available to support decision-making and an optimal user experience.

New Student and Family Onboarding

• Prepares reports including new student profiles, credit equivalencies summaries, ELL candidate lists and demographic information as required for the Academic Dean, University Counsellors or Director of Residential Life.
• Ensures supportive new student transition by resource boards, visa documentation and handling all manner of new family requests with support from the Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission.
• Coordinates and invigilates math and second language assessments.
• Ensures an effective and collaborative relationship with the Program Team, WWCFL, Dean of Students, Language and Math Chairs, Director of Residential Life and others, to allow for a smooth transitioning and placement of new students.
• Serves as a main point of contact for new Upper School and Boarding families, in collaboration with the Director, Upper School and Boarding Admission.
• Counsels incoming families, as well as the UCC extended admission team, around grade placement (working with registrar, WWCFL and UCO).

Retention

• Supports the Vice-Principal, Enrolment Management and the Directors, of Preparatory School and Upper School and Boarding Admission to enhance the approach to student retention through data gathering, analysis, and action planning.

Customer Service

• Delivers outstanding customer service, ensuring that all prospective applicant families feel welcome and supported in their interactions with UCC.
• Supports post-offer transitions and conversations for all families with empathy and with an emphasis on relationship development.
• Maintains the highest level of professional integrity.
• Maintains membership and professional involvement in organizations related to admission or supportive to its goals.
• Advances UCC’s value of pluralism by supporting a fair, equitable, and unbiased process and engaging in innovative community outreach.

Teamwork

• Acts as a mentor for an IB continuum project (PYP Exhibition, MYP Personal Project, or DP Extended Essay).
• Takes on other duties as needed to support the Director, Prep School Admission and the Vice-Principal, Enrolment Management, as needed.
• Undertakes general administrative office duties to support the Admission Team in day-to-day operation, as needed.
• Builds community through team trust and shared purpose.
• Offers and receives feedback to continuously improve the process and team culture.
• Maintains effective and collaborative relationships with other roles and departments, including the Wernham West Centre for Learning, International Baccalaureate Coordinators, the Director of Residential Life, and the Head and Assistant Heads of the Upper School.
• Builds and maintains strong partnership with the Marketing and Communications Team to continuously refine and update materials.

Vision, Mission, Values Alignment

• Enables and participates in brave conversations about identity, marginalization, bias, power, privilege, and barriers in service to students and families, while maintaining productive working relationships.
• Stimulates open discussion of problems and encourages differences of opinion, while maintaining an inclusive climate of appreciation and trust for those who come from different backgrounds or think differently.
• Understands the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices.
• Actively advances and upholds the vision, mission, and values of the College in all aspects of the work.

Knowledge, Competencies And Experience

• Teaching experience is an asset;
• Seeks to understand issues relating to implicit bias, stereotype threat and institutionalized prejudice;
• Event planning and coordination experience and knowledge;
• At least three years of candidate interview experience, preferably in an independent school admission context;
• Experience and knowledge of effective use of Blackbaud OnBoard platform or other similar admission database;
• Adjusts own attitudes and beliefs because of working within and learning from the diversity of communities and cultures. Promotes others' engagement with diversity;
• Familiarity with the independent school environment in Toronto and boarding school environment in Canada;
• Experience with Google suite of tools;
• Seeks to understand the influence of one’s own assumptions, judgments and/or biases during interactions with one’s own culture and the culture of others;
• University degree preferred;
• Marketing and communications experience and knowledge is an asset.
• At least three years of relevant work experience, preferably in independent school admission or related function(s);
• Knowledge of adolescent development and IB and high school and Boarding education preferred;
• Understanding of various cultures and identities, particularly with respect to anti-bias efforts in education and assessment;

If you have the majority of the qualifications we’re looking for, we encourage you to express your interest by submitting your application.
What We Offer

• Floating holidays that recognizes our employees diverse religious and cultural practices; offers three paid floating holidays per year instead of three statutory public holidays of their choosing.
• Opportunities for professional development to support life-long learning of skills and knowledge;
• Paid volunteer time off to become involved in you’re communities, lending voluntary support to programs
• Opportunity for casual dress days.
• Excellent mental health, medical and dental benefit plans (including Health Care and Lifestyle Spending Accounts, Employee Assistance programme and onsite wellbeing programming;
• Ongoing community events and employee social events throughout the academic year;
• Free on campus parking;
• Fabulous collaborative team members and colleagues;
• Generous pension / retirement plan and paid time off plans: vacation / holidays, personal emergency leave, personal leave, parental leave top-up and flexible self-funded leaves;

UCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity, encouraging applications from all qualified individuals and welcoming applications from women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ persons. UCC embraces pluralism – celebrating differences, cherishing similarities, and giving voice to multiple perspectives. If you are contacted regarding a UCC opportunity, please advise if you require any accommodations.