HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
NATIONAL OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND RECRUITMENT

Search Reopened
Regional Director of Admissions and Recruitment (Two openings: Cincinnati, OH and New York, NY)

HUC-JIR seeks to fill two positions of Regional Director of Admissions and Recruitment (“the position”), one based on the Cincinnati campus and one on the New York campus. These represent two of three such positions nationally (the third based on the College’s Los Angeles campus). The Regional Director of Admissions and Recruitment is a member of the National Office of Admissions and Recruitment and reports to the Associate Provost for Enrollment and Planning, a member of HUC-JIR’s national administration. In each case, the position will also consult closely with the Dean and program directors of its respective campus.

The primary responsibility of each Regional Director position is the recruitment of students, in its respective region of the U.S., for all of HUC-JIR’s academic programs: Rabbinical Program (on all three campuses), School of Sacred Music (based in New York), Graduate School (Cincinnati), Schools of Education (Los Angeles and New York), and School of Jewish Communal Service (Los Angeles).

Each position also has significant program responsibilities in addition to direct student recruitment. For the Cincinnati position, this is oversight of all aspects of the College’s Youth Programs: learning weekends (with an implicit recruitment component) offered on each HUC-JIR campus for high-school and college students. The New York position is newly established (recruitment having been handled previously by the associate dean of the campus on a part-time basis). As a result, the additional program responsibilities of this position will be determined based on the background, strengths, and interests of the individual who is hired.

The primary admissions and recruitment responsibilities of each Regional Director are:

• Initiating contact with prospective students at conferences (URJ, Hillel), URJ camps, and on college campuses;
• Maintaining ongoing communication with prospects through e-mail, telephone, and mail in order to encourage their application to the College;
• Arranging visits to the campus for individual candidates as well as organized groups of potential students in the region, such as confirmation classes, and congregation youth groups;
• Conducting preliminary interviews with candidates, and organizing and participating in the formal evaluation and selection process with faculty and other College representatives;
• Working with the URJ’s Youth and Informal Education Programs, as well as education programs of other Jewish organizations, to identify and attract prospective students;
• Developing and maintaining contacts among regional alumni who can introduce prospective students to the College and serve as informal recruiters;
• Participating in admissions and recruitment planning with the Associate Provost and other regional admissions directors; and
• Serving as a link between the National Office of Admissions & Recruitment and the various constituencies of the Regional Director’s campus, in order to inform the national admissions strategy with the specific needs and concerns of that campus.

For the Cincinnati position, the major responsibilities vis-à-vis Youth Programs include:

• Hiring and supervising three student interns from the rabbinical program in their planning, development, and execution of Youth Programs events;
• Attending all Cincinnati Youth Programs events and conducting recruitment sessions during the weekends;
• Maintaining ongoing communication with Youth Program participants to encourage their interest in HUC-JIR graduate and professional programs and their application at the appropriate time;
• Working with URJ staff to create new opportunities for HUC-JIR relationships with URJ programs such as the Meitav Fellowship, E.I.E., Kesher, NFTY, and NFTY-in-Israel; and
• Working with the Associate Provost and other regional admissions directors to expand effective youth programming to the NY and LA campuses.

The strongest candidates for the position will possess at least a master’s degree and will demonstrate extensive knowledge of HUC-JIR and the Reform Jewish Movement. Alumni of HUC-JIR programs in particular are encouraged to apply.

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter as soon as possible to: Anita Rogers, Assistant to the Associate Provost, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, One West Fourth Street, New York, New York, 10012. (These materials may be submitted via e-mail, as attachments formatted in Microsoft Word, to: arogers@huc.edu.) Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. The College reserves the right to fill both, either, or neither of the positions, depending on the suitability of candidates and the availability of funding.