Faculty/Administrative/Service Department s2

Post Details Last Updated: 7/12/2013 Faculty/Administrative/Service Recruitment and Admissions, Registry Department:

Job Title: Head of Admissions

Job Family & Job Level Professional Level 6

Responsible to: Director of Recruitment and Admissions

Responsible for: Admissions Team

Job Purpose Statement

To manage the admissions process, ensuring that it is effective, efficient, sustainable and responsive to both national and international demand.

To play a central role in the development and implementation of the University’s strategy and policy on admissions. To lead and manage the central admissions office which consists of a team of twenty staff. The role holder must also ensure that the admissions systems, protocols and processes are optimally configured for both the central and Faculty based admissions teams.

Problem Solving, Accountability and Dimensions of the role

The University has recently successfully transferred from a devolved to a majority integrated admissions model in the 2012/13 undergraduate admissions cycle and the 2013/14 admissions cycle for taught postgraduate programmes. In this context, we are seeking a Head of Admissions who will lead the central team and make a substantial contribution to the future shape of the admissions process, and by doing so, will help ensure that the University achieves its strategic aims. In recent admissions cycles, the University of Surrey has received a record number of applications, and the role holder will be expected to continually improve our processes to ensure we have a highly efficient admissions system in place.

Reporting to the Director of Recruitment and Admissions, the Head of Admissions will be accountable for the determination and implementation of institutional policy in relation to admissions across the university. S/he will be responsible for the development of continued strategic and operational process improvement within this area, including the introduction of paperless processing of applications.

The Head of Admissions shall also be responsible for developing and implementing operational plans and contributing to the longer term university strategy for this area of activity. The postholder will engage regularly with staff in departments across the university through consultation, dialogue and negotiation, in order to identify and implement policy and best practice changes.

The role holder, will be responsible for the admissions management information team, and will be responsible for producing efficient and effective management information to aid decision making both within the Directorate and the wider University community.

Being fully informed about developments and initiatives nationally and internationally, with detailed, specialised knowledge of admissions and the capabilities of a student database to support this activity, s/he will identify, plan and deliver a programme to meet admissions related training needs. The post holder will also be responsible for the creation, dissemination and maintenance of authoritative process documentation and for appropriate data and process audit across the university. S/he will be responsible for setting quality and professional standards and management of the service delivery for the department.

Being ideally experienced with SITS, or a similar student database system, the postholder will take the lead in management of their team to ensure the future development of admissions related SITS processes, generating a range of relevant management information, drawing on internal and external sources and providing relevant interpretation and authoritative advice and guidance on that information.

The post holder will be required to assess and interpret user needs, identifying trends, generating ideas and testing innovative solutions to problems and issues where solutions are not always obvious. The role holder will liaise closely with the Planning Office to ensure admissions prediction models are as accurate as possible, and ensuring this intelligence is used in the offer making strategy.

S/he will be responsible for managing and delivering assigned activities to time and budget, adjusting priorities to meet deadlines and responding to changing circumstances and managing conflicting demands.

Background Information/Relationships The post holder will be responsible for managing the integrated admissions system across the University, working closely with colleagues in the Recruitment teams, Marketing and Communications as well as with other Registry Section Heads, Faculty Registrars and Admissions Tutors across the university.

This job purpose reflects the core activities of the post. As the Department/Faculty and the post-holder develop, there will inevitably be some changes to the duties for which the post is responsible, and possibly to the emphasis of the post itself. The University expects that the post-holder will recognise this and will adopt a flexible approach to work. This could include undertaking relevant training where necessary.

Should significant changes to the job purpose become necessary, the post-holder will be consulted and the changes reflected in a revised job purpose.

Person Specification This section describes the sum total of knowledge, experience & competence required by the post holder that is necessary for standard acceptable performance in carrying out this role.

Qualifications and Professional Memberships Essential / Desirable

Professionally qualified with a relevant degree or postgraduate qualification, broad demonstrable E management experience in similar or related role OR Substantial vocational and relevant management experience demonstrating management ability in an appropriate professional or specialist area, and success in similar or related roles, supported by evidence of significant appropriate specialist knowledge

Technical Competencies (Experience and Knowledge) This section contains the Essential/ Level level of competency required to carry out the role (please refer to the competency Desirable 1-3 framework for clarification where needed and the Job Families Booklet).

Demonstrable and substantial experience of working within an admissions E 3 environment Direct managerial track record with demonstrable skills such as coaching, E 3 motivation and managing performance Experience of process review and process improvement E 3 Experienced with the production of efficient and effective management information E 3 relating to admissions Knowledge of student records system E 3 Detailed knowledge of specialist work systems, practices and processes relevant E 3 to the role and the work area: UCAS, UKBA Tier 4, ATAS and DBS Experience of Higher Education Sector E 3 Financial training relevant to management and control of budgets D n/a Experience of SITS student record system D n/a

Core Competencies This section contains the level of competency required to carry out this role. Level (Please refer to the competency framework for clarification where needed). N/A (not applicable) should be 1-3 placed, where the competency is not a requirement of the grade. Communication 3 Adaptability / Flexibility 3 Customer/Client service and support 3 Planning and Organising 3 Teamwork 3 Continuous Improvement 3 Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills 3 Leadership / Management 3 Creative and Analytical Thinking 2 Influencing, Persuasion and Negotiation Skills 3 Strategic Thinking 3 Organisational Information All staff are expected to: Positively support equality of opportunity and equity of treatment to colleagues and students in accordance with the University of Surrey Equal Opportunities Policy.

Help maintain a safe working environment by:  Attending training in Health and Safety requirements as necessary, both on appointment and as changes in duties and techniques demand.  Following local codes of safe working practices and the University of Surrey Health and Safety Policy.  Excellent environmental performance is a strategic objective for the University of Surrey. All staff are encouraged to work to achieve the aims of our Environmental Policy and promote awareness to colleagues and students.  Undertake such other duties within the scope of the post as may be requested by your Manager.

Head of Admissions

Admissions UG team PG team Data team

Key Responsibilities This document is not designed to be a list of all tasks undertaken but an outline record of the main responsibilities (5 to 8 maximum) and should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Job Purpose.

1. To lead and manage the admissions team in all aspects of undergraduate and postgraduate admissions (including UCAS, Tier 4, ATAS, & DBS); to manage and develop admissions staff 2. To act as official UCAS correspondent as the formal channel of communication between the University and UCAS; advising admissions tutors, applicants and others on UCAS and University of Surrey admissions policies and good practice, ensuring consistency in admissions processes throughout the year and across clearing 3. To organise the annual Clearing and Confirmation process 4. To develop, implement and monitor admissions policies to ensure compliance with internal and national requirements, QAA Codes of Practice, Visa Issues, Data Protection and consumer law etc; 5. To keep abreast of international qualification developments and to ensure the international qualification equivalence information used by all admissions staff is regularly reviewed and updated where appropriate 6. To organise the admissions contribution for registration of new students; and work with marketing and student recruitment to ensure the accuracy and currency of all official documentation provided to students 7. To provide timely and accurate reporting and analysis of application offers and enrolments to senior management 8. To raise the profile of the university at selected events and conferences; to contribute positively to recruitment activities of the University, including open days, HE fairs, schools liaison etc N.B. The above list is not exhaustive.