Running head: CAREER TRAJECTORY PAPER 1

8CAREER TRAJECTORY PAPER

Career Trajectory PaperJessica L. GoreGeorgia Southern University

Career Trajectory PaperIntroductionThe role of Admissions Professionals in Higher Education is a fairly new idea. Until the early 1900s, each institution had its own admission requirements and the president reviewed and admitted all qualified students (Leslie, 1997). As colleges began to grow, so did the number of students applying. The president could no longer devote his time, even with assistance, to reviewing applications. As a result, admissions professionals began to emerge at college across the county with Princeton hiring its first Director of Admissions in 1922 (Leslie, 1997). Since then, Admissions Offices and standards have developed and grown into what we know today and thus require professionals to fulfill these positions.For the past two and half years, I have been working in the area of Enrollment Management and Admissions at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA. I serve as a counselor and recruiter for undergraduate students and mainly serve high school seniors seeking a traditional four-year college experience. The opportunity to work with students as they are trying to decide on the next step in their educational career has its ups and downs, but overall, the experience is quite rewarding and an area of Higher Education that I aspire to remain in for years to come.As I continue to develop my career in Admissions, I hope to become an Associate Director. This career move is not only a move upwards, but it will allow me to still be involved in the admissions process as well as work with incoming students. Although becoming an Associate Director brings on more responsibilities and tasks, it is something that I want to take on and is a natural progression in the field of Admissions as many of the skills I have learned as a recruiter/counselor are necessary to be an effective Associate Director.Critical Points That Influenced Career DecisionAs an undergraduate student, I enjoyed public speaking and writing, but did not know what degree would suit me best. Public Relations incorporated these skills while also providing practical career experience in interviewing, event planning, advertising, design and research. As a result, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career that combined all of these skills.Upon graduating in 2008, I faced the dilemma of searching for a full-time job in a faltering economy. After two years time of working at a local insurance agency, an opening came available within the Admissions Office for an Admissions Counselor and Recruiter. After inquiring with several faculty and staff at Georgia College about the open position, I decided that I possessed many of the qualifications and skills that were required: as did the Director of Admissions. As I began to learn more about my new position, I realized that it combined all of the same aspects that I loved about my undergraduate experience. As I have continued working in the Office of Admissions, I have improved upon and gained new skills that I know will carry over into any career.In the spring of 2012, I decided that I wanted to continue my education in some sort of format and found the perfect match in Georgia Southerns Masters of Education (M.Ed.) in Higher Education Administration. Also, the Board of Regents Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) has enabled me to begin the next steps toward making Higher Education Administration my life-long career.Goals: Short and Long TermIt will be necessary to meet the short-term goals that I set for myself in order to reach the long term-goals. I do understand that these are goals could change and progress over time, but I believe that these goals can be accomplished almost anywhere in the United States and that is one of the major attractions to working towards a career in Higher Education.Short-Term Goals. I plan to accomplish these goals in the next one to five years as they will help me to grow within my profession as well as prepare me for my long-term goals. Earn my M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Georgia Southern University. Gain experience in other areas of Enrollment Management at Georgia College. Become a member of Association of University Administrators (AUA) and American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Attend at least one professional association conference per year. Present at a professional association conference such as NACAC, GACRO, SACAC or Noel-Levitz (I am currently a member of each of these).Long-Term Goals. I plan to accomplish these goals once I have meet my short-term goals and in the next five to ten years. Obtain a position as Associate Director of AdmissionsJob Qualifications for Future JobWithin Admissions, the Associate Director works closely with the Director to ensure that all aspects of the admission and recruitment process are fulfilled according to the mission and values of the institution as well as meeting set enrollment goals. An Associate Director is responsible for coordinating the development of internal print publications, advertising and marketing efforts with the assistance of the Director of Marketing (NACAC, 2013). A professional seeking a career as an Associate Director will have a bachelors degree and at least five years of admissions experience; however, a Masters degree is preferred. Other qualifications of an effective Associate Director include: experience working in admissions, supervisory experience managing professional and student staff, effective written and oral communication skills, experience with developing and producing print publication and an understanding of how to retrieve and interpret data. An ideal Associate Director must be a high energy individual who has the ability to work nights, weekends and long hours, as well as with diverse groups of individuals, especially during the heavy recruitment season (NACAC, 2013). An Associate Director must be flexible in their career as they serve as an extension of both the Director of Admissions and the Recruiters/Counselors. An ideal Associate Director will possess similar skills as Admissions Recruiters since former Recruiters often fill the position. These primary skills and responsibilities are associated with the necessity to meet enrollment goals for the institution and assigned target areas. In order to accomplish this, the Associate Director must be involved with the admissions process from start to finish of each class. These responsibilities include traveling and representing the institution, speaking to groups and individuals on and off campus, develop close working relationships with faculty, staff and secondary school constituents, as well as review and execute admission decisions of applicants. They will assist in the development, maintenance and execution of the Admissions Recruitment Plan, which is a detailed outline of the years recruitment, marketing and communication efforts as based on statistical and historical reports. Conclusion I already posses many of the skills and qualifications necessary to become an Associate Director, however, there is still more that I can learn. The more experience that I can gain within Admissions and Enrollment Management, the more prepared I will be for the additional responsibilities. This will prevent me from feeling overwhelmed upon taking the job.In order to prepare myself for this career move, it will be important for me to continue my education within Higher Education both through a graduate program and on my own. As Higher Education is constantly changing, I must become an active subscriber and reader of Higher Education publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education. Publications of this nature will keep me informed of trends as well as prepare me to be pro-active in the field, such as understanding what implications could come of the Fisher v. Texas case or how Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) will alter Higher Education institutions. I will continue to be a member of professional organizations such as NACAC, GACRO, SACAC and Noel-Levitz as these organizations provide a common networking of admissions professionals as well as the opportunity to gain professional development through free webinars, day-long training seminars and intensive conferences. For the past two years, I have had the opportunity to attend the National Noel-Levitz conference and will be doing so again this year. My hope is to one day to present at a conference so that I can share my knowledge with others in the profession.As I continue to gain and improve upon my current skills, I will need to seek out the assistance of my Director of Admissions as well as the Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management. By working with these individuals, they will be able to mentor me and prepare me for the career of Associate Director. They can help me to learn and understand how to use statistical data to evaluate past trends as well as predict future trends in Admissions. Their combined knowledge and skills will help me to see beyond just Admissions and into other areas and how they effect the institution such as student success and retention, financial aid and graduation/competition. Another professional skill I need to develop is supervising. I have not had the opportunity to supervise any of my co-workers or students, but it is something that I will need to learn as I progress through my career. I believe that the best route to gain these skills would be through the supervision of students first and then moving upwards. The Office of Admissions has several students workers as well as tour guides/ambassadors. This could prove to be an ideal group to work with as I first begin leaning how to supervise a group. I am not completely foreign to being in charge of a group or individual as I have taught before, however, I have not done anything of this nature within my current position.Since Admissions does not function as a sole entity on a campus, I must collaborate with other faculty and staff. By creating a committee of faculty members to help with recruitment efforts, students will gain the opportunity to speak with potential professors in person. Furthermore, students should be assisted throughout their college experience so it is important for Admissions to see students through the recruitment process, as well as help them once they become a student. This can be accomplished by working with other divisions on campus such as student affairs to ensure a students success.I have already begun my career within Higher Education as an Admissions Counselor. As a result of finding myself in my current position, I have learned that I enjoy the fast-paced and ever changing field of Admissions. It is a pleasure to work with potential students as they progress through the college search process and ultimately attend the institution where I work. Then, four years later, they will walk across a stage and accept their diploma and degree. It is a rewarding career that I plan to be a part of for many years to come. As of now, I want to continue working in Admissions, however, the future may hold something new and different, but I know it will still be within Higher Education and most likely Enrollment Management.References Leslie, W.B. (1997). The age of college. In Goodchild, L.F. & Wechsler H.S. (Ed.), The history of higher education (pp. 333-343). Tappan, NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing.NACAC (2013). Sample job description: Associate director of admissions. Retrieved June 30, 2013 from http://www.nacacnet.org/career-center/Tools/JobDescriptions/Pages/AssociateDirectorofAdmissions.aspx

Jessica,Great job! I really enjoyed reading about your journey into higher education and student services. It is so interesting to me to see how folks find their way! It looks as if you have a solid plan in place to work your way to an Associate Director. Good assessment of your skills and what you still need in order to get there.Gore