Dean - Student Retention and Completion #322347

Employer: Mesa Community College

Location: Mesa, Arizona (US)

Salary: $110,561.00 - $143,729.00/annually, DOE

Date posted: Feb 10, 2026

Position Type: Administrative, Student Affairs

Employment Type: Full Time

Job Details

• Design and launch the college’s first comprehensive retention and completion framework, including vision, goals, priorities, guided pathways, first-year momentum and success metrics, and strategic enrollment management.
• Experience developing and executing multi-year strategies related to retention, completion, or enrollment stabilization.
• Enhance organizational infrastructure for retention and completion, including staffing models, workflows, policies, and governance structures.
• A record of measurable impact on student success outcomes in a community college or access-oriented environment.
• Deep understanding of guided pathways, case-management models, and data-informed decision-making.
• Build and integrate early alert, case-management, and intervention systems that span advising, enrollment services, academic affairs, and student support units.
• Lead the development and implementation of early alert and proactive intervention systems, including coordinated academic and student support responses.
• Identify, pilot, scale, and institutionalize evidence-based practices that improve course success, persistence, completion, and transfer.
• Establish clear metrics, accountability structures, and assessment cycles to ensure continuous improvement and sustained impact.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration and partner with academic deans, faculty, student services, institutional research, enrollment management, and executive leadership to embed completion-focused practices into programs, pathways, and curriculum and align policies and practices.
• Use disaggregated student success data to identify equity gaps, guide resource allocation, and drive continuous improvement.
• Develop assessment plans and dashboards to monitor outcomes and communicate progress to campus stakeholders and senior leadership.
• Develop, mentor, and supervise high-performing teams and execute and scale initiatives aligned with retention and completion goals; manage associated budgets and grants.
• The ability to lead through change, align diverse stakeholders, and establish a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Translate data and outcomes into executive-level and accreditation-ready reporting.
• Represent the college in system-wide, state, and national student success initiatives.
• Serve as a campus leader and external representative for student success, retention, and completion initiatives.

This inaugural role is responsible for designing, launching, and institutionalizing a comprehensive, college-wide retention and completion program.