"Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment and Student Engagement"

Job Details

Portland State University seeks a Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment and Student Engagement
Click here to view position profile: https://summitsearchsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/PSU_Vice_Provost_SESE_Profile.pdf
Location: Portland, Oregon

The Position:
Reporting to the Provost, the Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment & Student Engagement (VPSESE) provides vision, leadership, and strategic direction for Portland State University’s efforts to attract, retain, and graduate a diverse and thriving student body. This senior academic leader is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive strategy that integrates enrollment management with areas in student success and student affairs to foster equitable student outcomes, holistic engagement, and institutional growth.

The VPSESE oversees a wide portfolio, including enrollment services, strategic student success initiatives, student life and engagement, health and well-being programs, and residence life. Working collaboratively with academic deans, faculty, staff, and community partners, the VPSESE advances PSU’s mission as an access-oriented, urban-serving university committed to racial equity, student-centered innovation, and transformative educational experiences.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Enrollment Management

• Develop and implement a comprehensive, data-informed enrollment strategy to meet institutional goals for recruitment, retention, persistence, and graduation across undergraduate, graduate, transfer, adult, and international students.
• Oversee admissions, financial aid, and scholarship strategies.
• Anticipate demographic and market trends in order to design and implement innovative, technology-enabled recruitment initiatives.

Student Success Collaboration

• Engage with PSU’s Students First initiative and other university-wide student success strategies, embedding commitments to racial equity and justice in all efforts.

Student Engagement

• Provide leadership for health and counseling, residence life, dining, recreation, student conduct, student government, cultural and resource centers, and leadership programs.
• Foster a safe, inclusive, and supportive campus environment that promotes belonging, wellness, and co-curricular learning.

Equity, Access, and Inclusion

• Advance PSU’s access mission by promoting equitable enrollment and student engagement practices, closing opportunity gaps, and ensuring success for underrepresented and first-generation students.
• Implement initiatives that create an inclusive learning and working environment.

Collaboration and External Partnerships

• Collaborate with the President, Provost, Vice Provosts, deans, faculty, and senior leaders to align enrollment and engagement strategies with academic and financial planning.
• Build partnerships with community colleges, K–12 systems, and external organizations to strengthen pipelines and transfer pathways.
• Represent PSU in state, regional, and national conversations on enrollment and student success.

Administrative and Fiscal Leadership

• Oversee large, multi-source budgets across enrollment and student service areas.
• Ensure fiscal sustainability, compliance, and sound stewardship.
• Supervise and support professional staff; promote professional development and excellence.
• Maintain compliance with federal, state, and institutional policies and ensure effective operations across all units.

Other Duties

• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Minimum

• Master’s degree in higher education administration, business, or a related field.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education, with significant experience in enrollment management, student affairs, and/or student success.
• Proven record of developing and implementing strategic plans that advance enrollment, persistence, and student engagement.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, particularly in support of underrepresented and first-generation students.
• Strong financial and human resource management experience, including oversight of complex, multi-source budgets.
• Demonstrated expertise in enrollment management, including financial aid, remission modeling, recruitment, strategic awarding of scholarships, and retention.
• Experience leveraging technology and data analytics to inform enrollment and student success strategies, with proficiency in CRM systems (e.g., Slate, Banner, Salesforce).
• Record of accomplishment in transformational enrollment and student success initiatives.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; proven ability to collaborate effectively across diverse stakeholders.
• Successful record of staff supervision, team leadership, and professional development.

Preferred

• Doctorate in higher education administration, business, or a related field.
• Experience at a mid-sized to large, urban, public or private university.
• Demonstrated success in developing international, transfer, and adult re-engagement enrollment strategies.
• Experience working with unions and an understanding of collective bargaining.
• Track record of leading successful diversity and inclusion initiatives within enrollment management and student affairs.
• National engagement and leadership in professional organizations related to enrollment management, student success, or student affairs.

About Portland State University:
Portland State University (PSU) is Oregon’s largest urban university, located in Portland, Oregon. PSU enrolls over 20,000 students and offers programs for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. PSU is an internationally recognized university known for excellence in student learning, innovative research, and community engagement. PSU contributes to the economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and quality of life in the Portland region and beyond. Employees describe Portland State University as a vibrant, diverse, progressive place to work and an environment that welcomes process improvement and innovation. Portland State’s 50-acre downtown campus is located in the heart of the city; a hub of culture, business, and technology, and just 90 minutes from mountains and the Oregon Coast.

Portland State is composed of 10 constituent schools and colleges, offering undergraduate degrees in 95 fields, postgraduate degrees in 105 fields, and certificates in 77 fields, for a total of over 250 degree and certificate programs. Academic units at PSU include The School of Business, College of Education, School of Social Work, College of Urban and Public Affairs, College of the Arts, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Combined OHSU/PSU School of Public Health, the Graduate School, and the Honors College. The athletic teams are known as the Portland State Vikings and compete at the NCAA Division I Level, primarily in the Big Sky Conference.

The University’s new strategic plan, Future in Focus, lays out an ambitious agenda to lead in social mobility, become a national model for serving minoritized learners, and drive Portland’s resurgence through innovation, equity, and regional impact.

Portland State University is committed to providing access and excellent education to students from all backgrounds.

• PSU is a national College of Distinction, a mark of excellence earned for its pioneering University Studies program, a four-year pathway to undergraduate success.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks PSU as the No. 1 school in Oregon for social mobility due to the institution graduating the highest number of economically disadvantaged students and No. 1 in Oregon for Service Learning.
• PSU was among the first universities in the country to garner the community engagement classification from the Carnegie Foundation in 2006 and was recently recognized again for its exceptional commitment.
• Portland State has been named by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity for 2024.
• For the second year in a row, PSU recently received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.
• In 2022, PSU became an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), and in fall 2023 received a five-year grant under its Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) designation.
• PSU recently joined more than 300 institutions nationwide as part of the College Cost Transparency Initiative, making it easier for students and families to navigate the financial aid process.

As President Ann Cudd recently remarked, “PSU is truly an anchor institution: We are a powerhouse for education and the arts in this region. We are woven into the fabric of this city. We are an innovative hub of research, much of it trained on addressing Oregon’s current and future challenges. And our students — our wonderful, creative, and passionate students — will take their education out into the community and make lasting change.”

Leadership
Dr. Ann E. Cudd
President Ann E. Cudd joined Portland State in August of 2023, bringing with her an immense amount of energy and focus on the mission and values of Oregon’s urban research university. She comes to the president’s office as an accomplished academic leader and philosophy scholar whose research explores themes of oppression, economic inequality, capitalism and gender. Cudd came to Portland from western Pennsylvania where she served as Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor of the 34,000-student, five-campus University of Pittsburgh from 2018 to 2023. During her tenure at Pitt, applications increased by 60% and Cudd was instrumental in the university offering enhanced financial aid through the Pitt Success Pell Match, similar to PSU’s Tuition-Free Degree Program. She is a proven champion of racial justice and equity initiatives, including the development of an online course for incoming students on racism in America. Cudd holds three advanced degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, including a doctorate of philosophy and master’s degrees in philosophy and economics. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy from Swarthmore College. She has held faculty positions at the University of Kansas, Occidental College, Boston University, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Cudd, the second woman to serve as PSU’s president in its 76-year history, has prioritized restoring the University’s downtown campus vitality. Dr. Cudd is keen to ensure that the University plays an active role in the city of Portland’s revival, using the example of the city’s current charter reform process and suggesting ways that PSU can act as a convener of citizens and experts to help inform and shape that effort. Getting more students to enroll at Portland State is also high on her list. “There is a national challenge in re-engaging potential students, especially among low-income and first-generation students, with higher education,” she said. “PSU is perfectly positioned to turn that around.”

To Apply:
Confidential review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applications received by January 5, 2025 will be given full consideration.

To apply, go to:https://theapplicantmanager.com/jobs?pos=su481

Applicants must submit a CV, a letter of interest that details their related qualifications and vision for the role, as well as a statement (one page maximum) that describes their commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion personally and/or professionally.

For more information or to offer recommendations or nominations:
Caitlin Hummel
Senior Consultant
Summit Search Solutions, Inc.
(585) 880-7550
chummel@summitsearchsolutions.com

Portland State University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and seeks candidates who are committed to the highest standards of scholarship and professional activities and a campus climate that supports equality, diversity, and inclusion.