Vice President for Enrollment & Student Affairs

Job description

Vice President for Enrollment & Student Affairs Classification: Student Affairs Reports to: AIU President About The American International University American International University (AIU) is a private institution in Kuwait, founded in 2019, offering undergraduate programmes in Engineering and Computing, Architecture and Design, Business, Arts and Sciences, and Education, delivered in English on the American model of higher education. AIU serves a community of more than 3,000 students and is implementing the RISE Strategy 2026–2030, a five-year institutional transformation anchored in research development, WSCUC international accreditation, student success, employability, and community engagement. Enrollment and student success are central to AIU's continued growth and institutional effectiveness. The University seeks to build an integrated student lifecycle model that attracts appropriately qualified students, supports successful transition and engagement, improves persistence and graduation, and provides a high-quality campus experience. The Vice President for Enrollment & Student Affairs provides executive leadership for this agenda and ensures that enrollment strategy and student services are aligned with AIU's academic mission, regulatory obligations, financial sustainability, and RISE priorities. For more information, visit: Division Profile The Enrollment & Student Affairs Division oversees admissions, enrollment, registration, student affairs, engagement, student care, athletics, and student well-being. The Division works closely with Academic Affairs and key administrative units to support an integrated student-success experience. The Vice President provides strategic leadership for the Division, ensuring strong service standards, accountability, regulatory compliance, data quality, and continuous improvement across the student lifecycle. Scope of Work The Vice President for Enrollment & Student Affairs (VP-ESA) provides strategic and operational leadership across the student lifecycle, from recruitment and admission through enrollment, student experience, retention, and graduation. The VP-ESA leads strategic enrollment management and student affairs operations, using data-informed planning to support enrollment, student success, retention, regulatory compliance, and effective resource management. The role also ensures a high-quality and integrated student experience across relevant services and functions. As a member of the University’s Executive Leadership, the VP-ESA advises the President on enrollment trends, student success, retention risks, regulatory matters, capacity needs, and emerging opportunities. The position also contributes to institutional strategy, accreditation, institutional effectiveness, and University-wide planning. The VP-ESA works closely with Academic Affairs and the Schools while maintaining clear responsibility for enrollment and student-service operations and respecting academic decision-making authority. Key Responsibilities 1. Strategic Enrollment Management Develop and implement a comprehensive multi-year strategic enrollment management plan aligned with AIU's mission, RISE Strategy, approved academic portfolio, capacity, and financial model. Establish annual and multi-year enrollment targets for new, continuing, transfer, international, and, as programmes are introduced, graduate students, with clear KPIs and accountability. Lead enrollment forecasting, scenario planning, market analysis, competitor analysis, demand modelling, and conversion analysis to inform institutional decisions. Oversee the full recruitment funnel from enquiry and application through admission, deposit, registration, and enrollment, identifying and addressing points of attrition. Develop yield and conversion strategies appropriate to Kuwait and the wider regional market, using evidence from historical trends, student behaviour, and campaign performance. Work with the VPAA and Deans to align recruitment priorities with approved programmes, academic capacity, staffing, facilities, and strategic programme growth. Provide the President and Executive Leadership with regular enrollment dashboards, forecasts, risks, and recommended actions. 2. Admissions, Recruitment & Enrollment Operations Provide executive leadership for Admissions & Student Recruitment, ensuring fair, transparent, timely, and consistently applied admissions processes. Ensure admissions practices comply with Private Universities Council (PUC), Ministry requirements, University policies, approved programme criteria, and applicable accreditation expectations. Strengthen domestic and international recruitment through outreach, partnerships, events, and digital channels. Partner with Branding & Communications on enrollment marketing and applicant communications. Establish service standards and turnaround times across admissions and enrollment processes. Coordinate scholarships and recruitment incentives within approved policies and authorities. Ensure effective transfer processes, with academic credit decisions referred to the appropriate academic authorities. 3. Registration, Systems & Enrollment Analytics Provide executive oversight for Registration & Systems Analytics, ensuring efficient registration operations, accurate student records, reliable enrollment reporting, and high-quality student service. Work closely with the VPAA, Registrar/registration leadership, Deans, and academic units to align registration demand with course availability, approved capacities, progression requirements, and academic policies. Monitor registration patterns, waitlists, credit loads, programme demand, section utilisation, and progression risks, escalating academic matters to the VPAA and relevant Dean for decision. Ensure that registration and enrollment systems support accurate degree progression, prerequisite enforcement, student status, and institutional reporting. Strengthen data governance, data integrity, reporting definitions, and reconciliation across admissions, enrollment, registration, finance, and institutional effectiveness systems. Partner with the Chief Information Officer and relevant system owners to improve Banner/ERP, CRM, self-service, dashboards, workflow automation, and the overall digital student journey. 4. Student Affairs, Engagement & Campus Experience Provide executive leadership for Student Affairs and ensure a coherent, inclusive, student-centred campus experience aligned with AIU's educational mission. Oversee student engagement, clubs, events, student government, athletics, well-being, counselling, and case management. Ensure effective orientation, transition, and student-support programs. Establish clear service standards, referral pathways, and case-management processes. Oversee fair, consistent, and confidential student conduct processes. Promote student voice, participation, and feedback. Drive continuous improvement using engagement, satisfaction, well-being, and impact data. Ensure student well-being and counselling services follow appropriate professional, ethical, safeguarding, confidentiality, and referral standards. 5. Student Success, Retention & Graduation Partnership Lead Enrollment & Student Affairs’ role in retention, persistence, and graduation strategies in partnership with Academic Affairs, Schools, Advising, Registrar, and Institutional Effectiveness. Use student data to identify trends, at-risk populations, and areas requiring intervention. Coordinate Early Alert and Student Success processes, ensuring effective case management and follow-through. Partner with Academic Affairs to address academic and student-service barriers appropriately. Monitor withdrawal, stop-out, re-enrollment, and progression trends and recommend evidence-based interventions. Support timely graduation clearance while respecting the academic authority of the Schools, Registrar, and VPAA. 6. Compliance, Accreditation & Institutional Effectiveness Ensure compliance across the Division with applicable Kuwait regulations, PUC requirements, University policies, privacy requirements, and relevant accreditation standards. Contribute actively to WSCUC accreditation and institutional self-study by providing reliable evidence relating to enrollment, student services, student engagement, retention, student success, and co-curricular effectiveness. Work with Quality Assurance & Institutional Effectiveness to establish measurable outcomes and assessment cycles for Enrollment & Student Affairs programmes and services. Ensure each major student affairs programme or service maintains clear objectives, evidence of effectiveness, and documented improvement actions. Prepare an annual Student Affairs Effectiveness Report and other executive reports required by the President, Executive Leadership, or governing bodies. Maintain appropriate records, audit trails, risk controls, and documented procedures across the Division. 7. Financial Stewardship, Leadership & Institutional Partnership Align enrollment planning with financial forecasts, scholarship strategy, and institutional capacity in collaboration with Finance. Manage the Division’s budget and ensure resources support strategic priorities and measurable outcomes. Lead, develop, and evaluate the Division’s teams, fostering accountability and service excellence. Build strong partnerships across academic and administrative units. Represent AIU with external stakeholders, including government and regulatory bodies, as appropriate. Lead strategic initiatives assigned by the President and contribute to Executive Leadership decisions. Minimum Qualifications Education Earned doctoral degree (PhD, EdD, DBA, or equivalent terminal degree) from an accredited institution. Degree in Higher Education Administration, Enrollment Management, Student Affairs, Education, Business Administration, or a closely related field is preferred. Experience Minimum 10 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education, with significant responsibility for enrollment, admissions, student affairs, student success, or related functions. Proven success in strategic enrollment planning and achieving measurable enrollment, retention, or student-success outcomes. Experience leading complex teams, managing institutional change, and using data and analytics for executive decision-making. Strong cross-functional experience with academic, finance, marketing, institutional effectiveness, and IT teams. Experience with regulatory compliance, accreditation, and institutional effectiveness. International or multicultural higher education experience; GCC experience is highly desirable. Technical & Professional Knowledge Strong knowledge of strategic enrollment management, admissions, recruitment, retention, and the student lifecycle. Comprehensive understanding of student affairs, engagement, wellbeing, conduct, and student support services. Proficiency in student information systems, CRM platforms, enrollment analytics, and data-informed planning. Knowledge of registration, student records, progression monitoring, and academic governance interfaces. Understanding of accreditation and institutional effectiveness, with WSCUC experience highly desirable. Knowledge of enrollment forecasting, tuition revenue, scholarships, financial planning, and resource management. Skills, Competencies & Personal Attributes Executive-level strategic leadership with the ability to translate institutional priorities into measurable outcomes. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and evidence-informed decision-making skills. Excellent communication, negotiation, presentation, and stakeholder-engagement skills. Proven ability to build effective partnerships across academic and administrative units. Student-centred leadership with sound judgement, fairness, discretion, and high ethical standards. Ability to lead through influence, manage competing priorities, and establish accountability across complex functions. Strong financial, operational, and organizational management capabilities. Cultural intelligence and the ability to work effectively in an international university environment in Kuwait. Preferred Qualifications Previous service as a Vice President, Vice Chancellor, Vice Provost, Associate Vice President, Dean, or comparable senior leader with substantial enrollment and/or student affairs responsibility. Demonstrated record of significant enrollment growth while maintaining academic quality and improving retention or graduation outcomes. Experience integrating enrollment management and student affairs into a coherent student-lifecycle strategy. Experience with WSCUC or a comparable US regional accreditation framework. Experience with Banner or comparable student information/ERP systems and modern enrollment CRM platforms. Experience in Kuwait or the GCC and familiarity with PUC requirements. Experience leading organisational redesign, digital transformation, or service improvement in enrollment and student affairs. How to Apply Interested candidates should visit the Job Opportunities section on our website and submit a resume and cover letter via: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The successful candidate is expected to commence employment immediately.