The Opportunitiy
Lead new student enrollment strategy at one of America's great engines of access and upward mobility, and shape who walks through the front door of a Carnegie R1 university.
George Mason University invites applications for a Dean of Admissions, a pivotal leadership opportunity at the heart of the Commonwealth's largest and most dynamic public research university. Reporting to the Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Achievement, the Dean of Admissions serves as the chief strategic and operational leader of undergraduate and graduate admissions, accountable for recruiting, evaluating, and enrolling a talented, diverse, and academically prepared student body that reflects George Mason's distinctive mission of access and excellence.
What makes George Mason distinctive is not only its scale, but its purpose. As one of the nation's most accessible and high-performing public research universities, George Mason has built its reputation on opening doors, welcoming more than 40,000 students, sustaining a 90 percent undergraduate acceptance rate alongside strong graduation outcomes, and consistently ranking first in Virginia for value, post-college salaries, and social mobility. The Dean of Admissions leads the team that turns that mission into reality, one student ata time.
This is a high-impact role for a builder. The next Dean of Admissions will inherit a strong, ambitious enrollment operation and the opportunity to further modernize recruitment, sharpen yield strategy, deepen the use of data and technology, and strengthen partnerships with high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and families across Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
About Enrollment Management at George Mason
From recruitment through graduation, the Division of Enrollment and Student Achievement connects students to the educational resources that open doors to opportunity. The division optimizes student recruitment and retention by developing and implementing strategic recruitment and marketing plans, overseeing the admissions process, providing financial aid services, administering Registrar functions, and managing the Mason Student Services Center, a centralized resource serving students across the Fairfax, Arlington (Mason Square), and Prince William (SciTech) campuses and the Loudoun instructional site.
The division is guided by a clear set of commitments: ensuring that every activity supports George Mason's enrollment goals, placing the student and family at the center of the work, collaborating across the University community to achieve shared objectives, and sustaining a culture of data accountability and transparency. Admissions sits at the core of that mission, responsible for recruitment, application review, communication, and the enrollment of each incoming class across first-year, transfer, and special populations, while partnering closely with enrollment services, financial aid, business intelligence, and University Branding. Partnering closely with Graduate program directors, the division also supports key systems that drive new graduate student enrollment processes.
George Mason's enrollment story is one of scale, mission, momentum, and success. As America's largest test-optional university since 2007 and Virginia's largest university since 2009, George Mason has built an admissions model designed to identify talent and potential broadly, not narrowly. The Dean of Admissions leads a professional team of recruiters, application reviewers, communications experts, event planners, and operations staff, supported by a sophisticated business intelligence function that turns enrollment data into insight, to deliver a seamless, applicant-centered experience at scale.
The role comes at an inflection point for the profession. Shifting demographics, evolving test policy, intensifying competition, and rapid advances in CRM and artificial intelligence technology are reshaping how universities recruit and enroll. George Mason's platform, its mission, momentum, data infrastructure, and market position, gives the next Dean of Admissions an exceptional foundation from which to lead.
Why This Role Matters
▸ Lead undergraduate admissions for the Commonwealth's largest university, a Carnegie R1 research institution and a national model for access and upward mobility
▸Collaborate with Mason’s graduate program directors to leverage university systems to make admission decisions and scale new student enrollment activities to meet new student enrollment targets
▸ Shape the size, strength, and academic profile of every incoming first-year and transfer class
▸ Partner with the Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Achievement and University leadership on strategy of lasting institutional significance
▸ Modernize recruitment and yield strategy for both undergraduate and graduate recruitment through data, analytics, and George Mason's newly launched Salesforce-enabled CRM platform
▸ Strengthen pathways with high schools, community colleges, and transfer partners across Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region
▸ Advance George Mason's mission as one of the nation's most accessible and high-performing public universities, where access and excellence are the same pursuit
Colleges & Schools at George Mason
Mason's 10 colleges and schools cover the gamut of academic disciplines. In addition to established programs, students also have the opportunity for interdisciplinary and integrative studies and can craft their own degree programs. Mason's colleges and schools include the Antonin Scalia Law School, The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, College of Education and Human Development, College of Engineering and Computing, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Public Health, College of Science, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Donald G. Costello College of Business, and the Schar School of Policy and Government. Mason also has an Honors College, which inspires students to pursue the most challenging and enriching educational and civic engagement opportunities available to them.
What You'll Do
As Dean of Admissions, you will serve as the chief strategic and operational leader of undergraduate and graduate admissions, accountable for recruitment strategy, application review, enrollment outcomes, and the performance and culture of the admissions team. You will report to the Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Achievement and carry broad authority for the policies, people, and resources that shape each incoming class (starting fall, spring, and summer). You will also partner closely with other members of the senior leadership of the Division of Enrollment and Student Achievement to advance shared goals. In addition, you will oversee George Mason's summer high school pre-college programs and the Office of Military Services, both significant, high-visibility components of the Admissions portfolio. Your core responsibilities span five areas:
Enrollment Strategy & Leadership
- Provide visionary, data-informed leadership for undergraduate and graduate admissions in alignment with the University's enrollment goals and strategic plan.
- Develop and execute a comprehensive recruitment and yield strategy across first-year, transfer, and special populations to meet enrollment targets for class size, academic profile, and net revenue.
- Advance key institutional priorities set by the President, including expanding direct admission and establishing new admission pathways that broaden access and strengthen enrollment.
- Set and monitor key performance indicators across the admissions funnel, from inquiry and application through admit, deposit, and melt.
- Lead admissions policy, application review standards, and undergraduate decision processes that are fair, defensible, and aligned with George Mason's access mission.
- Partner closely with the Assistant Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Initiatives and the broader enrollment management leadership team to align strategic direction with execution across the division.
Recruitment, Marketing & Partnerships
- Direct domestic and international undergraduate recruitment, travel, and territory management, expanding George Mason's reach across Virginia, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, the nation, and key global markets.
- Strengthen transfer and dual-enrollment pathways with community colleges and high schools, a vital pipeline for George Mason.
- Partner with the office of integrated marketing and communications to deliver compelling, personalized, multi-channel outreach to prospective students and families.
- Build and sustain relationships with school counselors, community-based organizations, and the academic colleges to support recruitment and yield.
Data, Technology & Operations
- Lead a sophisticated, data-driven admissions operation, fully leveraging George Mason's CRM platform alongside predictive analytics and reporting to guide recruitment, financial aid leveraging, and yield.
- Oversee application processing, communications automation, and the applicant experience, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and a seamless journey at scale.
- Partner with financial aid, integrated enrollment marketing, the registrar, academic stakeholders and information technology to integrate systems and continuously improve enrollment operations.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and institutional policies and with relevant professional standards and ethics.
Team & Resource Management
- Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing, service-oriented admissions team, building a culture of collaboration, accountability, and excellence.
- Exercise budget oversight for the admissions operation, aligning resources, staffing, and travel with strategic priorities.
- Set goals, coach and evaluate staff, and invest in professional development across the team.
- Allocate human, financial, and technology resources with transparency and fiscal discipline.
Stakeholder Engagement & Representation
- Serve as a visible, credible representative of George Mason admissions to prospective students, families, schools, and the public.
- Provide enrollment data, analysis, and counsel to the Senior Vice President for Enrollment and Student Achievement and University leadership.
- Collaborate with deans, faculty, and academic leaders to align recruitment with program priorities and capacity.
- Represent George Mason in regional, state, and national admissions and enrollment forums, elevating the University's voice and reputation.
What You Bring
Required
- Master's degree required.
- A minimum of 10 years of experience leading and developing teams.
- Large public research university experience.
- Demonstrated experience building a student enrollment strategy and executing on it, including strategic planning and budget management.
- Demonstrated track record of results and metrics meeting or exceeding enrollment targets for first-year, transfer, and/or graduate students.
- Graduate-level experience as well as transfer and community college pathway experience.
- Demonstrated expertise with admissions CRM platforms, data analytics, and admissions funnel management.
- Knowledge of admissions best practices, application review, and the legal and ethical standards governing the profession.
- Ability to communicate persuasively with students, families, colleagues, and senior leadership.
- Ability to lead change and innovation in a complex, fast-moving enrollment environment.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with academic leadership, institutional research, marketing, and student affairs.
Preferred
- Experience with international recruitment and global enrollment strategy.
- Demonstrated use of financial aid leveraging, tuition discounting strategy, FAFSA policy fluency, and predictive modeling to shape class and net revenue.
- Experience navigating institutional and testing policy changes and evolving admissions practice at scale.
- Experience using Salesforce-based systems.
- Experience across multiple institutions or enrollment environments, bringing a broad perspective beyond single-institution approach.
- A record of advancing access and student success within an enrollment mission.
- Grant writing or grant management experience.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a strategic, collaborative, and data-fluent enrollment leader who pairs the analytical sophistication to run a modern admissions operation with the warmth and credibility to inspire students, families, and staff. You are equally comfortable presenting an enrollment forecast to University leadership and standing in front of a gym full of prospective students and their parents. You understand that access and excellence are not competing values at George Mason; they are the same mission, pursued with discipline and conviction.
You see the admissions funnel as both a science and a story. You know how to use CRM, analytics, and financial aid leveraging to shape a class, and you know that behind every data point is a student deciding where their future will begin. You build teams that are rigorous about results and genuinely committed to service, and you lead them through change without losing the human core of the work. You also look beyond CRM and analytics, with a track record of leveraging technology in creative ways to achieve enrollment objectives.
Your experience reflects George Mason's mission and student body. You have worked at an institution serving a large share of Pell Grant recipients and first-generation college students, and you understand the recruitment, yield, and support strategies that help these students thrive. You bring experience at a university with a substantial transfer population, and you know how to build the community college and pathway partnerships that sustain it. Experience securing grants and external funding to advance enrollment goals is a meaningful asset.
You are drawn to scale and to mission. George Mason's size, momentum, and market position represent a rare platform, a chance to lead one of the country's most consequential access-driven enrollment operations and to help define what modern public university admissions can be. You have a track record of moving ideas from strategy to execution, and you understand that doing so requires both vision and the operational discipline to make it stick. You may be a current Dean of Admissions, or a senior enrollment leader ready to step up into your first deanship; what matters most is the capability, judgment, and drive you bring to the role.
You are motivated by impact. The opportunity before the next Dean of Admissions is not simply to fill a class, it is to shape who gets the chance to attend a rising R1 university, and to build the recruitment engine that will carry George Mason's mission forward for the next decade. The students and families George Mason serves, across a dynamic and growing region, deserve nothing less.
Why George Mason University
Life in Fairfax, Virginia
George Mason's main campus is in Fairfax, Virginia, a thriving city at the heart of one of the most dynamic, educated, and economically vital regions in the United States. Nestled in Northern Virginia just minutes from Washington, D.C., Fairfax offers exceptional quality of life that combines big-city opportunities with suburban comfort, natural beauty, and a rich sense of history and community.
Northern Virginia is home to a dense concentration of federal health agencies, world-renowned academic medical centers, major hospital systems, and community health organizations. For a senior leader at Mason Nursing, this means unparalleled access to clinical partners, research collaborators, and workforce networks — from the NIH and Walter Reed to Inova Health System, Children's National, and the rapidly growing community health sector that extends across the region.
The region's cultural calendar is as rich as any major American city: Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian museums, and Mason's own Center for the Arts are all nearby. Great Falls Park, the W&OD Trail, and Shenandoah National Park offer unmatched outdoor recreation. And for those with families, Fairfax County Public Schools, including the nationally ranked Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, consistently rank among the finest in the nation.
How to Apply
George Mason University has retained George Mason Executive Search to assist with this search. Review of applications and nominations will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed electronically and in confidence to the search firm. For full consideration, applicants are encouraged to submit materials promptly. A complete application includes a letter of interest that responds to the leadership opportunities and challenges outlined in this profile, a résumé or curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information for three professional references. References will not be contacted without the candidate’s prior knowledge and consent.
Applications and supporting materials should be submitted through the George Mason University employment portal at https://jobs.gmu.edu.
Confidential Inquiries and nominations may be directed to Kunal Chadha at [email protected], with “Dean of Admissions” in the subject line.
Kunal Chadha
Executive Search | George Mason University
George Mason University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.
Questions About the Role?