Director of Retention

JOB SUMMARY

The Director of Retention will lead coordinated efforts to support student progression and persistence across all SEU populations and modalities. Operating within a collaborative Enrollment Management framework and in partnership with key institutional stakeholders, the Director will work closely across university divisions to remove structural barriers, align communication, and ensure seamless student support from enrollment through completion. This role is essential in leveraging actionable student data and integrating student success technologies to improve overall retention and institutional health.

This role is accountable for measurable improvement in key retention indicators, including but not limited to fall-to-spring persistence rate, stop-out re-enrollment rate, and early-alert response time. Specific annual targets will be established in partnership with the Executive Director for Student Success.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Reports to: Executive Director for Student Success

Supervisory Responsibility: Retention Staff (as assigned)

Indirect Supervisory Responsibility: Graduate Assistants, Student Workers

ESSENTIAL DUTIES - May include, but is not limited to the following:

Retention Strategy & Progression Support:

• Monitor trends in student progression and registration momentum across the institution to identify areas for intervention.
• Prepare regular retention and progression reporting for university leadership, including trend summaries, intervention outcomes, and recommendations for strategic action.
• Coordinate proactive outreach to students experiencing barriers to persistence.
• Lead and support comprehensive re-enrollment and stop-out recovery initiatives.
• Track outreach responses, registration activity, and engagement indicators related to student progression.
• Monitor timely follow-up and referrals to necessary institutional resources.
• Support student transition into the institution through onboarding and pathway clarification across modalities.

Data Utilization & Technology Integration:

• Leverage institutional systems, specifically Civitas and Element451, to gather actionable student data and identify at-risk students.
• Monitor and respond to patterns in registration behavior, early alerts, and financial clearance.
• Analyze appointment participation, communication engagement, and academic progression indicators to refine ongoing retention strategies.

Cross-Functional Partnership:

• Admissions Partnership: Collaborate on onboarding support, registration readiness, and the seamless handoff of students into ongoing progression support.
• Student Financial Services Partnership: Coordinate responses to financial concerns impacting persistence, registration barriers, payment planning conversations, and stop-out risks.
• Registrar Partnership: Partner to ensure registration readiness, support degree pathways, clarify academic policies, resolve course sequencing concerns, and maintain completion momentum.

Additional Institutional Partnerships

• Academic Affairs: Collaborate with Academic Affairs and academic deans to identify course-level and program-level barriers to persistence, align intervention timing with academic calendars, and support faculty engagement in early-alert response.
• Student Experience: Partner with Student Experience to connect at-risk students with co-curricular support, campus engagement opportunities, and belonging initiatives shown to improve persistence.
• Institutional Research: Partner with Institutional Research to validate retention metrics, support accreditation reporting, and ensure data definitions remain consistent across systems.
• Information Technology: Collaborate with IT and the Director of Student Success Operations to maintain data integrity and system integration across Civitas, Element451, and the student information system, ensuring retention data flows accurately and securely across platforms.

Operational Alignment & Implementation:

• Contribute to recurring coordination meetings with cross-divisional pillar leaders.
• Define shared progression terminology and clarify escalation and referral pathways across departments.
• Develop shared outreach workflows and establish common intervention tracking practices.
• Coordinate broad registration and re-enrollment campaigns with the Directors of Student Success who oversee specific modalities.
• Continuously look for ways to collaboratively refine modality-specific support strategies and adjust operational practices based on evolving institutional needs.

ADDITIONAL/NON-ESSENTIAL DUTIES

N/A

All remaining duties are considered "nonessential" within the context of the ADA, which means that the function could be reassigned to another employee in order to allow a disabled individual to hold the position. Alternatively, the manager could try to provide a reasonable accommodation so that the disabled individual could perform the function.

LOCATION

Main Campus Hybrid (some remote, some main campus, and/or some other physical location)

EDUCATION

Required Education:

Bachelor's degree in one of the academic areas of the university or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in higher education administration, management, data analytics, or a related field (preferred).

LICENSES/CERTIFICATIONS

N/A

EXPERIENCE

Required:

Three to five years of experience in academic advising, student services, retention, or higher education administration.

Preferred:

Five or more years of experience with increasing levels of responsibility in retention strategy or enrollment management.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Required:

• Personal faith commitment appropriate to that of a Christian university.
• Advanced knowledge of student progression systems, retention processes, and best practices in higher education.
• Technical proficiency and ability to work with student success technology such as Civitas, Element451, and student information systems.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to turn complex data into actionable insights.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with individuals within and outside the university.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-divisionally and build partnerships with key stakeholders.
• Sensitivity to the needs of diverse student populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and non-traditional students.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality in all student and institutional matters.
• A commitment to upholding and exemplifying outstanding Christian character.

Preferred:

Experience managing cross-functional teams and complex institutional operations.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

All employees are responsible for maintaining an environment that is free from discrimination, intimidation, and harassment, including sexual harassment.

• All employees are responsible for maintaining an environment that is free from discrimination, intimidation, harassment, including sexual harassment.
• This position is considered Emergency Response Reporting for the purposes of Emergency Response.

Physical Requirements:

Ability to sit at a computer for majority of the work day

Travel:

No

Schedule:

Mon-Fri, 8-4:30

TRAINING

All new hires and employees transferring into a new position will have a 90-day probationary period within which to learn the functions of the job and to be evaluated. Following the probationary period, the employee can transition to regular status, have the probationary period extended in order to receive more training, or employment can be terminated. Required compliance training is as follows:

On the job;

FERPA

Title IX

Cybersecurity

Incident Response

Other related departmental training

Organizational skills: Keep on top of competing priorities by multitasking in often fast-paced environments

SAFETY

• SEU promotes a safe working environment. Employees are responsible for completing assigned tasks safely and efficiently, and supervisors are responsible for creating and maintaining a safe work environment.
• Employees must report any unsafe work conditions or practices, as well as any near-miss incidents, to their supervisor and Risk Management.
• Work-related injuries must be immediately reported to Security and Human Resources. When life or limb are at risk, please dial 911. Supervisors and employees should ensure that injury/accident reports are submitted to the Office of Human Resources within 24 hours of the incident.
• Emergency Employees report for or must remain at work in emergency situations. Dismissal or closure announcements do not apply to this position, unless instructed otherwise by your direct supervisor or a member of the Leadership Team.

SCREENING

All full-time positions at SEU are deemed security-sensitive and require background checks. Employees required to drive their own personal vehicle, a rental car or an SEU vehicle in performance of their duties must pass an MVR records check and meet the requirements of the University's insurance carrier in order to meet the requirements of the position.

DISCLAIMER

SEU is an at-will employer. This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change. The employer retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position.

The employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

SEU is committed to providing a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. All forms of discrimination against or harassment of a person because of his or her identification within a protected category are strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. This prohibition applies equally to conduct by and against employees, vendors, visitors, and students.

SEU is committed to providing a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. All forms of discrimination against or harassment of a person because of his or her identification within a protected category are strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. This prohibition applies equally to conduct by and against employees, vendors, visitors, and students.

Southeastern University is committed to equal opportunity in employment and education and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors. The equal opportunity policy will apply in University programs and activities, and all aspects of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, placement, transfer, training, promotion, rates of pay, and other compensation, termination and all other terms, conditions and privileges of employment. All employees of Southeastern University, by continued employment, agree to abide by the policies contained in the Employee Handbook and in the SEU Mission, Vision, Statement of Faith and Community Covenant.