Vice President of Online Education

Who We Are:

National Louis is a 135+ year old university that has been grounded in the values of innovation, access, excellence, and equity from its inception. As an institution, we believe in providing access to educational opportunity and that education is our greatest lever for social and economic mobility. We are a student-focused community that is committed to continuous improvement and superior student service. We believe that through education we are able to empower change and build healthy communities. Our hard-working community is based on collaboration and respect for all team members and students.

What We Offer:

At National Louis University, we offer our employees an innovative environment to work together and inspire the ideas that will make an impact. As our external environment changes, our employees are provided the opportunities and tools needed to grow both personally and professionally to remain successful. NLU employees and dependents are offered a wide range of benefits, including but not limited to, Health Insurance benefits, Retirement benefits, Paid Time Off and Educational Benefits.

What You Will Do:

National Louis University (NLU) is at an important stage in its journey to scale its online offerings into a more robust program portfolio for both undergraduate and graduate students. We seek a creative and entrepreneurial thinker, experienced educational leader, and expert in the utilization of state-of-the-art digital, and online technologies to shape and implement a strategy to expand NLU's external and internal educational reach.

Reporting to the President and as a core member of NLU's senior leadership team, you will partner with the Provost and peers to develop an integrated strategy that builds and expands NLU's portfolio of online degree and certificate offerings, yields significant new enrollment and improved retention, as well as manage quality of programming, student and faculty engagement, and overall outcomes. This role will play an integral part of ensuring online is at the forefront of NLU's plans for the future serving adult learners and expanding its mission of access and educational opportunity.

NLU has been offering online programming for over a decade and currently approximately 4,000 of its 11,700 students are fully online. NLU believes there is an opportunity to triple the growth in fully online programming over the next five years with diligent focus, as Chicago's hometown online university.

Principal Responsibility:

Lead, advance, and implement a results-centered, integrated strategic plan for the online education programs at NLU that scales existing and develops new online education programs. Collaborating directly with and acting as a key strategic advisor, the Vice President of Online Learning will partner with the President, academic leadership, Marketing, Admissions, other administrative offices, and faculty from across NLU to create a coherent ecosystem of accessible, online educational opportunities that comprehensively serves its students.

Strategy, Vision, and Leadership

Working collaboratively with stakeholders across the institution, design, develop and lead efforts to achieve economies of scale in marketing and enrollment, course design and production, delivery, and exemplary service associated with undergraduate and graduate level online degree and certificate offerings.
• Define and guide a strategic plan to improve current online offerings and launch new programs that support increased annual revenue.
• Collaborate with the Provost, academic departments chairs, and the Director of Learning Design on program and course design, production, and delivery.
• Work closely with marketing/enrollment regarding prospective student needs/lead generation/enrollment, program alignment.
• Work with student advising to shape advising/coaching model to ensure the success of programs and student retention.
• Effectively engage across the organization and its disciplines to support online programs and students, including faculty, academic administration, and senior leadership.
• Establish specific, measurable goals and other performance expectations, implement a systematic review process to evaluate objectives, progress, and outcomes.
• In an environment of increasing competition across higher education organizations and alternatives, remain current on state-of-the-art developments in online learning nationally and worldwide to gain and sustain advantage in the market.
• Serve as a strategic leader and collaborator to tighten online operations across academic and administrative units, including Department Chairs, Information Technology, Marketing and Communications, Enrollment and Advising, Registrar and Student Affairs.
• Work with the University's Accreditation Team to ensure compliance with regulatory entities and requirements that may impact online learning programming and operations.

Measurements of Success

• Improve the quality of student experience at NLU through increased student satisfaction, retention and graduation, affordability, clarity of marketing and brand promise and diversity of offerings.
• Increase positive results of quality assurance measures.
• Successfully launch fully online degree programs that meet all quality assurance measures, high rates of retention in fully online programs.
• Successfully integrate all pertinent departments and offices supporting the delivery of fully online programs, including academic departments, academic support departments, Career and Internship Services, IT, Registrar and Student Affairs.

About NLU

National Louis University (NLU) is looking to honor its past while defining a bold new future as a contemporary, comprehensive university that prepares diverse students for sustained professional success with a deep commitment to Access, Excellence, Innovation and Equity. We are a pioneering community that uses innovation to improve outcomes. NLU questions the status quo and strives to adapt and evolve with the changing needs of its students. We are a community that cares about each other and our students and we work collaboratively, tirelessly and quickly to advance change in the service of students. We have a long venerable history, but we are not typical. We seek to solve intractable social issues through education; we believe we have not succeeded until graduates achieve sustainable career related employment; and we foster a culture that promotes failing fast so that we may constantly improve our work.

Founded in 1886, National Louis University is a private not-for-profit university offering over 70 programs from short-term certificate through the doctoral level across its five colleges. The University serves over 10,000 students per year and has experienced unprecedented growth over the last several years. Most students are from Illinois, but the University also attracts students from throughout the U.S. and from around the world who take advantage of campus based, blended and online programming.

NLU is located in the center of Chicago's downtown loop, across the street from the Art Institute, in an area which has been recognized as America's largest campus with over 25 institutions and 50,000 students attending a college across the city. In addition, the University has two suburban locations and a Florida regional campus.

Professional and Personal Profile

• Master's degree, Doctoral degree preferred.
• Proven track record of demonstrated success and progressively responsible positions in business line leadership/higher education. Previous experience in higher education is preferred but not a requirement; working in a complex, matrixed environment with multiple internal and external audiences is a must.
• Demonstrated capabilities of a business line leader who combines business savvy, change leadership, a deep understanding of new offering development, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams around business goals and objectives.
• Entrepreneurial leader with experience developing product offerings, strategic road maps and/or new programs that drive growth for the organization. A strategist and doer comfortable working in a matrixed organization; adept at setting direction and establishing process for his/her organization and ensuring flawless delivery.
• Brings fresh ideas and new thinking to the management team and is change oriented-views change opportunistically with the ability to inspire action from those outside their direct sphere of control; energized and passionate-can persuasively sell ideas and concepts across an organization.
• An understanding of shared governance and collaborative decision-making is essential. Familiarity and comfort in a highly collaborative work environment, willing to contribute by building internal partnerships with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Inspires creative thinking and fosters problem solving.
• Ability to sustain comprehensive knowledge of the university, its achievements, mission, vision, goals, policies, practices and infrastructure, as well as current affairs, emerging issues in higher education, and/or specialized subject matter.
• Mature individual who operates effectively at executive levels; thinks broadly about overall business issues with both an "inside-out" and "outside-in" perspective.
• Exceptional ability to build relationships with people from diverse areas of the organization and external "key influencers" and business partners.
• Shows confidence and perseverance in addressing challenges and overcoming obstacles; demonstrates initiative, stamina and a strong work ethic.
• Addresses issues with candor, speaks the truth, and has the confidence to express a point of view and take a stand while having the ability to see other points of view.
• A creative, innovative individual who can affect and manage change in a dynamic environment and be a champion for NLU.
• Team player with extraordinary people and relationship building skills, a highly visible and accessible management style, and a genuine willingness to listen.
• Someone who has high energy/drive, a sense of humor, a relentlessly positive attitude, and is results oriented.

NLU Inclusion Statement:

National Louis University is deeply committed to serving its community, advancing access and equity, and ensuring that all individuals are welcomed and valued. We are dedicated to fostering a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the core of who we are. These are more than just words to us: they are truly a way of life for the NLU community. We recognize that differences in abilities, age, ethnicity, gender (identity and expression), race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and background bring richness to our work environment. We affirm diverse perspectives, innovative contributions, and authentic presentations of self from every member within the NLU community. We believe inclusion is grounded in the actions we intentionally take each day. Our goal is to inspire and empower NLU employees and community members to cultivate an environment where we collectively focus on uplifting and advancing our institutional culture.