BereaCorps Labor Program Associate

Please note that references provided at the time of application for staff positions will not be contacted until the applicant has been offered the position.

Description

BereaCorps positions are grant-funded, one-year contract positions from June 1, 2025 - May 31, 2026, with the possibility of a one-year extension. The positions are only available to 2024 and May 2025 Berea graduates, that have completed all of their coursework by May 2025.

Under the general direction of the Dean of Labor and direct supervision of the Associate Dean of Labor, the Labor Program Associate working with the Labor Program Team, has responsibility of assisting in the operations and implementation of different programs under the purview of the Labor Program. The Program Associate works within a highly collaborative and team-based organization providing hands-on skills, knowledge, and project management to address the training and educational needs of a multi-faceted, decentralized, and diverse labor program.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Assist, as needed, in daily front office administration and systems in order to maintain the Labor Program Office’s operation.
• Manage the process for student position descriptions across campus, including the creation of new positions and facilitating updates and edits for existing positions.
• Edit and approve suggested updates to student position descriptions.
• Monitor and maintain active student position descriptions across campus and communicate and facilitate meetings with departments that are non-compliant.
• Manage and grow the Labor Program Office’s Off-Campus Summer Labor Experience Program (OCSLE).
• Track students and organizations interested in participating in OCSLE.
• Assist potential OCSLE students in researching, contacting, and interviewing with non-profit organizations/summer employers.
• Track and monitor students participating in OCSLE, including ensuring they are completing the expectations established by them and their employer, such as hours, tasks, evaluations, etc.
• Schedule and coordinate site visits for OCSLE organizations.
• Design, plan, organize, and facilitate interest sessions for students interested in participating in OCSLE
• Design, plan, organize, and facilitate orientations for both students and organizations/supervisors participating in OCSLE.
• Take notes and provide support for the Associate Dean of Labor in student concerns meetings.
• Other roles/duties will be assigned as necessary to assist the College in the attainment of the goals set forth and the enhancement of a positive, respectful learning environment for all staff, faculty, and students.
• In support of Berea College’s great commitments this position requires student supervision. The fourth great commitment is to promote learning and serving in community through the student labor program, honoring the dignity and utility of all work, mental and manual, and taking pride in work well done. The Supervision would include scheduling, assigning and approving work performed. Developing students about common workplace acumen and giving them tangible work experience is an expected outcome. To learn more about the student labor program and requirements on this position see: Labor Program Goals
  
  

What You'll Bring

Education required to ensure success in this position:

• Undergraduate degree from Berea College with a graduation date from 2024-2025
  
  

Experience required to ensure success in this position:

• History of success in a higher education setting and/or working collaboratively with diverse faculty/staff, alumni, donors, and students.
  
  

Special skills, knowledge and abilities:

• Strong understanding of and appreciation for the Berea College purpose and Great Commitments.
• Ability to work independently and recognize opportunities and create effective strategies to engage prospects with Berea College resulting in increased support.
• Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to set priorities and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated personal traits of initiative, integrity, discretion, patience, persistence, good judgment, and a strong sense of self.
• Attention to detail, creativity, and problem-solving skills, and the ability to work independently.
• Flexibility to learn and execute varied tasks is essential.
• The capacity to integrate disparate information and to organize and prioritize complex tasks.
• Ability to work with and supervise students.
• Availability to work weekends and evenings as necessary.
• A strong social media and/or digital media background is preferred.
  
  

License, certification, or registration necessary:

• Valid driver’s license and good driving record
• Required background check
  
  

Physical requirements:

• Ability to climb stairs, operate office equipment, move light office furniture and supplies.
• Ability to navigate campus/public buildings and grounds
• Ability to travel independently by car and/or plane
• Ability to occasionally lift up to 20 lbs.
  
  

Environmental conditions:

• Professional office environment with interruptions and noise due to frequent visitors, students, staff and faculty
• Occasional travel required for meetings, conferences, etc.
• Weekend work as necessary
  
  

Ability to operate the following vehicles or equipment:

• Computer literacy and strong aptitude for the following tasks: use of internet and e-mail; navigating Argos, Banner, data entry; word processing; experience with Excel and PowerPoint.
• Standard office equipment (copier, cell phone, office phone system/voice mail, and GPS navigation system
• Vehicle- college vans/cars
  
  

Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 46 states and U.S. territories and more than 70 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides all of them with a no-tuition promise, valued at more than $204,000. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only nine federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students are expected to work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus. Berea College is listed #20 in overall ranking in the U.S. by the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse college rankings, 2023. The Washington Monthly ranks Berea College #2 Best Liberal Arts College and #1 in Social Mobility, 2023. Money Magazine ranks Berea #20 Best Overall College and #10 for Best in the South, 2023. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2023.

Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 16,000) lies forty miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.

Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.

Berea College is always looking for talented, self-motivated individuals to join our team. If you think you are ready to be a part of an exciting team, then we encourage you to continue with this applicant friendly, online job application!

Berea College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

Our Benefits

Berea College offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees and their families including health care, dental, vision, retirement, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability and an Employee Assistance Program. The benefit package also includes access to the Child Development Laboratory for children of College Staff, ages 6 weeks to 6 years, Seabury Center Membership, Staff Development Funds and Tuition Reimbursement.

Eligible staff employees also receive paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave.

Part-time employees who work an average of 24 hours per week over the course of a year, receive benefits on a pro-rated basis.

To learn more details, visit our benefits page at https://www.berea.edu/human-resources/employee-benefits.

Our Unique Culture

Berea College strives to be a place where people with various Christian interpretations, different religious traditions, and no religious traditions work together in support of Berea's Great Commitments.

Over the past century, various leaders of the College have applied the College’s inclusive scriptural foundation and spirit to their expanding world and welcomed those whose beliefs were consistent with the Christian gospel of impartial love. Therefore, Berea College today affirms its inclusive Christian tradition even as it respects the traditions of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, as well as other faiths, and those holding no religious beliefs. We strive not to ignore our differences, but rather seek to understand each other honestly and respectfully, and together create a climate where anyone can openly discuss what they believe without fear of sanction. To that end, all persons who are willing to share in the spirit and the work of the Great Commitments as shaped by its preamble are welcome to study, to teach, and to work at Berea

Labor Supervision

In support of Berea College’s great commitments, staff and faculty serve as labor supervisors. Our fourth great commitment, The Dignity of Labor, promotes learning and serving in community through the student Labor Program, honoring the dignity and utility of all work, mental and manual, and taking pride in work well done. Student Labor Supervision includes scheduling, assigning, and approving student work, developing students' workplace acumen, and providing tangible work experience. To learn more about the labor program office please see the following link Labor Program Office.