Director of Residence Life and Housing

Description

JOB SUMMARY

This position works collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff to envision and implement a dynamic residential life program that can house 590 undergraduate students in six (6) residence halls.  The residence life program, with a focus on providing a safe living and learning environment that promotes community building and personal responsibility, will support and complement the College's academic mission and enhance the overall educational experiences of students.  The Director will also serve as a leader in fostering a vibrant residential college characterized by a diverse and engaged learning community.  We are seeking a visible and active member of the campus community who is an expert on student development and learning outside of the classroom, particularly as it relates to a quality residential experience.  The Director will serve as one of four departmental directors in Student Affairs, reporting to the Associate Dean of Students for Student Development, and will supervise two full-time live-in staff members, a shared administrative assistant, and multiple student employees.

Qualifications

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Hires, trains, and supervises professional staff members and student employees (19 resident assistants and 40 undergraduate desk assistants). 
• Develops and implements a strategic plan for an academically and socially supportive residence life program that maximizes student learning, development, and success.
• Provides collaborative leadership in developing and implementing a plan for a comprehensive calendar of residential life programs.
• Oversees residential student conduct procedures and serves as staff advisor to judicial hearings and cases.
• Collaborates with other campus constituents on the selection process for student staff and Student Achievement and Leadership Training (SALT).
• Coordinates the annual room selection process; oversees room change and room assignment processes.
• Utilizes and manipulates the Jenzabar mainframe system effectively to generate occupancy reports and billing statements in a timely fashion.
• Provides comprehensive RA staff training two times a year (August & January).
• Develops and implements a comprehensive assessment plan to collect quantitative and qualitative data on student satisfaction, learning, and retention.
• Provides support to the Residence Hall Association (RHA).
• Works collaboratively in planning and implementing programs and events which involve faculty and administrators in living-learning experiences for students.
• Effectively communicates in writing and orally residence life policies, procedures, and events to all campus constituencies.
• Develops and implements an annual residence life policy review process that includes students, faculty, and residence life staff.
• Creates positive and effective partnerships with all departments on campus, with particular focus on Admissions, Campus Police, Dining Services, Facilities Management, and Tuition Accounts.
• Responds proactively to student and parent concerns related to the residential community.
• Creates and distributes a residential student newsletter.
• Conducts mediation interventions with students in conflict as needed.
• Supports campus traditions and departmental, committee, and student organization programs on campus.
• Maintains office and program budgets. 
• Coordinates the residence life on-call schedule.
• Assists with on-call duty rotation and crisis response.
• Serves on various campus committees.
• Performs other related duties as assigned to further the mission of the office, division, and College.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK: 

• Master’s degree in student personnel services, higher education administration or closely related field.
• Three (3) years of full-time professional experience in a college environment, preferably in Residence Life and Housing.
• Successful track record of establishing effective partnerships with faculty/staff, and building a high quality, academic, and socially engaging residential program.
• Expertise related to learning communities and residence hall programming is strongly preferred, as is experience working, living and/or studying in multicultural/diverse contexts.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, utilizing Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams and Canvas.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Excellent interpersonal, leadership and communication skills.
• Ability to make sound judgments and think critically about issues that arise.
• Ability to work successfully with diverse populations of students.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent customer service skills; strong work ethic.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment with little direction.
• Ability to plan, organize and prioritize work; attention to detail.
• Ability to meet schedules and timelines.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Requires sedentary work that involves walking, standing, lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling some of the time.  Requires the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and the ability to exert up to 10 pounds of force on a recurring basis or routine keyboard operations.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Work environment risks exposure to no known environmental hazards.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, résumé, and name and contact information for three (3) professional references via email to: Dr. Sandra Rouse, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
 srouse@columbiasc.edu

EOE M/F/D/V