Director, Civic and Campus Engagement

The Director of Civic and Campus Engagement is a senior member of the IOP team, responsible for developing, executing, and managing a wide range of Civic Engagement programs. This role requires close collaboration with other IOP program areas, as well as engagement with diverse student, campus, and community partners. The Director will lead initiatives designed to provide students with hands-on opportunities to explore civic participation, community engagement, political action, and leadership development. These programs aim to foster an understanding of political processes and encourage active involvement in local, national, and international political contexts.

Responsibilities

• Leads the overall design, creation and execution of the IOP’s civic engagement programming, ensuring that the broad participation of undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds, identities, and ideologies engage with the Institute and participate in civic engagement programs.
• Leads the development and execution of new initiatives to incubate and deepen student engagement in politics and public service.
• Initiates and supports campus partnerships, including those with other institutes, centers, departments and recognized student organizations.
• Leads planning and oversight for civil discourse programs, strategic cross-IOP partnerships, and annual orientation programming, such as Politipalooza and student activity fairs.
• Oversees current student-run leadership programs working alongside the Assistant Director to support the teams of student leaders, providing logistical and advisory support for the programs; ensures streamlined compliance with all IOP processes and procedures; develops tracking and data systems to measure annual metrics and program effectiveness.
• Co-leads student voter engagement strategy with Assistant Director of Civic Engagement, including the IOP’s partnership with TurboVote, a voter registration system; regular voter registration drives; student engagement in UChiVotes; and annual GOTV events, programs, and communications. Develops and manages partnerships focused on voter registration and GOTV efforts with various University departments and student voter registration organizations.
• Leads the design and execution of IOP political exploration trips, including regular local treks around Chicago to learn more deeply about social/political issues, and annual trips to Springfield, IL and potentially other domestic or international destinations. Creates and develops itineraries that provide students with the opportunity to meet with a diverse array of government officials, policy experts, journalists, consultants, and other public service stakeholders; manages all pre-trip logistics and planning; oversees fair and transparent application selection process for student participants; executes effective travel and trip logistics for student cohorts; evaluates, measures, and reports on the trips’ effectiveness. May help identify funding sources and write funding proposals for international trips.
• Conceives and executes a regular series of leadership and skill building workshops in concert with other IOP program areas. This includes deepening IOP’s existing work on bridging divides.
• Works with the Communications team to promote visibility of civic engagement programming and impact to make the IOP accessible and appealing to diverse student audiences.
• Manages program budget and prepares mid-year and end-of-year stewardship reports for funders of the IOP’s Civic Engagement programs.
• Maintains a database of all IOP students and alumni who participate/d in IOP Civic Engagement; tracks their connection and involvement with the IOP on an ongoing basis.
• Builds and manages a database of contact information and other details about the IOP’s Civic Engagement programs and partners; ensures that all data is current, comprehensive, and correct.
• Leads students and staff to develop and implement activities, programs, and initiatives related to student life, and/or community involvement.
• Markets student activities programming throughout the year. Develops and implements protocols for evaluating the effectiveness of programs.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in related field.
• Interest in and knowledge of politics, civic engagement and student leadership development are strongly preferred.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of experience, including experience working in political, educational, civic engagement or community engagement capacities.
• Proven project management, team-orientation, and diplomacy skills , as is experience managing others.
• A strong track record of designing civic engagement programs that connect students to hands-on experiences and leadership opportunities.
• Background creating programs that offer inclusive spaces for diverse political perspectives, encouraging thoughtful dialogue and active civic participation.​

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficiency with computer programs, spreadsheets and databases, including Microsoft Office suite and Google Docs. 

Required Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.