What are the responsibilities and job description for the Dean of Spiritual Formation - Office of Student Life position at Lipscomb University?
Summary: The Dean of Spiritual Formation is a leadership position in the Office of Student Life that directly reports to the Vice President of Student Life. The Dean will supervise the Office of Spiritual Formation and will think strategically about and lead efforts toward how the Office of Student Life can best serve the spiritual formation and vocational development of Lipscomb undergraduate students. The Dean also serves as Assistant Director of Lipscomb’s Center for Vocational Discovery.
Required Education: Master’s degree in bible, ministry, or theology required; MDiv preferred; doctorate
preferred
Required Experience: 5 years leadership experience in professional ministry settings; higher education
experience preferred
Church Relationship: This position requires the employee to be a professing Christian and be an active,
faithful member of a congregation of the Churches of Christ.
Job-related skills required:
- Commitment to the Christian mission of Lipscomb University.
- Proven ability as an effective teacher.
- Proven ability as a spiritual mentor, including experience with college-aged students.
- Excellent organizational skills.
- Strong leadership skills.
- Exceptional ability to create and implement mission-aligned, results-driven strategies that enhance student engagement and foster holistic development.
- Strong relational skills with the ability to inspire trust, build rapport, and cultivate a supportive and inclusive campus environment.
- Effective communicator and relationship-builder, skilled in navigating complex organizational dynamics and fostering collaborative partnerships.
- Methodical reasoning skills to help with long-term vision, strategy, planning, and implementation, as well as keen judgment in unexpected moments of crisis.
- A demonstrated commitment to supporting a diverse environment.
Job-related skills preferred:
- Mediation and conflict resolution skills.
- Familiarity with current issues in higher education.
- Familiarity with issues regarding vocation and spiritual formation in higher education.
Roles/responsibilities:
- Provide leadership, support, and supervision for the Office of Spiritual Formation.
- Design, establish, and maintain staffing and an organizational structure to effectively accomplish the department function; recruit, employ, train, supervise, and evaluate department staff, including:
- Director of Spiritual Formation
- Oversee interns and graduate assistants, delegating supervision to direct reports as appropriate.
- Initiate department/program assessments and evaluations to determine effectiveness and implement corrective action as required for improvement.
- Work cooperatively with others on campus who are involved in helping students being spiritually formed.
- Manage the budget for the Office of Spiritual Formation.
- Provide leadership with the chapel program.
- Lead overall chapel programming vision and strategy and take responsibility for managing execution.
- Serve as lead for Lipscomb’s corporate chapel experiences, in collaboration with OSF staff and other community leaders.
- Oversee the Director of Spiritual Formation’s work to curate and facilitate Breakouts, contributing to recruiting and oversight efforts and to upholding excellent standards.
- Ensure employment of appropriate databases and platforms for administering the chapel requirement.
- Cultivate relationships with church and parachurch leaders and serve as gatekeeper for churches, para-church, and service organizations who are interested in supporting on-campus and off-campus ministry opportunities for students.
- Attend and support student events.
- Provide one-on-one pastoral counseling and spiritual direction with students as needed.
- Serve on the leadership team for Lipscomb’s Center for Vocational Discovery.
- Integrate spiritual formation and vocational discovery through philosophical and programmatic means.
- Champion vocational discovery through student advising, events, speaking engagements, trainings, etc.
- Manage partnerships with various campus stakeholders, including First Year Experience, Academics (namely through various course integration strategies), Advancement, and Student Life.
