We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.
Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.
Who We Are
Located in the heart of Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. With a population of just over 53,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.
JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity, fostering equity and inclusion, and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.
The Student Life Department at James Madison University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in all of its forms. We embrace self-discovery, belonging, and authentic engagement with each other and our communities. We value inclusion, innovation, and a focus on students. • Student Affairs Values • Focusing on Students • Leading Courageously • Transcending Boundaries • Creating Belonging • Embracing Innovation and Change • Honoring and Valuing Our Staff • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Supervision: Directly supervises the Assistant Director of Off Campus Life, Associate Director of Student Activities and Involvement, and Associate Director of the Student Leadership Center.
Departmental Leadership: Support the Director in progress towards the department mission and vision; resource assessment and allocation; recruitment of a diverse staff; support of the student organization accountability process; and crisis management.
Programs: Support and development of all programs that are offered to the JMU student body in a wide array of applications; through the Student Leadership Center that provides leadership programs for the greater University community; through the administration of over 350 University recognized clubs and organizations and their programs; through major campus-wide concerts and programs offered through the University Program Board; through Off-Campus Life that provides transitional and basic needs programming, and through staff driven student union programming.
Service Delivery: Oversee the development of new and enhanced support services or offerings. Including but limited to maintenance and usage of the Be Involved platform, review and development of policy, signing of agreements, coordinating the creation and improvement of large, campus-wide programs, and expansion of Explore Madison.
Risk and Crisis Management: Be knowledgeable of laws, regulations, policies, and procedures that relate to its respective responsibilities and that pose potential legal obligations, limitations, risks, and liabilities to the institution as a whole. Ability to identify, assess, evaluate, mitigate, and work to control risk. Be familiar with student safety issues, the campus partners who work to prevent them, and research-supported strategies for addressing them. Ability to use situational awareness, adaptability, decisiveness, and clear communication to manage potential crisis.
Assessment: Work with direct reports to develop and implement ongoing assessment efforts for supervisory areas with the expressed purpose of measuring attainment of objectives and program improvement. Assessment should ascertain needs, participations and non-participation demographics, participant satisfaction, and accomplishment of stated goals and learning objectives. Assessment results should inform resource allocation, program improvement, and marketing processes.
Marketing: Use various marketing mediums and strategies to disseminate information. Assist with the maintenance of websites. Utilize website usage analytics and other inputs in adapting website design, marketing efforts, and information dissemination.
Budget Management: Coordinate with supervisory areas staff to maintain all office budgets, ensure appropriate and effective use of available resources, and assist in the annual budget development process.
Collaboration: Proactively develop and maintain collaborative relationships with all departments across Student Affairs as well as other stakeholders where such relationships would promote efficiency/effectiveness in fulfilling the department and divisional mission.
Committee Work: Serve on department and university committees. Actively participate in accomplishing established goals and objectives.
Professional Development: Accomplish a minimum of 20 hours of professional development, attend departmental professional development training, participate in staff retreats and other job-related training. Effectively utilize conferences and other professional development opportunities as tools for staying current in the field of higher education. Support all staff in increasing their capabilities to contribute through departmental training and professional development.
Other duties as assigned
Required:
• 7-10 years of full-time professional experience with increasing administrative responsibilities in areas of student programming, student organizations, student leadership, community relationships, and/or other relevant experience. • Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and meeting the diverse needs of a college student population. • Evidence of ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, students, faculty, and the university and local communities. • Demonstrated commitment to promoting staff growth and development. • Demonstrated ability to work well as part of a team on departmental, divisional and institutional levels. • Experience with planning, assessment, evaluation, and utilizing data to inform program improvement. • Ability to apply student development theory in managing staff and developing and implementing educational programs. • Demonstrated commitment to promoting staff growth and development for new professionals, graduate assistants, and student staff in a professional environment. • Effective written and verbal communication skills. Ability to work evenings and weekends as appropriate
Preferred:
• Master's degree in college student personnel, higher education administration, or related field • Multiple years of increasingly responsible supervisory experience
James Madison University is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status.