Associate Director for Career Equity and Access - Career Development Center

Suffolk University is a private, urban university located in the heart of downtown Boston. Our college green is the Boston Common and we are steps from dozens of historic sites including the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, City Hall and the Massachusetts State House. We have no real boundaries to our campus—Boston and Suffolk blend together.

Suffolk has been committed to creating an exceptional learning experience since 1906. Our vision is to be recognized as a dynamic institution that fosters engaged learning, rigorous scholarship, innovative thinking, and community collaboration across disciplines. We will ensure that Suffolk graduates are versatile and prepared for modern society and the new world market. We will provide rich curricula, experiential learning opportunities and professional mentoring through increased collaboration with alumni and community partners. We will recruit, mentor, and support a diverse faculty of teacher-scholars who are passionately committed to preparing our students to be leaders in the global community. We will inspire investment in a Suffolk community that is built on ethical, forward-thinking leadership, teamwork, and cooperation.

We compete for the best talent. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse community. We are actively seeking applicants from groups that might be under-represented because of race/color, gender, religion, real or perceived disability, national origin or LGBTQ status. As part of our commitment we encourage you to complete the demographic portion of the application in addition to submitting your cover letter and resume/CV as it will assist us in targeting our recruitment efforts.

Please note that Suffolk University conducts background checks as a condition of employment.

We are also committed to the well-being of our employees. Our terrific benefits package for benefits-eligible positions include, but are not limited to:

• Generous paid time-off programs and commitment to work-life balance
• Tuition free course benefits in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Sawyer Business School for employees with additional tuition benefits for spouses, domestic partners, and children
• Top-notch well-being care available through Harvard Pilgrim Medical/Delta Dental and a Flexible Spending Account
• Pre-tax commuter benefit
• Employee Assistance Program that provides employees and their family members with initial assessment, referrals and short-term counseling for personal and work challenges
• Discounted home and auto insurance

Description

Suffolk University, a prominent private institution situated in the heart of downtown Boston, seeks a collaborative advocate and motivated change agent for the position of Associate Director for Career Equity and Access in the Career Education and Professional Development. The Suffolk 2025 strategic plan calls for a bold reimagining and significant expansion of the Career Center. Over the course of the 2020/2021 academic year the Center will expand to include a Career Exploration team focused on university-wide career education initiatives, a team overseeing industry-specific Career Communities, and a team dedicated to Center operations, data, technology, and communications. It is an exciting time to join the Suffolk Career Center and to shape these new units and job roles.

The AD of Career Equity and Access will lead the development and implementation of proactive diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that will support the objectives of the Center for Career Education and Professional Development (CEPD). This individual will conduct regular assessment of the CEPD team’s programming, resources, and outcomes, and will recommend actions to close any gaps in equity or access for students based on race, nationality, gender, disability, or first generation status. They will serve as a liaison to the other departments, individuals, and student groups at Suffolk with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. They will create and deploy programming that educates the Suffolk community about equity and inclusion topics in the context of the workplace.

Primary/Principal Responsibilities:


• Provide training for the CEPD team about inclusive practices, bias in employment, and ways to make our programming and resources inclusive of and utilized by all students
• Works with AD of Data Collection and Analysis to track outcomes for underrepresented student populations
• Works with other CEPD Directors and Associate Provost to ensure that our overall suite of programming, employment opportunities, messaging, and other resources are inclusive and accessible to all students.
• Sets employer outreach targets for the Career Communities team based on rankings and data about employers with inclusive hiring practices, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion initiatives, a commitment to hiring individuals with disabilities, supportive LGBT policies, opportunities for women in leadership, and other measures to ensure equity in hiring and promoting employees
• Develops and conducts programming related to workplace diversity and inclusion, inclusive hiring practices, and other relevant topics
• Collaborates with colleagues in Student Affairs, the Division of Student Success, and other relevant offices on campus to co-create programming focused on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusions, specifically as related to the world of work.
• Serve as liaison to Vice President of Diversity, Access and Inclusion and associated offices and individuals; meets regularly with these stakeholders
• Act as liaison to those student groups with a focus on underrepresented student populations
• Work closely with colleagues in Marketing and Communications to share stories of career success from students from underrepresented communities
• Maintain an active social media and LinkedIn presence with relevant feed
• Regularly meet with and report back to alumni groups that support underrepresented alumni (i.e. SUBAN – Suffolk University Black Alumni Network)


Requirements/Qualifications:


• A Master’s degree in speech communication, post-secondary education, sociology, social anthropology, public administration, human resource management or other related field. Experience performing the duties described above may substitute for the education requirement on a year-for-year basis.
• Must have thorough knowledge of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1991 Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunity, and other applicable laws.
• Knowledge of training, conflict resolution and mediation methods.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Suffolk University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse and inclusive faculty and staff that reflect the broad range of human experience who contribute to the robust exchange of ideas on campus, and who are committed to teaching and working in a diverse environment. We strongly encourage applications from groups historically marginalized or underrepresented because of race/color, gender, religious creed, disability, national origin, veteran status or LGBTQ status. Suffolk University is especially interested in candidates who, through their training, service and experience, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the University community.