Director, Shaw Wellness Institute

Department Statement

The Shaw Wellness Institute, Colgate’s student wellness center, educates, connects, and inspires students to lead their best well-balanced lives — now and in the future. The department provides services and programs to support students’ well-being, including education focused on alcohol and other drugs, healthy nutrition, mental health, bystander intervention, and life-long learning.

As part of Colgate’sThird-Century Plan,the department works closely with a broader integrated health and wellness team including Counseling and Psychological Services, Student Health Services, and Haven: Sexual Violence Support, to focus collectively on the health and well-being of our approximately 3,200 diverse, talented, intellectually-sophisticated, undergraduate students seeking a demanding, expansive, liberal arts residential education. The director serves as a core member of this team committed to enhance the educational experience of students from all backgrounds by inspiring a mindset and practice of lifelong wellness of mind, body, and spirit. As a health-promotion practitioner, the director develops, implements, and assesses efforts to educate and empower all students to help their peers lead similarly well-balanced lives. The department works to ensure that its approaches address needs inclusive of all students, especially those who have historically found wellness programs inaccessible. Special considerations are made to deliver program content that incorporates diversity, equity, and inclusion in its practice.

Accountabilities

Supporting the academic mission of Colgate University, the Director of the Shaw Wellness Institute is a health and wellness educator and collaborative member of the Dean of the College division who actively collaborates with colleagues to develop, implement, and assess programs focused on holistic student wellness. The Director of the Shaw Wellness Institute supervises a team of professionals and reports to the Assistant Vice President for Counseling and Psychological Services. Specific responsibilities include:

Program Administration
Provide direction and administrative oversight for the Shaw Wellness Institute, including budget, staffing, and facilities.

• Oversee alcohol and other drugs prevention and educational programming that encourages students to think critically about healthy decision-making and taking meaningful action to increase positive, responsible health-related behaviors.
• Supervise a team of four, including an Assistant Director, Alcohol and Other Drugs Counselor, and Administrative Department Coordinator, and will provide indirect oversight for a Dietitian Specialist.
• Provide leadership and direction to develop the professional staff in the latest health promotion research and best practices.

Campus Engagement in Health Promotion
Work in close collaboration with an integrated health and wellness leadership team, as the team’s primary preventionist, and lead efforts for the team’s communications.

• In conjunction with the integrated health and wellness team, provide direction, support, and leadership for campus‐wide efforts in developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to improving student health and well‐being by forming cross‐functional teams for mental health, nutrition, physical fitness, and sexual health.
• Implement plans to address health issues at all levels of the socio-ecological model (intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy) and develop measurable goals and objectives to continually measure effectiveness.
• Collaborate closely with other professionals in the Dean of the College Division, including those focused on student engagement and administrative advising. Other campus partners include the Department of Human Resources and the Division of Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation.
• Develop and implement a health promotion strategy aligned with University guidelines and needs assessment. Lead effective articulation of messages and marketing campaigns to internal audiences about healthy lifestyles, programs, and services to different target audiences and through a variety of channels to reach diverse audiences, including social media.

Program Development, Implementation, and Assessment

• Develop and coordinate the University’s student wellness programs, including the overall management and development of a contemporary health and wellness program with both unique and collaborative programs.
• Ensure the implementation of all alcohol-related compliance requirements, including the biennial review of alcohol and other drug programs for the U.S. Department of Education
• Oversee effective collaboration with students, faculty, and staff to develop new projects and campaigns with the specific goal of reducing high-risk alcohol use and the negative implications of such use on all students.
• Implement the annual launch of the online prevention modules for new students related to alcohol and other drug use and sexual violence and ensure student compliance with courses.
• Develop and coordinate a wellness continuous improvement program based on theoretical frameworks, including those focused on student development and wellbeing (i.e., Swarbrick’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness, and Seligman’s PERMA model).
• Apply knowledge of current and emerging college health issues, environmental management/prevention strategies, health behavior change theories and ecological framework, and evidence‐informed practice in college-age populations.
• Apply knowledge of the program cycle (assessment, program planning, implementation, and evaluation) to support changes at multiple individual and population levels.
• Apply extensive knowledge of research methods to assess community needs and inform continuous quality improvement processes that translate assessment results into action.

Student Advising and Supervision

• Supervise interns focused on health promotion and peer education.
• Supervise health-focused student groups and serve as a liaison with the Student Government Association and the Office of Student Involvement.

Additional responsibilities include:
Provide active leadership on wellness-related committees that support strategic objectives and when asked to serve on various committees, fully participate, attend meetings, and keep supervisor updated about involvement and progress.

• Write reports, provide research and complete projects as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

Professional Experience/ Qualifications

• Three to five years experience in student affairs with at least three years in health promotion, health education, or wellness program management.
• Supervisory experience with professional staff.
• Familiarity with contemporary college student issues.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Experience with assessment and learning outcomes development.
• Demonstrated ability to network and work cooperatively with faculty and staff colleagues.
• Strong organizational skills, including effective time management and prioritization capabilities
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated administrative and leadership experience
• Experience working in or familiarity with selective, residential, liberal arts college environments.
• Experience managing a comprehensive wellness program, development and presentation of population-specific health topics related to wellness across the undergraduate experience
• Experience with university-wide program development, implementation and evaluation
• Familiarity with ACHA’s Standards of Practice for Health Promotion in Higher Education
• Proficiency with statistical software

Education

Master’s degree in higher education administration or student affairs, public health, health psychology, health education, or a related field required.

Job Open Date
12/08/2022

Job Close Date

Open Until Filled
Yes

Special Instructions Summary

EEO Statement

It is the policy of Colgate University not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of their race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, marital status, disability, protected Veterans status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, being or having been victims of domestic violence or stalking, familial status, or any other categories covered by law. Colgate is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Candidates from historically underrepresented groups, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.
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