Assistant Director for First-Year Experience and Campus Life

Title: Assistant Director for First-Year Experience and Campus Life

Position Purpose:

The Bates College Office of Campus Life is seeking an organized, compassionate, and collaborative individual to join a team of professionals who are dedicated to supporting students find purpose and engagement in their college experience. Based on a commitment to racial and social justice and the development of structures responsive to student needs, this role is an essential part of building welcoming and affirming communities on campus.

The Assistant Director For First-Year Experience and Campus Life is the point person that leads new student orientation and year-round programmatic initiatives to support new students in their transition to college throughout their first-year at Bates. The Bates First-Year Experience is comprised of six values – These values will help students utilize their entire first-year as an opportunity (1) to explore academic interests, (2) to build community, (3) to gain a sense of place, (4) to engage with the values of equity, inclusion, and access that are at the core of the Bates mission, and to do so while (5) maintaining their health and wellness and (6) defining their own individual sense of purpose and identity. This individual will work collaboratively across the institution with faculty, staff, and students, with the goal of building the foundation for a smooth transition to college through fostering belonging and connection to institutional resources.

The Assistant Director for First-Year Experience and Campus Life also provides engagement opportunities to encourage first-year involvement and leadership development. This includes overseeing all aspects of hiring and supervising the Orientation Week Leaders (OWLs) and assisting with organizing and staffing orientation week events. The Assistant Director for First-Year Experience and Campus Life also works collaboratively with the Campus Life team to support student clubs and organizations, especially with strategies to engage first-year students. This includes coordinating first-year social programs and events throughout the arc of their first-year at Bates, managing club and organization fairs, developing a marketing strategy for first-year engagement that embeds the six values of the First-Year Experience, and general advising. In addition, this position serves as a member of the Campus Life team with planning, organizing, and staffing late night events and programs designed to provide social opportunities for first-year students specifically, but also the entire student body.

The Assistant Director for First-Year Experience and Campus Life works collaboratively with the Campus Life team and other campus partners to infuse the First-Year Experience values and the Bates Leads leadership framework into student staff positions, programs, and assessments, in addition to providing support for Bates Leads initiatives throughout the academic year.

Job Duties:

First-Year Experience

• Lead efforts in collaboration with the Senior Associate Dean of Students to establish clear outcomes associated with First-Year Experience (FYE).
• Lead the development and implementation of new-student orientation and new-family orientation, both in the fall and winter semesters. This includes coordination and communication with campus partners and programs across campus that provide orientation programming and/or oversee distinct pieces of orientation.
• In collaboration with the Office of Intercultural Education, the Office of the Dean of Faculty, and the Associate Dean of Students for International Student Programs, establish a strategic approach to supporting the orientation and FYE of historically underrepresented students, including low-income students, first-generation students, racial and ethnic minority students, and international students.
• In partnership with Admission, Student Financial Services, Advancement, and Communications, lead the development and implementation of a first-year parents and family communication strategy.
• Oversee and manage financial resources for FYE.
• Maintain national recognition for the Bates College FYE through presenting at conferences and events to continue to raise the national profile.
• Collaborate with the Coordinator of Outdoor Education and Programs to administer the Annual Entering Student Orientation Program (AESOP), and ensure it aligns with the FYE values.
• Oversee Orientation Week Leaders (OWLs) and optional social programming/events designed to build community. This is managed in collaboration with the Coordinator of Campus Life Programming and Student Activities.
• Communicate throughout the year about the 6 values and 8 programs of the FYE across the institution to explain the FYE as a year-long transition.
• Lead the transition to college plan and orientation for transfer students.
• Oversee and manage the high school scholars program. This includes coordination and communication for the program across campus.
• Administer and coordinate the first-year forms process, ensuring all forms have been completed prior to matriculating to Bates.
• In collaboration with campus partners in the Dean of the Faculty’s Office and Institutional Research, Analysis & Planning, continue to lead assessment efforts to learn more about the FYE at Bates and incorporate data and assessment to make informed decisions about processes and changes to the FYE.

Campus Life

• Deepen the student experience by providing resources and opportunities to explore interests through involvement in student clubs and organizations, social events and programs, skill building workshops, and employment opportunities.
• Plan and facilitate logistics for events, including contract negotiations, guest lists, venue preparation, presentation materials, security, catering, entertainment, transportation, equipment, decor, and marketing materials.
• Manage all aspects of event/program planning, meet strict deadlines, and stay within budget.
• Nurture and build relationships with vendors, venues, and other industry contacts while crafting and implementing the creative and logistical aspects of all events.
• Staff, manage, and/or be present at student events on nights and weekends as needed.
• Plan events with a universal design approach that are accessible to all students.
• Manage budgets and funding.
• Supervise student staff, including student event/program coordinators.
• Perform administrative duties within the Office of Campus Life including, scheduling, phone, emails, paperwork, etc.
• Support clubs and organizations in finding success.
• Support the Assistant Dean in the implementation of the college’s leadership initiative, Bates Leads.
• Support the Assistant Dean in managing the college’s student engagement platform, Bates Engage.
• Coordinate transportation, buses, etc. for student events.

First-Year Academic Support

• Collaborate with the Dean of Faculty’s office to implement and design first-year advising and class selection.
• Create resources and guides for FYS Instructors to support them in academic advising.
• In collaboration with the Associate Dean of the Faculty, lead FYS instructor trainings about supporting First-Year students.

Student Support Advisor

• Serve as a Student Support Advisor to a cohort of students throughout their academic career at Bates.
• Advise students managing personal challenges and assist them with accessing support and resources.
• Provide supplemental academic advising as needed as students negotiate their academic development.
• Assist students with navigating academic policies and processes such as leaves, course deferrals, and other processes.

Student Affairs

• Serve on the Student Affairs “on-call” rotation, providing timely response and support for student emergencies
• Serve as a Green Dot Bystander Intervention Trainer.
• Participate in team projects that enhance the quality or efficiency of Student Affairs.
• Support the Senior Associate Dean in other projects as assigned.
• Participate in national and regional professional development opportunities to ensure the implementation and assessment of best practices related to student life.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree with relevant professional experience required
• Master’s degree with relevant professional experience preferred

Experience

• 3+ years of experience in first-year programs or other relevant higher education experience (including professional or undergraduate experience in residence life, student government, student activities, and/or other leadership positions on a college campus).
• Demonstrated success in supporting students from underrepresented groups, including students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, first-generation-to-college students, LGBTQ+ identified individuals, and low-income students.
• Experience working in collaborative and dynamic office environments with frequently shifting tasks and priorities.
• Experience in supporting success of peer to peer educational models, including implementation of assessment practices.
• Experience supporting young adults and their families in the transition to a residential college environment.
• Experience with implementing large-scale events and event planning preferred.
• Experience with outdoor education or experiential education is desirable.
• Experience working on a first-year experience program prior preferred.

Skills and Knowledge

• Excellent judgment and awareness for interpersonal dynamics.
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to develop and maintain collegial relationships with clientele such as students, families, staff, faculty, and co-workers.
• Excellent communication (written, verbal & listening) skills.
• Ability to effectively engage with diverse personalities and manage difficult situations.
• Ability to work independently and handle multiple priorities with minimal supervision.
• Strong organizational, tracking, and assessment skills including proficiency in basic data management systems
• Strong problem solving skills with the ability to adapt and explore multiple avenues to a solution.
• Personal commitment to excellence and the mission of a top-tier small liberal arts college.
• Commitment to equity and inclusion, and serving the needs of a culturally and educationally diverse community.

Benefits:

Bates College offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits (health, dental, sick leave, 24 days of vacation, 2 personal days, 13 paid holidays, dependent care subsidy, free parking, access to library and athletic facilities & more), and a supportive, collegial environment in a drug and smoke-free workplace.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. All college faculty, staff, students, contractors, visitors, and volunteers are responsible for understanding and complying with the Non-Discrimination Policy.

Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/Section 504), and complaints may be directed to Gwen Lexow, Title IX Officer, 207-786-6445 or via email at glexow@bates.edu .

About Bates:

Bates is internationally recognized as a leading liberal arts college, attracting 2,000 students from across the U.S. and around the world.

Since 1855, Bates has been dedicated to educating the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. Committed to opportunity and excellence, Bates has always admitted students without regard to gender, race, religion, or national origin.

Cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action, Bates prepares leaders sustained by a love of learning and zeal for responsible stewardship of the wider world. Bates engages the forces — intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology — that are transforming higher education and the world into which our students graduate.

Bates has highly competitive admissions, graduates over 90 percent of its entering students, and more than half of its alumni earn graduate degrees. Bates employs 200 faculty members and 550 staff.

The college is proud of deep roots in the Lewiston/Auburn community, Maine’s second-largest urban area with a population of approximately 65,000. Bates is located on a beautiful, 133-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, an emerging city with an entrepreneurial climate, a lively arts scene, and a dynamic business community. Bates is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 350 miles north of New York City.

Advertised: May 11 2023 Eastern Daylight Time
Applications close: