Manager for Service Learning, Civic and Community Engagement

Job Summary

The University of Colorado Boulder Volunteer Resource Center encourages applications for a Manager for Service Learning, Civic and Community Engagement . As our Manager for Service Learning, Civic and Community Engagement, you will provide ground-breaking, innovative, and strategic leadership in the Volunteer Resource Center, including the management of current programs and the development of new initiatives for CU Boulder students. Every day you will provide professional-level program direction and advise over 400 Alternative Break participants and leaders, First Year Service Experience, and Service Learning LLC participants each year, as well as be responsible for leading a quality, experiential, student leadership program that instructs critical-service learning as an outcome of participation.

Responsibilities include student advising, coaching and supervision, program development, community engagement, training development and facilitation, recruitment and retention of student leaders and participants, event planning, risk management assessment and reporting, assessment and evaluation of program, reporting, and fiscal control. Our ideal candidate has strong attention to detail, a dedication to social justice and civic engagement work, and the ability to consistently serve as an advisor to students.

This position will report directly to the Director of the Volunteer Resource Center. The Volunteer Resource Center team includes the Director, Assistant Director, Coordinator for Events and Community Partnership, student staff, and a Joint Board. This team collectively owns the Volunteer Placement Program Boulder Municipal Court Program, Alternative Breaks Program, CUServes, CU in the Community, and more along with other departments, and community partners.

The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

The University of Colorado Boulder prepares students to make a profound positive difference in the world. As such, the Volunteer Resource Center (VRC) has a 65 year-long history of deep commitment to community engagement as both an excellent learning opportunity for our students and a means of being in mutually beneficial relationships with our surrounding community as well as other communities around the country and the world.

The VRC is a small department that adds tremendous value to the student experience. Funded by CU Student Government we are a student-centered department. Our values of engaging students to learn deeply about root causes of social and environmental issues, take on strong direct service with communities to solve issues that impact us all, and reflect on our experiences and ways to make decisions about our lives with our community in mind are the pillars of our work. We have a lot of fun on our team and support each other to grow, give and receive feedback regularly, and find our work rewarding.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Leadership & Program Administration

• Provide leadership and develop oversight of the service-learning program.
• Develop and implement standard practices of risk management and liability for off-campus volunteering, service, and engagement.
• Provide support for service oriented student clubs, organizations, and living-learning communities.
• Supervise, mentor, and advise four student staff and up to 30 student leaders with the possibility to supervise professional staff.
• Work with the center staff and campus partners to reimagine and implement an enhanced vision for co-curricular community engagement that may include an Alternative Break Program and other immersion experiences, service days, and special community engagement projects.
• Initiate and maintain reciprocal partnerships with community-based organizations in collaboration with the staff of the Volunteer Resource Center.
• Serve as the central college resource for service and engagement opportunities, including maintaining databases, websites, social media, and other platforms.
• Collaborate with colleagues to integrate service hours and engagement experiences into the CUServes system.
• Participate in efforts to seek new grants and/or gift funding to grow and sustain community engagement initiatives.
• Maintain memberships and connections aligned with available resources that could include Campus Compact, the Corporation for National and Community Service, Impact Conference, Engage Scholarship Consortium, and others.
• Exercise fiscal oversight of up to $100,000 budgets for programs and initiatives under the position scope, maintains donor relationships while cultivating new opportunities for revenue.
• Track, monitor, and report on community engagement and volunteer-related data.

Alternative Breaks Management

• Oversight and decision making for a portfolio of programs (15 Spring Break service-experience trips, 4+ Weekend Break service experience trips, 5+ First-Year Service Experience trips) offered by the Alternative Breaks program, with support from student staff.
• Advise the Alternative Breaks Program and supervised the student staff, student leaders, and volunteers in the program.
• Design, implement, and handle the recruitment, retention, and application process for all student leaders and applicants across all trips, with the support of the Alternative Break student coordinators.
• Facilitate weekly training sessions for student leaders in the Alternative Breaks program.
• Build and maintain effective mutually reciprocal relationships with community partners in our local community and across the state and country.
• Lead the Alternative Breaks scholarship application and distribution process with the support of the Assistant Director, including donor management and relations in attending yearly donor events.
• Revise, assess, and train student leaders on all risk management policies and processes. Adheres to, instructs, and implements all risk prevention strategies.
• Prepare all vital travel documentation for each trip, including site locations, trip rosters, accurate health form records, contact information for each trip, and site contacts.

Civic Engagement Initiatives

• Serve as a campus expert on civic engagement initiatives.
• Collaborate with campus and community partners to engage students in civic minded programs and opportunities.
• Partner with CU Student Government on get out the vote campaigns for campus, local, state, and national elections.
• Use CUServes software to track vote pledges, impacts, and service hours related to civic engagement across campus and in the community.
• Develop educational opportunities to interact with community leaders, politicians, and organizations to encourage civic growth, participation, and lifelong learning.

Service-Based Living & Learning Community Management

• Design and implement a service-based Living and Learning Community (LLC) on campus in partnership with Residence Life, University Housing, and strategic campus partners.
• Develop learning and experiential outcomes for participants in the LLC, connect students with opportunities in the community and on campus.
• Develop and run the LLC program with a service-learning and civic engagement focus.
• Collaborate with appropriate partners, instructing faculty and academic affairs in the development, implementation, and assessment of academic service and community-based learning.
• Collaborate with CU Boulder colleagues, Outreach and Engagement, CU Engage, student organizations, and other campus entities to create a culture of service and engagement on campus.
• Apply existing learning management systems and other campus technologies to optimally manage the LLC and support student learning and engagement.

Community Engagement Curriculum & Approach

• Maintain, assess, and continually improve a theory- and research-supported pedagogical approach to community engagement.
• Remain current in the evolving scholarly and practitioner literature on community-engagement pedagogies and standard methodologies.
• Ensure that community-engagement programming is developmental and beneficial for students and mutually beneficial for community partners.
• Ensure that the outcomes of community-engagement placements yield sustainable practices, approaches, or products for our community partners.
• Advocate for racially and socially just community engagement through intentional reciprocal relationship building with community partners and campus collaborators.
• Employ a decolonizing approach in both student-facing curriculum and student-partner interactions such that community engagement improves social realities rather than perpetuating inequities in the communities in which we maintain partnerships.

Other Duties

• Professional development: Participate regularly in regional, national, or international professional development opportunities and networks.
• Board/committee service: Serve on various boards and committees as appropriate to job responsibilities.
• Ad hoc assignments: Complete other duties as requested by the Director
• Support the work of the VRC by attending meetings, representing the programs and services effectively, and approaching work with a servant leadership mentality.

What You Should Know

• All University of Colorado Boulder employees are required to follow the campus COVID-19 vaccine requirement .
• New employees are responsible for providing proof of vaccination or receiving a medical or religious exemption within 30 days of employment.
• We anticipate that this position will support a hybrid format (remote and in-person work).
• Possession of a valid driver’s license and willingness to drive a 12-passenger van is needed for this position.
  

What We Can Offer

• The salary range is $55,000- $62,000 annually.
• Additional Compensation Details: Onboarding assistance is available within Student Affairs division guidelines.

Benefits
The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits , including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder .

Be Statements
Be adaptable. Be supportive. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute.
• 5+ years of professional work experience in an area related to service-learning, advising college students, and/or experience participating, leading, planning or program development of service-learning travel experiences in a higher education setting
• Prior leadership experience with Alternative Breaks programs.

What You Will Need

• Demonstrated dedication to community engagement and social justice.
• Demonstrated dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Experience and passion for working with undergraduate students.
• Exceptional interpersonal relationship-building skills and experience working with a wide range of constituents, including students, faculty, staff, community members, and nonprofit community partners.
• Experience communicating with and supporting people from a diverse group of backgrounds.
• Experience in curriculum development and instruction is a plus.
• Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality.
• Experience and comfort with digital and technology tools, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, project management tools, including social media, data analytics tools, and volunteer management software (GivePulse is a plus).
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced setting.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• Experience in program development that is responsive to local realities and involves responding to a variety of constituents and viewpoints.
• Experience working with collegiate-level instructing faculty members to develop community-engagement opportunities related to their courses.

What We Would Like You To Have

• Master’s Degree, preferably in Student Personnel, Student Administration or a related field.
• 6+ years experience in the all or some of the following areas:
• Facilitating or instructing community engagement social justice education, course instruction, and curriculum development.
• Planning and implementing co-curricular service-learning programs in a higher education setting.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining a program budget.
• Experience supervising or advising students, professionals, or groups.
• Demonstrated understanding and development of risk management policies and procedures for service or volunteer-based programs.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. A current resume.
2. Essay: In lieu of a traditional cover letter, we would like for you to answer the following question.

The person in this position will oversee several programs for the Volunteer Resource Center in addition to building a campus-wide service learning program from scratch. Tell us about when you built or assisted to build a program, service, or campus initiative that involved working across campus and community departments. What was your role? How did you build buy in? How were students or historically marginalized people centered in the process? What did you learn, and what would you do differently if you had to do it over again.

We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by May 29, 2022 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs .

Posting Contact Information

Posting Contact Name: Boulder Campus Human Resources

Posting Contact Email: Recruiting@colorado.edu