RESIDENCE LIFE - Berrien Springs, United States - Andrews University

Description

Job Classification

Salaried Full-time %)

Position summary

The Assistant/Associate Dean provides assistance to the Dean for Undergraduate Residence Life, whose leadership directs and administers all facets of a university residence hall community, including strategic planning and the daily operation of a wide variety of responsibilities including staffing, programming, fiscal and facility management and resident nurture and accountability.

He/She is responsible for contributing to the creation of a living environment in which undergraduate students will flourish in the total development of their spiritual, mental, physical, and social qualities. The Assistant/Associate Dean will help implement a program that fosters personal development of individual residents within a diverse community.

Qualifications summary

BS/BA required; MA preferred

Related experience and/or training required

Previous residence hall dean experience preferred

A deep commitment to youth ministry and student development

Skills in administration, organization, communication, conflict management, counseling, etc.

Ability to work well within a team-structured environment

Experience in program development and implementation

Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Duties and responsibilities

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The essential duties and responsibilities of this position include the following:

Residence Hall Community Connection Responsibilities

Coordinates social programs for residence hall wide social events, promoting and advertising, obtaining resources and supplies, attending the events, arranging clean-up, etc.

Plans and coordinates programs and initiatives that provide opportunities for residents to connect with the professional deans staff in the undergraduate residence halls.

Coordinates recognition for special events in the residence hall students lives (i.e. engagement, baptism, birthdays, etc.)

Provides special support and care to the international student population in residence.

Provides special support and care to the non-SDA student population in residence.

Serves as a liaison with the Office of Student Involvement, Leadership and Activities for any collaboration of events and activities.

Residence Hall Dean General Responsibilities

Assists in the management and direction of the daily operations of the residence life system,

including programming for and responding to spiritual, social, community building, physical, and educational needs.

Participates with staff in the assessment of and meeting of student needs for support, advising, counseling and areas of crisis management such as mental health and medical emergencies.

Participates in development, interpretation, and dissemination of university and residence hall policy for students.

Participates in staffing responsibilities including recruitment and selection of salaried, hourly and student staff members. Participates in development of pre-service and in-service training, workshops and development for student employees.

Provides professional support and care for the undergraduate residence hall students when participating in on duty coverage rotation.

Assists in facilitation of an environment which stimulates student responsibility and accountability within the residence community.

Coordinates, develops, and delivers public presentations on spiritual and educational topics.

Participates in the judicial affairs process for all students in residential life by a system of expectations and consequences.

Maintains an open working relationship and serves as the liaison with administration, faculty, parents, alumni, student groups and other constituents throughout the university regarding student life issues on an individual basis as well as serving on a variety of committees.

Meetings and Committee Assignments

Attends meetings as requested by the Dean for Undergraduate Residence Life.

Professional Development

Maintains professional contact outside the University through involvement in professional organizations/activities and collaborations with Residence Life and Student Services professionals at other institutions.

Supervisory responsibilities

The Assistant/Associate Dean carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with Andrews University policies and applicable laws.

Responsibilities include assisting the director with interviewing, hiring and training professional and student staff, job description preparations and assignments, scheduling, directing work, appraising performance and addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Supervises student employees by coordinating coverage needed for a residence hall fitness facility including staffing, development, scheduling, communications, networking, etc.

Supervises and participates with staff in the nurturing and holding students accountable to expectations including substance abuse, overnight leave and curfew guidelines, worship attendance, and other general citizenship areas.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and /or ability required:

Skills in business administration, organization, conflict resolution, counseling, teaching, discipline, public speaking, group dynamics, leadership and youth ministry. A dean is expected to be a strong Christian role model and should be committed to personal spiritual growth. He/She should have knowledge of youth culture and youth challenges, including knowing how to assess, intervene and direct to professional help those involved in: drug and other substance abuse issues, childhood molestation, rape and date rape, depression, suicidal inclination, bulimia and anorexia, and other crises inherent in the social-emotional environment of today's youth.

Education and/or Experience

A masters' degree in a related field and/or 1-2 years of relevant experience are minimal requirements for this job.

Language Skills

Excellent English language and communication skills are required to be able to effectively interface with a wide variety of individuals and entities including administration, colleagues, teachers, staff, student, parents and the general public. These skills must include the ability to read, analyze and interpret, and the ability to write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals.

The person in this position must also be able to communicate well in both personal and public venues. He/She is responsible for excellence in verbal communication and counseling, and in the public presentation of devotional and educational topics.

Reasoning Ability

Superb abstract and concrete reasoning and problem-solving skills are required to be able to make decisions that have a huge and deep impact on the mental, physical, social and spiritual welfare of residents and staff that are in the work environment. The ability to prioritize huge amounts of responsibilities in a critical and timely fashion is an essential requirement: it is especially important in this community in which most residents are young adults many of whom are facing such emotionally draining and unforeseen tragedies as parental divorce, family death, breakups of relationships, depressions/mental health issues, etc. Despite the need to immediately and effectively address these crises, residence hall life and services must continue undisturbed.

Unusually fine reasoning ability is also required in dealing with a population, by sheer definition of their developmental tasks, that demands reasons and rationale for policies and services, and living with the awkward and conflicting needs for both autonomy and nurture.

Certificates and Licenses

This individual should be an active participant in student service professional organizations, such as Adventist Student Personnel Association (ASPA), Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I), American Colleges Personnel Association (ACPA). It is expected that the person in this profession will keep personally abreast of the changes and challenges of working in a youth culture, and will avail themselves of literature and learning situations giving them increased learning, insight and skills.

Must be a Seventh-day Adventist in good and regular standing.

Technical competencies

N/A

Interpersonal interactions

N/A

Physical demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential function of this job.

The job often requires full use of all body senses and most limbs of the body for office work such as data entry, duplication, walking, climbing stairs, listening, and observing both body language and environmental factors.

The job also requires sharp mental skills and emotional balance.

The largest physical demand may be the ability to handle the stress of balancing both the responsibilities of the job and the critical decisions regarding student lives. Those in this profession must contend not only with unusually long hours, but with an on-call schedule that includes nights, weekends, summers, and all holidays as a residence hall is open and active 24 hours a day, every single day of the year. The individual must have high physical stamina and be able to adjust to occasional interruptions from sleep.

Work environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The Assistant/Associate Dean must be willing to live in a facility with 500 college students, which means that there is little privacy, frequent interruptions, and a high volume of traffic and disruption. He/ She must be able to handle prescribed daily tasks while accommodating constant interruptions.

An environment that houses 500 will be more inconvenienced with construction, repairs to basic life-support systems, and environmental factors than most of the rest of the campus. For example, a campus department may close down for a portion of the summer to accommodate a building project, a residence hall committed to providing year-round housing may not. A campus department is not severely inconvenienced by a power outage at night, water being turned off, a computer system down for upgrade, etc. but a residence hall housing 500 persons with 500 individual study and sleep schedules is.