Assistant Director For Operations, & Pre-Orientation

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Department:

New Students & Family Programs

Time Type:

Full time

Work Modality:

Hybrid 01 (On Campus 3-4 Days/Week)

Union:

Excluded

Job Description:

Summary:

As a part of the New Student and Family Programs team, the Assistant Director for Logistics, Operations, & Pre-Orientation manages the operational and logistical functions of the department's work to support new students in their transition to the institution and to support their families throughout their time at AU. As a department in the Division of Student Affairs, we work to intentionally guide, challenge and support students as they grow and thrive as members of the AU Community on campus and beyond.

The Assistant Director for Logistics, Operations, & Pre-Orientation supports finance and human resource functions, pre-orientation, digital platforms and data collection, customer service and program and event logistics. This position serves as a key role in the overall implementation of new student and family programming including event planning and execution, staff and volunteer supervision, evaluation, and troubleshooting. The Assistant Director for Logistics, Operations, & Pre-Orientation provides recommendations for improvements in our programming, service delivery, office policies and procedures.

This position contributes to the training, supervision and professional development of student and para-professional staff members on the New Student and Family Programs team. This position supports more than 1,800 students and 14,000+ families each year with an annual budget of more than $500,000.

Essential Functions:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Finance and Administration: Manage all budget and payments for the department. Work with vendors (on and off-campus) to resource materials and services to support the department's functions including, but not limited to: office equipment, catering, uniforms, printing, mailing, and travel. Manage payment of all approved departmental expenditures. Maintain internal budget records, including tracking expenditures by program/function. Reconcile departmental expenditures. Manage on-boarding process for new student staff including paperwork, account and access permissions, and customer service skills. Assess and respond to inquiries from students, families, and campus partners. Serve as the team lead in coordinating the department's efforts to provide accurate, timely and responsive customer service across various platforms. Share trending concerns with the Director and Associate Director of Orientation in a timely manner.

• Digital Platforms and Data Management: Serve as the department's lead on the application of various digital platforms involved in the team's work. Update, maintain, and assess the office's various online orientation modules, engagement platforms, website, customer service tools, VOIP service, on-line meeting/webinar platforms, social media, etc. Facilitate account access, training and troubleshooting support for appropriate users. Maintain an inventory of the department's technology equipment. Retrieve and create data collection instruments, and share data points from these varied sources in timely and accurate reports to the Director and the team.

• Pre-Orientation Programs: Develops, implements, and assesses all undergraduate student pre-orientation programs working collaboratively with Student Affairs, Housing & Residence Life, and other departments as needed. This includes in-person programming for on campus students as well as synchronous and asynchronous online programming. Work collaboratively with the Associate Director of Orientation, and the Director of New Student and Family Programs on the budgeting, planning, and execution of pre-orientation programs and immersive experiences, including communications, marketing, websites, waivers, logistics, and managing the canvas course. Leads the University's pre-orientation committee, including meeting scheduling, setting deadlines, coordinating campus-wide pre-orientation marketing efforts, and engaging campus partners. Oversees and manages the successful coordination of program logistics, including risk management protocols, transportation, housing, catering, speakers, and activities for all pre-orientation programs/immersive experiences and other year-around student development programs. Leads in the hiring, training, and supervision of pre-orientation leaders.

• Program Logistics: Support the logistical needs of new student and family programming and resources. Specifically, logistics may include room reservations (virtual/in-person), fulfilling accommodations requests, organizing parking/traffic plans, managing reservation systems and volunteer schedules. Serve on various event and program planning committees (Welcome Week/Move-In, Family Weekend, and in-person orientation programs, Pre-Orientation) to inform and support team efforts.

• Collaboration with Campus Partners: This role supports new and continued relationships with campus partners from across a wide range of departments, units, and services, and helps to foster coordinated outreach and asks on behalf of the NSFP team. More specifically, the Assistant Director solicits partner content for the Canvas course, New Eagle Essentials, new student/family newsletters, printed student and family calendars, and Resource Fairs (at move-in and at Family Weekend).

Competencies:

• Driving Continuous Improvement.

• Prioritizing and Organizing.

• Acquiring and Analyzing Information.

• Supporting Coworkers.

• Building and Supporting Teams.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Supervision of student workers and graduate assistants.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

• Full-Time, 35/hours week with occasional evening and weekend commitments.

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree.

• 1-3 years of relevant experience.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Master's degree or equivalent.

• 2-4 years of relevant experience.

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: An ability to welcome, value, and affirm individuals of all identities and experiences, and a commitment to ensure they are understood, appreciated, and fully included in the university community.

• Discretion, Tact and Diplomacy: Ability to exercise discretion, tact and diplomacy while interacting with students, faculty, university staff, management, internship employers and other stakeholders on confidential and/or sensitive matters.

• Advanced Communication: Ability to express oneself clearly and concisely, using language with precision; constructing logical arguments; accurate note taking, editing, and summarizing; and writing reports or correspondence free of spelling and grammatical errors. Ability to engage in active and empathetic listening and communicate with a service minded orientation.

• Thoroughness in Reviewing Work: Ability to review one's own and others work and information to ensure completeness and accuracy; carefully prepare for meetings and presentations; organize information or materials for others; follow up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled; and set up procedures to ensure high quality of work.

• Student Services Skills: Ability to serve as bridge to services, intervene and/or advocate on students' behalf with offices across campus to support needs, drive engagement and empower students to achieve their goals.

• Diagnostic Information Gathering: Ability to seek out relevant people to obtain information; probe skillfully to get at the facts when others are reluctant to disclose the full details; ask clarifying questions; and gain a complete and accurate picture by checking multiple sources.

• Standard Office Software: Skill using email, word processing, spreadsheet/ data analysis and presentation development software applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint while preparing briefings and reports.

Benefits

AU offers a competitive benefits package including a 200% matching retirement plan, tuition benefits for full-time staff and their families, several leadership development certificates, and has been recognized by the American Heart Association as a fit-friendly worksite. Click here to learn about American University's unique benefit options.

Other Details

• Hiring offers for this position are contingent on successful completion of a background check.

• Employees in staff positions at American University must deliver their services to the university from either the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia, or perform work on-site at the university.

• Please note this job announcement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

• American University is an E-Verify employer.

Current American University Employees

American University current employees must apply through their employee Workday account. If you are a current employee at American University, please log into Workday and select the Find Jobs report which will take you to our internal career listings.

Contact Us

For more information or assistance with the American University careers site, email theworkline@american.edu.

American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution that operates in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, personal appearance, gender identity and expression, family responsibilities, political affiliation, source of income, veteran status, an individual's genetic information or any other bases under federal or local laws (collectively "Protected Bases") in its programs and activities.