Campus & Community Partnerships Coordinator

Job Summary

Oberlin College and Conservatory invites applications for the Programs Coordinator position, within the Bonner Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Research. This is a full-time 12-month administrative and professional position reporting to the Director of the Bonner Center, under the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Positioned within the College of Arts & Sciences, the Bonner Center brings together students, staff, faculty, and community partners to promote student learning, advance scholarship, and respond to community-identified goals and needs. Equity and access are fundamental to the Bonner Center's approach. The Center collaborates primarily in the City of Oberlin and throughout Lorain County where nonprofit and public sector organizations and residents work on a broad range of issue areas including education, food security, the arts, sustainability, historic preservation, immigration, and economic development. In addition, the Center fosters connections with national and international nonprofit organizations and NGOs, and supports the institution's efforts to expand relationships in Cleveland while maintaining more proximal, long-standing local partnerships.

The work of the Bonner Center intersects with key institutional priorities first outlined in our 2016 Strategic Plan and now at the heart of our ambitious One Oberlin plan. Both the Strategic Plan and One Oberlin identify experiential and connected learning as central to a transformative Oberlin education. The Bonner Center works closely with academic departments and Integrative Concentrations to cultivate meaningful community engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and staff, and is a core partner in the Center for Engaged Liberal Arts, encompassing Winter Term, Study Away, Undergraduate Research, Fellowships, and strategic alignment with the Career Development Center and Bonner Center, to integrate curricular and co-curricular experiential learning programs.

Bonner Center Programs:

The Bonner Center supports academic and co-curricular community engagement through the following core programs:

● Bonner Scholars Program, a national community-service scholarship program

● Faculty development and support for community-based research and learning, including over 40 Community-Based Learning courses designated in the course catalog

● Ninde Scholars Program, a college access program for middle and high school students in Oberlin City Schools

● Community-Based Work-Study Program, which allocates 20% of the institution's federal work study budget and up to 130 off-campus work-study positions for eligible students to work with local nonprofit and public sector partners

● America Counts and Reads programs, which hire, train, and place students to provide math and literacy tutoring in Oberlin City Schools and afterschool programs

Ethos of Caretaking & Collaboration:

As an endowed program within the Bonner Foundation network, the Oberlin Bonner Center is deeply committed to providing students with a sense of identity, belonging, and a mutually supportive community of staff and peers. More specifically, all members of the Oberlin Bonner Center team participate in the design and delivery of center-wide programs; contribute to campus-wide initiatives (such as New Student Orientation and prospective student visit days); consult with faculty and student organizations; and meet individually with students to support ethical community engagement. Regular collaborators also include our partner programs in the Center for Engaged Liberal Arts, the Center for Student Success, Student Life, the Admissions Office, the Office of Financial Aid, and the Gertrude B. Lemle Teaching Center.

Responsibilities

The Bonner Center Campus & Community Partnerships Coordinator will support the student cohorts within the Center and will also lead several programs and initiatives within the Bonner Center, including the following duties / essential functions:

Bonner Center Programs

• Lead efforts to discern community-expressed needs through outreach and ongoing relationship-building with existing and potential campus & community partners;

• Lead efforts to build and maintain system for assessing campus & community partnerships, including but not limited to developing and maintaining serve.oberlin.edu and ongoing bulletins on the Bonner Center website;

• Handle intake and be first point of contact for campus and community partners;

• Support the operations of the Bonner Center for Community-Based Learning and Research as needed;

• Support "Bonner Plus" mission through programs and projects that engage students, staff, faculty, and community members across campus and the broader Oberlin and Lorain County communities;

• Support on-campus conferences hosted by the Bonner Center (including but not limited to a Fall Summit and the the 2024 Summer Leadership Institute with the national Bonner network), providing leadership within planning and execution of programs;

• Represent the Bonner Center at community programs and events, which may require maintaining a flexible schedule that includes some evenings and weekends;

• Support and contribute to reflection and evaluation opportunities for students to continuously improve programming offered through the Bonner Center;

• Support the use of the Digication e-portfolio platform across center-wide programs;

• Collaborate to plan and execute the Bonner Center Community Engagement Recognition Luncheon;

• Other duties as assigned related to the Bonner Center and the Center for Engaged Liberal Arts (CELA).

Essential Job Functions

Engagement with Students

• Connect students with local community engagement opportunities and recruit students to engage with Bonner Center and CELA programming related to Community Engagement, Community-Based Learning, and/or Service;

• Coordinate closely with staff within the Bonner Center and CELA to connect students with academic and co-curricular experiential learning opportunities.

Relationships

• Build relationships and student commitment to our campus & community partnerships, with a special focus on supportive student relationships, respect for peers and partners, engagement within the Bonner Center, and dedication to the overall Bonner mission;

• Build relationships within program between Bonner Center staff, students, campus partners, community partners, and Oberlin College & Conservatory faculty and staff, with a focus on hospitality and consistent welcoming of these constituencies and other stakeholders into the Bonner Center;

• Support, cultivate, and maintain meaningful collaborations with community partners that align with Oberlin's curriculum and student learning goals while addressing community-identified needs and interests;

• Cultivate relationships with national and international networks of community engagement practitioners and scholars, including through participation in national conferences;

• Collaborate closely with Bonner Center and CELA colleagues to support intersections among programs, develop shared programming, and work as a team to advance experiential learning at Oberlin;

• Maintain communication and cultivate partnerships with alumni of Bonner Center and CELA programs.

Marginal Job Functions

Institutional Responsibilities

• Promote ethical community engagement across campus and advocate for an institution-wide approach to community engagement

• Identify points of intersection between the Bonner Scholars Program, Education cohorts, and institution-wide community engagement;

• Collaborate with Bonner Center Staff to support Bonner Center and Oberlin College wide programming;

• Represent the work of the Bonner Center to prospective and current students, staff, senior staff, faculty, alumni, and community members;

• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree

• Excellent interpersonal skills, with a focus on community and student development and relationship building with college students, staff, faculty and community partners

• Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to adapt communication style to different internal and external audiences

• Excellent project management experience

• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively

• Detail-oriented and organized

• Experience in developing collegial professional relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds, including those associated with race, ethnicity, international origin, religion, socioeconomic status, age, gender, disability, sexuality, and other aspects of human diversity

• Demonstrated experience working with diverse populations of students and communities, including diversity in race, ethnicity, international origin, religion, socioeconomic status, age, gender, disability, sexuality, and other aspects of human diversity

• Ability to work some nights, weekends, and occasional travel, including but not limited to Bonner Summer Leadership Institute, and Bonner Foundation Directors & Coordinators meetings

• Capacity to manage multiple projects and deadlines concurrently and to work with frequent interruptions

• Driver's license and ability to pass Oberlin College background check to drive College vehicles (for instance, for travel to site visits or off-campus programs with staff and students)

• Use of Google Suite and ability to learn multiple software platforms, including Digication, Qualtrics, and Get Connected, to conduct work of the Bonner Center

Desired Qualifications

• One year of work experience in higher education, community development, or human services beyond bachelor's degree;

• Familiarity with the Bonner Scholars Program and Bonner Foundation;

• Familiarity with best practices in college and community partnerships that prioritize reciprocity and sustainability;

• Demonstrated experience in supporting students' developmental growth and in facilitating developmentally appropriate programs for groups of students;

• Demonstrated background in Civic Engagement, Community-Engaged Learning, or a relevant field;

• Demonstrated experience collaborating within an office, with multiple departments, and with community partners to build meaningful programming that is responsive to community-expressed goals and supports institutional learning goals.

Quick Link for Posting https://jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/14797 Compensation

Within the range established for this position, salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and includes an excellent benefits package.

Special Instructions to Applicants

To apply, candidates should visit the online application site found at https://jobs.oberlin.edu. A complete application will be comprised of 1) a Cover Letter; 2) a Resume; and 3) a list of three references.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Questions about the position can be addressed to Bonner Center Director, Thom Dawkins (tdawkins@oberlin.edu), Associate Director, Susan Pavlus (spavlus@oberlin.edu), or Bonner Scholars Program Director Gabby Valentine (gvalenti@oberlin.edu).