Catalyst Program Coordinator

About North Park

Founded in 1891, North Park University is a Christian university affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church of over 3,200 students from around the country and the world. Located for over 125 years on the land of the Miami and Potawatomi tribes in what is today Chicago’s northside, NPU has recently been designated a Hispanic Serving Institution and is committed to serving diverse populations. Elevating North Park University’s core distinctives of Christian, city-centered, and intercultural, NPU values diversity among its faculty and is committed to building a racially and culturally diverse intellectual community, and strongly encourages the nomination and candidacies of persons who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color regardless of gender.

North Park University is located in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the United States. It is nine miles from downtown Chicago. The North Park campus has often been referred to as an oasis in the heart of the city – a place where students from urban, rural, and suburban backgrounds alike can call home. And all of this within the major metropolitan backdrop of Chicago: one of the world’s largest and most diversified economies, renowned for its museums and music, and voted best large city in the U.S. for four years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler.

Mission

The mission of North Park University is to prepare students for lives of significance and service through education in the liberal arts, professional studies, and theology.

Vision

Building on our core institutional identity—Christian, city-centered, intercultural—our vision is to create a university of uncommon character and enduring excellence, where faith, learning, and service meet.

Position Summary

The North Park University Office of Civic Engagement’s mission is to advance a city-centered ethos on campus and augment North Park University’s commitment to the just flourishing of cities.

The Center for Civic Engagement is seeking a Catalyst Program Coordinator position to facilitate on-campus programming that supports Catalyst, the embodiment of our city-centered core distinctive. Each year, Catalyst serves nearly 2000 students and interacts with over 100 community partners.

The Program Coordinator facilitates Catalyst Courses which provide robust experiential learning opportunities throughout the semester. These afternoon courses are designed to allow enough time for students to travel to locations throughout Chicago to experience, learn from, and serve the city. Catalyst Courses provide structure and support for students to apply the theory learned in the classroom with practice outside the classroom.

Reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Civic Engagement, the Program Coordinator works collaboratively with community partners and faculty to develop experiential learning sessions that impact student learning and align with civic engagement student learning outcomes. The position oversees and coordinates all logistical operations and risk management related to these sessions. The Program Coordinator implements assessment of civic engagement outcomes that map to the university’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs). 

Community Engagement:

Build on existing long-term relationships and develop new partnerships with community stakeholders across Chicago. Maintain authentic relationships where honest input and dialogue are paramount.

Faculty Liaison:

Liaise with faculty to learn about their academic interests and collaborate on ways to enhance civic engagement learning outcomes. Conference with faculty who are interested in integrating sessions into their curricula.

Program Management:

Design and coordinate experiential learning sessions throughout the Chicagoland area, shaped by community stakeholders in alignment with faculty academic interests. Integrate risk assessments while shaping logistics.

Assessment:

Implement assessment of civic engagement outcomes that map to the university’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs). The Program Coordinator should know or be willing to learn best practices in direct and indirect assessment measures.

The Program Coordinator is also responsible for supporting other campus-facing programs as needed, including: 

• Catalyst Semester, a learning community that centers civic engagement through city-focused classes, practica with community-based organizations, and experiential learning sessions.
• Campus on Campus, campus-wide programming that brings relevant local conversations across the city to campus.

Responsibilities

• Build collaborative and iterative relationships with faculty to imagine/reimagine how civic engagement can enhance student learning and shape their commitment to civic values
• Design and coordinate experiential learning sessions centering civic engagement while implementing effective processes and protocols
• Build, strengthen, and maintain relationships with community partners with a keen awareness of power dynamics
• Manage a team of student volunteers and student workers while creating pathways for student input in all programming
• Assess and evaluate program and implement findings for continuous improvement

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree is required and/org two years of experience in higher education, nonprofit, or equivalent
• Commitment to civic engagement with an emphasis on building and maintaining long-term relationships with community stakeholders. An awareness of power dynamics and the ability to center community aspirations and preferences with a DEI lens are essential
• Creativity in bridging faculty academic interests with student learning outcomes through experiential learning
• Demonstrated experience in program management with high attention to detail; ability to multitask and coordinate logistics in a fast-paced environment

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Prescription Plan
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit
• Life Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Tuition Remission
• Helwig Recreation Center